Turner wins debut as coach

Story by DJ Pigg, staff writer

Murray State’s women’s basketball team’s high-scoring antics were in full effect Thursday night in its exhibition game against Georgetown College, winning 108-56.

The Racers played a fast-paced game and put an abundance of pressure on the Tigers, scoring 45 of their 108 points off of 33 forced turnovers, including 25 steals.

The Racers had four players in double-figure scoring with senior forward Ke’shunan James scoring 20, junior forward Abria Gulledge scoring 21, senior guard Bria Bethea adding 18 and senior guard Jasmine Borders notching 11.

After a slow start in the first quarter, the Racers’ shooting picked up in the last three quarters. They finished the game on 52.5% shooting from the field, 40.6% from behind the arc, and 57.9% from the free throw line.

New Head coach Rechelle Turner looks to have implemented a new, upbeat style of play by adding more pressure to the opposing team and pushing for her players to score in transition. Bethea credited Murray State’s fast-pace play to their being better conditioned this season compared to last season.

“She’s going to have us pressing a lot more this season,” Bethea said. “You just saw a little glimpse of what we can actually do. It’s good, because we’re a lot more in shape this season, so it’s easier than if we’d have tried to play this way last year because we’re in better shape.”

Turner said it was an exciting experience to get her first game as a collegiate coach under her belt at Murray State.

“Our staff has done a great job of building these relationships with these kids that weren’t there at first, so I had a proud momma moment. I tell them all the time that I have momma moments. It was really just a sense of pride to see them out there on the floor in their uniforms knowing that they were going to represent Murray State.”

The Racers hope to carry the momentum gained from their exhibition into their season opener at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12, at the University of Evansville.

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