Live running diary: #1 Murray State vs. #9 Bradley
WBB: Get my live thoughts as the Racers and Braves meet in the MVC Tournament
11:48am: Welcome to the Ford Center in Evansville and the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Man, I’ve got so many fun memories of watching the Racer men here over the years. Now it’s time for the Murray State women to make their mark. The #1-seed Racers will play #9-seed Bradley here in the tournament quarterfinals. There’s a great Racer Nation turnout so far, literally outnumbering the Bradley fans 50-to-1 — maybe more.
11:51am: No surprises in the starting lineup for the Racers: Katelyn Young, Ava Learn, Haven Ford, Halli Poock and Trinity White. Bradley is going with Kaylen Nelson, Claire McDougall, Soleil Barnes, Amy O’Hara and Ellie McDermid.
12:01pm: The Racers are in their home white uniforms, while Bradley is in their road reds. Let’s roll!
12:12pm: Murray State 12, Bradley 2 — 7:28 1st quarter
What a start for the Racers! They’ve forced four Bradley turnovers, turned those into eight points, scoring eight points in the paint, and Trinity White just bombed an early three-pointer to force a Bradley timeout. The Racers are 5-for-6 out of the game from the field, as all five starters scored in the first 2:30 of the game.
12:26pm: Murray State 29, Bradley 16 — End 1st Quarter
What a pristine quarter from the Racers. Murray State forced seven Bradley turnovers in first 4:00 of the game and buried the Braves early. Back-to-back three-pointers from Bradley cut an early 14-2 deficit back down to six.
That’s the when the Racers went on a heater of their own. Haven Ford and Halli Poock knocked down back-to-back three-pointers, as the Racers made all four triples they attempted in the quarter. Bradley hasn’t scored more than 75 points in a game all year, and only reached 70 one time in their last 22 games. This is a danger zone for the Braves. Poock is playing great against her former team with nine first quarter points.
1st quarter stats:
FG: Murray State 12-15 (80.0%); Bradley 6-11 (54.5%)
3PT: Murray State 4-4 (100.0%); Bradley 2-5 (40.0%)
Rebounding: Murray State 5; Bradley 4
Turnovers: Murray State 5; Bradley 7
12:35pm: Murray State 46, Bradley 24 — 4:18 2nd Quarter
Murray State is shooting the lights out so far. They’re at 72.0% from the field so far, and it’s the perfect encapsulation of modern basketball. The Racers have scored 22 points in the paint, 21 points from the three-point line, and three at the charity stripe. If Bradley doesn’t stop the bleeding quickly, this will be an early TKO for the Racers. Halli Poock has 12 points Haven Ford has 11 to lead the Racers.
12:50pm: Murray State 49, Bradley 29 — HALF
The Racers torrid shooting cooled slightly, but they still take a 20-point lead to the locker room. 47 of Murray State’s 49 points came from their starting five.
Halftime stats:
FG: Murray State 19-32 (59.4%); Bradley 11-28 (39.3%)
3PT: Murray State 7-12 (58.3%); Bradley 5-9 (55.6%)
Rebounding: Murray State 19; Bradley 12
Turnovers: Murray State 8; Bradley 9
1:10pm: Murray State 57, Bradley 35 — 4:59 3rd Quarter
A slow start for the Racers as they missed their first five shots and turned it over twice in the first 2:45 of the quarter. Despite their offensive issues, Murray State didn’t really lose any ground by giving up just two early points to Bradley. Poock continues her path of rage as she finished another old fashioned three-point play — she’s got 17 to lead all scorers.
1:25pm: Murray State 63, Bradley 42 — End 3rd Quarter
Only 14 points in a quarter is certainly disappointing for the Racers, but when you give up just 13 points, you’ll take it. Murray State has never really been able to put the final separation between themselves and Bradley, but this one is all but over. I expect Rechelle Turner to begin resting her starters ASAP in the fourth as she phases them out of the lineup.
3rd quarter stats:
FG: Murray State 24-47 (51.1%); Bradley 17-41 (41.5%)
3PT: Murray State 8-16 (50.0%); Bradley 5-12 (41.7%)
Rebounding: Murray State 29; Bradley 19
Turnovers: Murray State 12; Bradley 13
1:30pm: Murray State 72, Bradley 46 — 4:57 4th Quarter
If there was any doubt left in this one, the Racers ended it in a hurry. Briley Pena, Haven Ford and Ava Learn hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead to 72-44 with 8:00 left, which allowed Rechelle Turner to start going to her bench. The Racers have now made 10+ triples in a game 18 times this season.
1:40pm: Murray State, Bradley xx — FINAL
For the first time in program history, the Racers are into the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, where they’ll face the winner of Drake and Illinois State tomorrow at 1:30pm here in Evansville. Halli Poock led the Racers with 21 points, while Haven Ford had 17, Katelyn Young had 13 and Ava Learn chipped in with 10.
Murray State is also now 8-0 when Trinity White hits at least two three-pointers in a game this season.
Final stats:
FG: Murray State 32-63 (50.8%); Bradley 20-58 (34.5%)
3PT: Murray State 12-26 (46.2%); Bradley 5-19 (26.3%)
Rebounding: Murray State 46; Bradley 24
Turnovers: Murray State 17; Bradley 15
I’ll have a ‘Ride Home’ posted later tonight.