Five minutes into the first period, the Murray State Racers began to pull away from the Lady Govs and by the end of the period, the score was 23-9.
The Racers came out of the gate in the second period with back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore guard Jasmine Borders.
Shortly after the Racers’ run, Lady Govs junior center Tearra Banks cut the deficit to 12 points, scoring four consecutive times from inside the paint.
By the half, the Lady Govs had cut the deficit to seven with a halftime score of 38-31.
Senior guard Tiasha Gray opened up the second half with a layup followed by an open 3-pointer to add to the Lady Govs momentum going into the second half.
During a 7-0 run, Sydney Gooch, Tearra Banks and Beth Rates attacked the paint down low and with a shot from behind the arc from Keisha Gregory.
The Lady Govs found themselves in the lead for the first time with 2:30 remaining in the third and a score of 50-48.
Tiasha Gray knocked down a buzzer beater 3-pointer to end the third with a score of 61-50.
From the moment the Lady Govs took the lead in the third, they refused to look back and continued to add to their lead throughout the fourth leading to an 81-72 win over rivals Murray State.
Gray led the Lady Govs with her third 30-point performance of the season, leaving her 6 points shy of the second place spot on APSU’s career scoring list currently held by Gerlonda Hardin with 1,863 points (2000-04).
Sophomore forward Sydney Gooch picked up her fifth double-digit game with a career-high 19-point performance.
The Lady Govs and Murray State find themselves just shy of the OVC tournament with a tie for sixth place after their game.
The Lady Govs have a chance at a tournament spot with fifth place if they defeat Southeast Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. or if Tennessee State University loses to Morehead State.
