03/16/2025
Racer women are one game from NCAAs, may have had perfect prep opponent
By JOHN WRIGHT
Sports Editor
[email protected]
EVANSVILLE - There is no question that Murray State’s final hurdle to clear for a first-ever Credit Union 1 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament title may be about as difficult as any they could have scheduled.
Of course it has to be seemingly forever tormentor Belmont, the program that has historically dominated the Racers (24-7), first in the Ohio Valley Conference, then in their current league after both jumped from the OVC in 2022-23. Belmont secured its spot as the Racers’ opponent in Sunday’s title tilt by defeating the team that shared the co-Valley regular season title with Murray State, Missouri State, 76-67 in Saturday’s second semifinal at the Ford Center in downtown Evansville.
However, while Belmont (22-11) has a firm 18-3 series lead, it must be noted that all three of the Racers’ wins have come in the past five seasons, under the person leading Murray State into battle on Sunday, Head Coach Rechelle Turner. More than likely, no Racer team will be entering a Belmont matchup more battle-hardened and prepared.
Saturday’s first semifinal was a crucible as the Racers almost ruined a sensational performance by allowing two-time defending Valley champion Drake to roar back from a 24-point deficit in the third quarter and cut that lead to as little as four points before emerging with 96-90 win over a team full of seasoned veterans. Turner admitted after the game that Drake’s big-game experience was a concern before Saturday’s matchup.
“That was one of the things I was thinking about at 2:30 this morning when I couldn’t sleep is … they’ve done that over and over and over (led by veteran trio of 6’3” forward Anna Miller, dependable forward Courtney Becker and the incomparable two-time Valley Player of the Year, guard Katie Dinnebier) and they’re going to have the advantage of having been in that situation,” Turner said, whose team found a way, in the face of Dinnebier scoring 29 of her game-high 45 points, to hold the line, confirming her next comment.
“I believe in my team and I believe in the resilience, the selflessness, the grit that Murray State basketball has. It was never a question of whether we can get this done (giving the Racers two wins this season against a Drake program routinely considered among the best in the nation at the mid-major level). It was will we play well enough to get it done.”
If Murray State plays a full four quarters Sunday as it did for the first three on Saturday, Belmont will have to have one incredible offensive showing inside the Ford Center, which they are capable of producing. After all, the Bruins won the first game of the season between the teams by a 96-89 final score in Nashville. That day, Belmont was a deadly 16-for-28 from 3-point range. Yet, it had to have two huge ones in the final two minutes to break an 83-83 tie in a game that was a back-and-forth slugfest.
Through the first three quarters on Saturday, Murray State was a juggernaut. It led, 81-64, having hit 27 of its 47 shots from the field (57.4%). However, that plummeted to only 2-for-12 in the final 10 minutes, and Turner said she thinks she knows the answer.
“There’s a fine line in this system and we’re better off when we play fast and I think we shut it down early,” said Turner, adding one last and very emphatic thought. “That’s on me.”
Something else Turner has allowed her team to do is something many coaches find to be tabboo … talk about things like imagining being in the exact position the Racers now find themselves. In the media room, Turner did not bat an eye as senior forward Ava Learn talked about what Sunday can bring.
“In terms of the NCAAs, it’s an amazing opportunity (and she has experienced that event at Purdue of the Big Ten) and I think something else the girls need to also remember is the experience in and of itself, because not many people can say they’ve been to that tournament,” said Learn, who was one of three Racers to score 18 points - guards Halli Poock and Haven Ford being the others - and made it a double-double with 11 rebounds. She aded one more last thought on Sunday’s encounter.
“I just think it’s going to be so much fun.”
The Racers led, 58-43, at halftime, thanks to their now five-time all-conference first-team selection, forward Katelyn Young scoring 24 of her team-high 30 points in the first half. As for her, she probably had the simplest statement for how she intends to prepare for Sunday’s battle.
“Lots of rest,” said Young, who earned her third first-team honor from The Valley after two such honors in the OVC.
This game is going to be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 1. Radio coverage will also be available on WBZB 104.5 with Voice of the Racers Jeremy Rose bringing all of the action for this historic moment in Murray State athletics, with pregame set for 12:30.
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