Women's Basketball Drops First MVC Matchup with Murray State on the Road Wednesday

MURRAY, Ky. – An uncharacteristic evening in Murray, Kentucky, Wednesday resulted in a 64-46 setback for the Belmont University women's basketball team. In the first Missouri Valley Conference matchup with familiar conference foe Murray State, the Bruins (7-9, 3-2 MVC) couldn't find their groove as the host Racers (10-4, 3-2 MVC) got out to a fast start inside the CFSB Center.

Winning just its fourth game in 24 meetings between the two teams, Murray State held a 10-point advantage in the paint (30-20) and owned a plus-eight (35-27) margin on the glass. Leading the entire way, the Racers went 10-for-10 at the free-throw line and got 20 points from reigning MVC Player of the Week Katelyn Young.

Belmont was scoreless for the first two minutes of the contest before junior guard Destinee Wells opened the Bruins' scoring with a jumper. A three-pointer from senior guard Nikki Baird and a layup by sophomore forward Tessa Miller kept Belmont within a point of Murray State early, but it would be as close as the Bruins would get for the remainder of the evening.

The Racers started 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from the floor and led 16-11 after the first quarter of play.

Starting the second quarter on a 10-3 run, Murray State led by 12 twice in the first half at 26-14 and 34-22 before taking a 13-point, 37-24 lead into the break.

The Racers shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) in the opening 20 minutes while Belmont went 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from the field and 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) from long range in the first half.

It didn't take Murray State long to extend its lead in the third quarter, going up 15 at 41-26 two minutes in following an Alexis Burpo jumper. Back-to-back threes by Baird got the Bruins within nine at 41-32 three-and-a-half minutes into the second half. However, Baird's spark was the most momentum Belmont could generate.

The Racers outscored the Bruins 9-2 the rest of the third quarter and took a commanding 16-point, 50-34 lead into the fourth.
 
A wing three by sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff trimmed the deficit to 12 at 54-42 with 5:42 to go, but Murray State wasted no time in pushing its lead back out to 18 with consecutive buckets from beyond the arc. Both squads managed only four points each in the final four-and-a-half minutes.

Belmont shot just 30.8 percent (8-of-26) in the second half despite outscoring the Racers 10-2 in points off turnovers.
 
Altogether, the Bruins were limited to 33.3 percent (18-of-54) shooting and finished 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from distance. Murray State shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) overall and was 6-for-20 (30 percent) from deep.

Wells, Baird and Miller scored nine points apiece while graduate guard Sydni Harvey added eight. McGuff grabbed a team-high six rebounds and Wells secured five boards and distributed a trio of assists.
 
Young, the 2021-22 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, went 8-for-13 from the field including 2-for-4 from outside for the Racers and Burpo tallied 10 points and eight rebounds. Murray State also got nine points and eight boards from Hannah McKay.

Of Note
Belmont leads the all-time series with the Racers, 20-4. Murray State's win over the Bruins is the first in Kentucky in over 23 years as the Racers' last home victory in the series before Wednesday came on Jan. 3, 2000. The win is only Murray State's second since the two teams became conference adversaries in 2012-13. Wells has been held in single figures just nine times in 72 career games. Miller's nine points ties her season high.

Up Next
Belmont returns to the Music City this weekend as the Bruins begin their second three-game homestand with Illinois State Sunday afternoon. Tipoff from the Curb is set for 2 p.m. with the game broadcast on regional television, including Bally Sports and select NBC Sports Chicago Plus markets. The MVC home matchup will also be broadcast on ESPN+ out of market.

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