Senior forward Jessica Winfrey attempts a shot in the Racers’ loss Saturday.
In the midst of a three-game losing streak and without its leading scorer, women’s basketball has turned to its freshmen guards to play larger than their age.
In their latest game, the Racers came up short despite a strong comeback bid, and they lost 80-74 on the road to Eastern Illinois.
When junior guard Keiona Kirby injured her knee against Belmont, Head Coach Rob Cross made adjustments to the Racers’ system due to the lack of experience at the guard position.
“You try to simplify things more and that is the biggest thing because they can all shoot (the ball) and put it on the floor,” Cross said. “We have made changes on the defense so that they don’t think so much and aren’t complicated, so they just play.”
Without Kirby’s presence, Murray State has been led in scoring by a different freshman in each game.
“Starks played great against (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) with 24 points and Nikia Edom was great against Eastern Illinois,” Cross said. “You are going to get these inconsistencies when you are relying on every guard that we have available right now is a freshman.”
While the four freshmen guards have filled important roles for the team, the Racers’ losing streak continued due to a poor first half against Eastern Illinois Monday night.
“I don’t know if we were tight or just nervous, but at the beginning of the game we were awful,” Cross said.
In the first half the Racers scored one of their first 17 shots and fell behind 26-9 with four minutes remaining.
Murray State settled down in the final minutes of the first half and finished with a 10-2 run to close the gap to nine points.
“We started off down double-digits at the beginning of the game and then fought back to get back into the game,” Cross said.
The Racers continued their comeback in the second half. A 3-pointer from sophomore forward Jashae Lee was the first of seven 3’s the Racers scored in the final half.
After Eastern Illinois pushed its lead to 45-31 with 16 minutes remaining, the Racers battled back to trim the deficit to three. Leading the run were freshmen guards Julia Fox and Edom.
“We knew the first half wasn’t going our way and we knew we couldn’t let the second half be the same, so we put all our effort together and tried to come back,” Edom said.
The Panthers answered with an 11-4 run that forced the Racers into foul trouble. Murray State once again turned to Edom, who scored eight points in two minutes.
After getting within four points, the Racers’ defense failed to get stops, leading to a 80-74 defeat.
“We had a chance to take a lead and then three straight possessions we allow put-backs and two 3-point plays and that was enough to give them a cushion to hang on for the victory,” Cross said.
The four guards together scored 47 of the Racers’ 74 points. Edom led the team with a career-high 21 points in the loss.
“We know that (Kirby) was the leading scorer and as a group we have been trying to step up and contribute more,” Edom said.
Women’s basketball must now turn its attention to Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks, who won one game last season, come to Murray on a three-game winning streak.
One area the Gamecocks have improved upon is their up-tempo offense, which will likely be the focus for Murray State’s defense.
“They attack the rim in transition, so that is a major concern,” Cross said. “We will have to focus on transition defense and defending the paint to stop that.”
Tipoff is set for 5:15 p.m. Saturday in the CFSB?Center.
Story by Tom Via, Staff writer