Racers Nab Big Road Win at SIUE

Wednesday, February 10

Edwardsville, Ill.

7 p.m.

Murray State

9-14, 5-7OVC

SIUE

14-11, 9-3OVC

Murray State

SIUE

2/10/2016 10:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Jasmine Borders hit a pair of clutch free throws with 11 seconds to play and Abria Gulledge grabbed a game-clinching steal with two seconds left as the Murray State women picked up a big time road win Wednesday night at SIU Edwardsville, defeating the Cougars 79-76.

Leading 72-70, with 2:23 left to play, LeAsia Wright pushed the MSU (9-14, 5-7 OVC) lead up to five, 75-70 with an elbow 3-pointer. After an SIUE (14-11, 9-3 OVC) basket, Ke'Shunan James' layup with 1:51 left to play put the Racers back up five.

After a back-and-forth first period, and a sluggish start to the second, the Racers went on a 12-2 run to take a 31-27 lead, a lead they would keep for much of the rest of the contest. MSU led by as many as seven, 38-31, with 1:10 left in the first half and took a 38-33 lead into halftime.

SIUE came out firing in the third, and took a 50-46 lead with 5:20 left to play in the period. The Racers came battling back however, and took a 57-56 lead into the final quarter on a James runner to beat the buzzer. The Racers would push their lead back up to seven with 6:53 to play at 66-59, before holding on the rest of the way.

James led the way scoring for the Racers, dropping 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting. 12 of those points came in the opening period. James also grabbed 10 rebounds in the win, giving James her fourth double-double of the season. She also dished-out a team-high five assists and had four steals in the game. Kyra Gulledge had a monster game for the Racers in the win, scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and earning her third double-double of the year as she grabbed a game-high 11 boards. This is the third time this season that both Gulledge and James have notched double-doubles in the same game.

Abria Gulledge added 12 points and Borders chipped in with 10 points and three assists on the night, while Bianca Babic had nine off the bench and Wright added seven.

The Cougars held a 50-40 advantage in points in the paint and also had a 20-14 edge in points off of turnovers. Both teams were sloppy with the ball, combining for 37 turnovers in the game. MSU did gain a 17-16 edge in second-chance points, despite being out-rebounded 36-34. The SIUE bench was held to just three points.

MSU went 28-for-60 (46.7 percent) from the field on the night while the Cougars shot an even 50 percent (32-for-64). However, beyond the arc, the Racers went 6-for-18 from 3-point range while the Cougars were just 3-of-14. MSU also had 17 made free throws to SIUE's nine.

The Racers return home this weekend as they host Southeast Missouri Saturday in a 5 p.m. contest at the CFSB Center. The Redhawks defeated MSU a week ago in the two's first meeting in Cape Girardeau.