Sophomore forward and guard Ke’Shunan James jumps for a layup against the Oakland City Lady Oaks on Friday.
Story by Mark McFarland, Assistant Sports Editor
The Murray State Racers defeated the Oakland City Lady Oaks Friday 91-75, in the first game of the season.
Last year the Racers averaged 73.6 points per game and were able to score 91 points in the opener.
The Racers were led by former OVC Freshman of the year Ke’Shunan James, sophomore from Jackson, Tennessee, with 26 points, four rebounds and six steals. James gave a lot of credit to the whole team for putting the effort in on offense.
“We always said last year that you might be open but your teammate is always more open,” James said. “We have a lot of shooters on the team, if we can get the ball to them they are going to hit the shots.”
The Racers had the full-court press working which confused the Lady Oaks. Murray State also forced 23 turnovers. However Head Coach Rob Cross said there is a lot to be worked on defensively.
“We forced a lot of turnovers but, we allowed a lot of wide open shots,” Cross said. “I wasn’t very pleased with the defensive effort for the entire 40 minutes.”
LeAsia Wright, junior from Louisville, Kentucky, finished off the game with 17 points and eight rebounds. Jashae Lee, senior from Rialto, California, put 10 points on the board to go along with four rebounds.
The Racers play again Sunday at 3 p.m. at Alabama A&M. Cross said the offense needs to get better if they want to have a chance on Sunday.