Murray State is going dancing!
WBB: The Racers win the Valley Tournament title with an 83-62 win over Belmont
Murray State defeated Belmont, 83-62, Sunday afternoon in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game. Here’s what you need to know:
With the win, the Racers won a school record 25th game, and will go back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.
Katelyn Young, while scoring her 3,000th career point in the game, led the Racers with 34 points to earn tournament MVP honors.
Halli Poock scored 22 points, making six three-pointers, and was named to the All-Tournament team.
Ava Learn had 10 points and 12 rebounds, Briley Pena had eight points, and Haven Ford scored five points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out nine assists.
Murray State will find out where they’re headed for the NCAA Tournament when the selection show begins at 7:00pm tonight.
Mission: Accomplished
In a season with so many expectations, Murray State checked off every box in front of them. After clinching a regular season championship last week, the Racers ripped off three wins in Evansville in dominant fashion. In 120 minutes of tournament action, the Racers trailed for a grand total of 25 seconds in Evansville on their way to the NCAA Tournament.
“They were ready to go,” Murray State Head Coach Rechelle Turner said. “We knew it was going to be tough, especially the first part of the game, because of the defense that Belmont was going to play and just the unbelievable coaching job that they do. We knew it was going to be tough. We struggled to score a little bit at times, but we just kept coming. (We) made some big shots, made some big plays. I think the one thing that will probably get overlooked this week is how good our defense was.”
Between the 50 points the Racers allowed against Bradley in the quarterfinals, and the 62 they gave up to Belmont today, those were two of the ten best defensive efforts, in terms of points allowed, Murray State has had all season.
Haven is Ford tough
In the middle of the third quarter, sophomore guard Haven Ford left the game with a dislocated finger that had broken through the skin. After she went back to the locker room to have Murray State’s training staff and doctor work on it, Ford returned to the floor several minutes later to a standing ovation from the Racer crowd. In a remarkable show of toughness, Ford played nine minutes in the fourth quarter before she was taken out with a minute to go as the celebration began.
“I'm telling you, that kid is tough as nails,” Turner said. “(There’s) nobody I'd rather go to battle with.”
“The medical staff did a great job of getting me back out there fast. It's just digging in. It's just doing what I know that I can do, and just getting back out there for my team.”
Kate the Great breaks through another glass ceiling
As part of her 34-point, Tournament MVP performance, Katelyn Young passed the 3,000-point mark for her career, becoming just the 17th woman to reach that milestone in a career.
“That’s something to be proud of,” Turner said. “But more than anything, she got rewarded for being so loyal, coming back and leading us to a championship.”
With 3,023 points, Young is now officially in 15th place on the Division I all-time scoring list.
It’s time to dance
After 18 long years, and for just the second time in program history, Murray State’s women are heading to the NCAA Tournament. For the Racer seniors, this is a moment they’ve dreamed about their entire lives.
“The last goal of mine is obviously the NCAA Tournament,” Young said. “We've made it finally, so just making some memories in the NCAA Tournament is what I really want now.”
“I'm so excited,” senior forward Ava Learn said. “It's just going to be a once in a lifetime kind of thing.”
Now we wait
The Racers will find out their tournament destination at 7:00pm during the NCAA Tournament selection show.