The Racers defeated Belmont to gain their second NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2008
The Murray State Racers completed an impressive three-day run of championship play Sunday when they defeated the Belmont Bruins 83-62 to win the Credit Union 1 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament championship at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The Racers, the No. 1 seed and co-champion in the regular season, improved to 25-7 to set the program record for wins in a season, topping the 24 that the 2007-08 team and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history and the first since 2008. It’s the 24th time in MVC history that the regular season winner also won the tournament championship.
An NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday gathering will happen Sunday night at 7 p.m. in the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
Katelyn Young became the first Racer to reach 3,000 career points (14th in NCAA D-I) by scoring 23 of her 34 in the first half, while Halli Poock scored 22 points and Ava learn recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Haven Ford added five points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Playing very well for a third game in Evansville with a big first half, the Racers hit the Bruins with an amazing run of 30-14 in the second quarter to grab a 45-29 lead. In the first half, the Racers hit 17-of-31 for 55 percent, 9-of-16 from the 3-point line for 56 percent and they were 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
In the third quarter, the Racers had a string of five-straight missed shots, but they held the Bruins to 1-of-12 from the field. The quarter ended with MSU getting a 6-0 run when Young scored on a feed from Briley Pena to give the Racers a 57-48 lead, setting up a drama-filled fourth stanza.
The suspense was highlighted by Ford, who left the game about 2:30 remaining in the third quarter with a hand injury. After retreating to the locker room, she came back to the MSU bench as the fourth quarter began to an amazing ovation from the MSU faithful.
With 4:22 left Pena hit her second 3-pointer of the day after a loose ball grab and pass from Young to put the Racers in front 73-58. Young and Poock got the Racers closer to a title with back-to-back threes 79-58 with 3:01 left.
The day completed an amazing transformation for MSU Head Coach Rechelle Turner, who took the Racers into their first season in The Valley in 2022-23 when they were 15-16 overall and 7-13 in MVC play, to two seasons later, where they win a share of the league regular season championship and now the tournament title.
Game Notes
- MSU’s Katelyn Young was named the MVC Tournament MVP, while Halli Poock and Haven Ford were also named to the MVC All-Tournament Team.
- Young averaged 25.7ppg in the event on 31-of-52 from the field for 58 percent, 7-of-16 from the 3-point line for 44 percent and 8-of-9 from the free throw line for 89 percent.
- Poock averaged 20.3ppg in the event on 19-of-35 from the field for 54 percent, 9-of-20 from the 3-point line for 45 percent and 14-of-19 from the free throw line for 74 percent.
- Ford averaged 193.3ppg in the event on 10-of-24 from the field for 42 percent, 4-of-10 from the 3-point line for 40 percent and 16-of-17 from the free throw line for 4 percent.
- MSU is 20-2 when they make at least eight 3-pointers this season and they were 14-of-27 today for 45 percent.
- MSU is 22-2 this season when they score 80 points or more, with the only losses at Belmont 96-89 (Feb. 1) and home against Drake 92-86 (Feb. 13).
- The Racers scored 265 points in their three wins at the MVC Tournament to set a new scoring mark, MSU broke the previous record of 263 points by Drake in 2007, when the Bulldogs did it in four games, while the Racers accumulated their total in three games.
- The Racers’ second quarter of 30-14 saw the team shoot 79 percent from the field on 11-of-14, including 6-of-8 from the 3-point line for 75 percent.
- During MSU’s second quarter, the Racers hit 11 of their final 13 field goal attempts heading into halftime, which included five in a row from the 3-point line from Poock who hit two, with Young hitting a pair and Learn hitting one.
- Young outscored the Bruins by herself in the second quarter 16-14 and was 6-of-6 from the field (2-of-2 3PT and 2-of-2 FT).
- The first half was very good to the Racers in this event as they led Bradley 49-29 (+20) in the quarterfinals, led Drake 59-43 (+14) in the semifinals and today led Belmont 45-29 (+16).
MSU Team Tournament Notes
- MSU’s average lead in the first half for the three games was 16.6 points, outscoring the opponent 153-101 (+52).
- In three games in the event, the Racers hit 89-of-176 from the field for .506, 35-of-79 from the 3-point line for .443 and 52-of-61 from the free throw line for .852.
- The Racers are 5-2 in the MVC Tournament in three appearances and they have won three-straight games for the first time.
- MSU has won a season-best 10-straight games since a 92-86 loss to Drake in Murray on Feb. 13.
- MSU’s 10-game win streak last season is the best in eight seasons for MSU head coach Rechelle Turner at MSU.
- 11 in a row is the MSU program record from the 2008-09 season.
Katelyn Young Notes
- Young’s first half performance was high-level with 24 points, 9-11 FG, 2-2 3PT, 4-4 FT, 2 REB, 5A in 24 minutes
- Young has played 154 games in five seasons with the Racers and now has 3,023 points and moved past Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller (Southern California, 1986) with 3,018 in 128 games.
- Young has 12 games this season with 10 or more made field goals, with a season-high of 15 at Belmont (Feb. 1).
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