Despite being considerably shorthanded the 23rd ranked Murray State Lady Aggies shook off a dismal shooting start but could not overcome a string of third quarter turnovers in 68-54 season-opening loss to Collin County College Wednesday night at Beames Fieldhouse.
With four rotation players, including a pair of starters, sidelined with injuries, the Lady Aggies connected on just one of 15 first quarter field goal attempts but managed six free throws to trail just 16-8 following one stanza.
Spurred by a pair of three pointers from Jade Millan the hosts rallied to within a single point three different times in the second period. The Lady Aggies even had the ball with a chance at the lead with under a minute remaining before going into intermission down 31-28.
Foul trouble forced head coach Steve Lowe to dive further into an inexperienced bench in the third quarter and five consecutive turnovers midway through the frame saw the deficit expand from five to 13 points in a hurry. A Mattie Busby conventional three-point play in the final period fueled a six-point Murray flurry but they could never narrow the gap any further than 11 points the rest of the way.
"We were struggling to score in the first quarter and missed some easy shots early," Lowe stated. "I thought we got some good looks and just couldn't get them to fall but we hit free throws that got us through. I was really pleased with the second quarter. I thought we did a good job defensively keeping them in front of us. The foul trouble in the third period really hurt us because it sidelined the sophomore leaders that we had on the court tonight. We were forced to play some young kids that are still learning and you just can't have that many empty possessions in a row against a good team."
For the game Murray State connected on 31 percent from the field on 16 of 51 shooting and committed 24 turnovers.
Miller topped three Lady Aggies in double figures with 15 points while Busby and Tamara Fournillier each contributed 11. Cristina Laudan had five, Lanie Gooch and Bella Peterson posted four points apiece, Payton James chipped in three with McKenna Johnson and Teniola Okunrinkoya tallying two each. Gooch pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds as well.
"We've always struggled offensively early in the season," Lowe added. "We are still learning to play with one another, especially as shorthanded as we have been. We really haven't had the chance to play that much five-on-five. I think we'll see a lot of growth over the next couple of weeks. I was pleased overall with how we competed tonight and think we'll be okay in the end, when we get people back healthy."
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