Freshman guard and forward Ke’Shunan James battles a Redhawks player for a two point shot.
After a nine-game losing streak, the women’s basketball team has finally taken a win, defeating the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (1-9) 86–81.
After a 3 point shot made my sophomore guard LeAsia Wright, the Racers were in the lead. During the last seven minutes in the first half, the Racers regained hope while holding on to at least a ten point lead as the clock counted down.
“We made plays down the stretch,” said Head Coach Rob Cross. “Basketball is a players game and we were running and instead of settling for a contested shot we went for it and finished it out.”
The Racers, coming out of half time with a 10 point lead, racked up their points making it a 15 point lead.
The last ten minutes of the game proved to be tough as the Racers tied with the Redhawks. With a three point shot and a free throws, the Racers were back on top and sealed the game with a win.
“It was a long time coming,” said senior guard, Keiona Kirby. “We’ve been close but it felt good to close it out.”
Sophomore guard Julia Fox made her comeback Saturday, Jan. 31 against the UT Martin Skyhawks (9-0) after sitting out for injury.
The Skyhawks ended up giving the Racers loss No. 9 Jan. 31, but not without the Racers putting up a fight.
For a brief moment in the second half, the Racers cut the Skyhawks’ lead to eight, but a few good free throws by UT Martin allowed them to put the game at 95-85.
With six regular games left before the OVC Championship, Cross said there is a rejuvenating feeling about wanting to take a win as much as the team does.
Cross said the players have been distracted by the losing streak and not focused on the game play in front of them. He said it has been a habit for them to worry about the buzzer games, such as the one against Morehead State (6-3), which was their first game in the conference Jan. 3.
“It’s what I’ve been preaching since day one,” Cross said. “Worry about the task at hand and be better in practice today. You have to be task oriented instead of results oriented and the chips fall where they may.”
The Racers travel to Clarksville, Tenn., to face the Austin Peay State Lady Govs at 3 p.m. on Feb. 7.
Story by Kelsey Randolph, Assistant Sports Editor