Story by Gage Johnson
Senior writer
gjohnson17@murraystate.edu
Coming off of their first road victory of the season, the Racers looked to replicate that success, but fell short losing 75-67 Eastern Illinois in a battle then went down to the wire on Thursday afternoon.
The Panthers came flying out of the gates with an extremely efficient first quarter. Shooting 10-16 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arch, EIU shot 62.5 percent from the field, outscoring the Racers 27-19.
While the Panthers continued to succeed offensively, they stifled the Racers offensively. Murray State shot 29 percent from the field in the first half, going 9-for-31 from the field and 2-for-10 from three. After a layup by sophomore guard Kayle Pace at the buzzer for her 11th point of the half, EIU took a 44-32 lead into the locker room.
Faced with a 12-point deficit going into the second half, the Racers were poised to come back and earn their second straight win on the road.
With 2:45 minutes left in the third quarter, freshman guard Macey Turley knocked down a pull-up three to grab Murray State’s first lead of the night at 51-50. The two teams went back and forth from there on, as the Racers’ 52-percent third quarter shooting led to the score being knotted up at 56 entering the fourth quarter.
EIU regained the lead early in the fourth quarter with a three from senior guard Grace Lennox. Despite the Racers’ best efforts, eight turnovers in the quarter allowed the Panthers to come away with a 75-67 victory.
The Racers outrebounded EIU 41-29 en route to 17 second-chance points, but Murray State turned the ball over 23 times in the game leading to 26 points off turnovers for the Panthers. Only 13 of the Racers’ 26 turnovers were steals.
EIU had four players score in double figures, as Pace led all scorers with 23 points on the afternoon. Lennox followed with 16, while senior guard Carmen Tellez tallied 13 and sophomore guard Taylor Steele scored 10.
Turley led the way for the Racers with 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting, while junior forward Evelyn Adebayo went for another double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The two combined for 13 turnovers that afternoon.
Murray State will wrap up its four-game road stint when they take on SIUE at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Sam M. Vadalabene Center.