The USI women’s basketball team hosted the Murray State Racers at the Screaming Eagles Arena Friday night. Both teams entered the game at 3-3, almost certainly promising a competitive and interesting matchup.

Pre-Game: Coming into the game, Murray State was an excellent offensive team, playing an offense similar to the seven seconds or less offense popularized in the NBA by head coach Mike D’Antoni. They came in averaging exactly 95 points per game but giving up 82 PPG to opponents. USI, on the other hand, scores 67.6 PPG while holding opponents to 70.4 PPG. The rebounding margin favors Murray State by about 5 PPG, and the field goal percentage also favors Murray State by 0.03%. An excellent matchup going in, possibly the first major test for each side.

Katelyn Young, senior forward, is the primary focus for Murray State, averaging 19 PPG, 9.2 RPG and 2.4 APG remarkable stat line. Certainly a tough threat for USI down low.

Vanessa Shafford, junior guard, is the one to watch for USI, as she’s averaging 13.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 2 APG. She’s recently stepped her game up in the last three games and hopes to continue her excellent play in this contest.

Starting Lineups:

USI: Tori Handley, graduate guard, Addy Blackwell, redshirt senior guard, and Shafford were USI’s triple-threat backcourt. Meanwhile, Meredith Raley, senior forward, and Madi Webb, senior forward/center, held down the frontcourt.

Murray State: Briley Pena, sophomore guard, Cayson Conner, junior guard, and Bria Sanders-Woods, senior guard, in the three-headed backcourt. While in the front court, Murray State featured Hannah McKay, senior forward, and Young.

First Half:

To start the game, both teams came out the gate scoring well, moving the ball and playing tough basketball. This would be a feature of the game, as the referees let both teams play physical defense. The scoring for each side kicked off with baskets by Shafford for USI and Young for MSU—the two blue-chip players to watch for the game. Murray State began to push the pace and try to play their brand of ball, but USI stayed the course, keeping the game in a back-and-forth affair.

However, as the game continued, Murray State began to hoist a lot of three-pointers to putrid success. This strategy kept USI in the game, as Southern Indiana seemed to be content with Murray State shooting threes, closing out the first quarter only down 14-20 (Murray State’s first quarter three-point percentage: 12.50%). However, I began to wonder if letting the other team get more attempts would eventually lead to Murray State catching fire. I was proven correct, as Murray State opened up the second quarter by hitting three straight jumpers (two from beyond the arc) and extending the lead to 12.

After a Young three-pointer and layup from Murray State’s Ava Learn, junior guard/forward, USI head coach Rick Stein called timeout to stop the momentum, as Murray State opened up a 15-point lead. Out of the timeout, Handley got a nice layup but was matched by Learn on the other side. Then, at the 3:06-minute mark, Murray State’s Sanders-Woods must have reached for her inner Sue Bird, as she hit three three-pointers in a one-minute time span, (she hit four in the second quarter) bringing me from my seat. Even a Southern Indiana sports guy can applaud an opponent catching fire from downtown.

As a result of Sanders-Woods setting the net on fire, (à la NBA Jam) Murray State opened up a 24-point lead but eventually was cut down to 21 after baskets by Webb and Ali Saunders, sophomore guard, to close the half.

Halftime: USI: 29, Murray State: 49

Murray State hit at a 6/10 rate from downtown in the second quarter, and 11/18 from the field, which certainly couldn’t continue for the game. For USI, their offense wasn’t off to an ideal start. This wasn’t aided by the fact that they had 13 first-half turnovers, leading to 17 points off turnovers for Murray State. There was still plenty of time to mount a comeback, but it would require limiting perimeter looks for Murray State and playing smart with the ball.

Second Half:

USI opened the second half with a Shafford three-pointer and a Webb jumper to cut the deficit down to 16. Perhaps a third-quarter run was in order.

However, Pena cut the run short, hitting a three-pointer of her own. USI’s Blackwell attempted to match the basket but missed, leading to a Young layup, matched by a Webb layup. This was inevitably followed by a three-pointer for Murray State from Jenna Walker, junior guard, and later, a Pena three-pointer for Murray State would extend the lead to 24. After these baskets, USI and Murray State split three baskets, ending the third quarter with Murray State leading by a score of 67-55.

To open the fourth quarter, Chloe Gannon, freshman forward/center, hit two baskets in hope of sparking a fourth-quarter run. Unfortunately, these two baskets were matched by three Murray State layups, and a three-pointer from Zoe Stewart, redshirt freshman guard, extended the MSU lead to 26. Following this, USI and Murray State would split baskets until the 3:07 minute mark, where Handley would hit two three-pointers, followed by a Saunders three-pointer, cutting the deficit to 21. However, with 1:45 left, Haven Ford, freshman guard, hit a three-pointer to cut the run short. USI and Murray State would finish the game trading baskets until the final horn.

Final Score: USI: 73, Murray State: 93

Chronicles from the Hoops Haven:

While the game wasn’t an ideal result, USI played tough competition recently (Missouri and Purdue) and needed an improved result after losing by over 30 points in the last two games, which this matchup accomplished.

Offensively, USI played well, scoring 73 points while shooting 42.7% for the game. Twenty-four turnovers was not anything to be proud of, without question. Defensively, the team has not been locked in recently, giving up over 90 points in the last three games. Room for improvement. The team opened up the season not allowing over 63 points, which is very good, so hopefully, they can find that form soon. The biggest need defensively is on the perimeter, as Murray State hit 12 three-pointers from the second quarter on, shooting 45%. While I’m sure most teams won’t be able to replicate that, I’d still bookmark perimeter defense as a key improvement for the team going forward, as opponents shoot just under 40% against them on the season.

Positive Takeaways:

Handley and Webb were excellent offensively scoring 16 and 14 points respectively. Shafford had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Off the bench, Gannon and Saunders scored eight apiece. Gannon was a presence in the paint, getting five rebounds and a block defensively.

USI was able to get 40 points in the paint, which should be an emphasis going forward.

The USI women’s basketball team takes on Saint Louis on the road at 7 p.m. Wednesday and returns to the Screaming Eagles Arena to face Eastern Michigan University at 1 p.m. Saturday. I hope to see many ugly sweaters in Screaming Eagles Arena Saturday.