By MARLON SCOTT | Senior Staff Writer
The Lady Govs made it a clean sweep for the season against heated rivals, the Murray Racers, with a 76-72 win on Saturday, Feb. 6.
It was the second game of a three-game road trip that began with a loss to Tennessee-Martin Thursday, Feb. 4. The Lady Govs recovered well in Murray, Ky.
Junior guard Ashley Herring and sophomore guard Whitney Hanley scored 20 points. They are the first pair of players to score 20 points in the same game this season. Herring passed the 1000 point mark for her career at APSU.
Sophomore center Jasmine Rayner tied a career high in her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
Murray’s senior guard Kayla Vance led all scorers with 23 points.
“This is a huge win for our team, especially the way we loss on Thursday,” said Lady Govs head coach Carrie Daniels. “To come back, especially on the road as well; we have not been very successful on the road this season.”
Whatever hangover the Lady Govs were suffering from, the loss against Tennessee-Martin was clearly gone at the beginning of the game against Murray. Herring capped off a 23-10 start with two free throws at the 9:53 mark.
Aggressive plays by the Lady Govs guards helped subdue the Racers, who remained behind at halftime 31-25. The Racers made only 9-of-33 (27 percent) from the field in the first half.Conversely, the Lady Govs made 12-of-28 (43 percent) and shot 80 percent (4-of-5) from the free-throw line.
“I thought we came out from the tip and we played very intense, very aggressive,” Daniels said. “We were ready when that ball was tipped and that is something we have not always done this season. I was very excited and impressed with the team from the get go.”
The Lady Govs maintained their edge until Murray made an 11-4 run and took their first lead 50-49, with 8:57 remaining in the game.
The two teams battled for control until Lady Gov freshman forward Meghan Bussabarger came off the bench and hit some clutch shots.
Bussabarger drained a 3-pointer at the 1:31 mark to give the Lady Govs a 71-68 lead. She later hit a short jumper just inside the free throw line to maintain the three-point lead with less than a minute left in the game. Afterwards, the Lady Govs made 3-of-4 at the free-throw line to steal the win.
“We weathered the storm when they came at us. I felt like even though they came and they took the lead away from us, we came back and we didn’t fold which we could have done,” Daniels said.
“We could have hung our heads after losing two straight games. I was very proud. I saw a team on that floor.”
