DeLAND, Fla. – Keiona Kirby scored a game-high 28 points and Jessica Winfrey added 16 to help Murray State defeat Bethune-Cookman by a count of 81-70 in the final game of the 2013 Hatter Classic on Saturday afternoon from the Edmunds Center. For Bethune-Cookman, senior Chastity René Taylor was selected to the all-tournament team, averaging 16 points and five rebounds in two games for the Wildcats.
Right from the beginning, B-CU head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis – now in her sixth season at the helm in Daytona Beach, knew Murray State (7-5) was going to take its fair share of three-pointers. In fact, 50 percent of the Racers' shots came from beyond the arc, but they connected on 34.4 percent of those attempts.
Murray State's Keiona Kirby began the game with three consecutive long range baskets, while teammates Julia Fox, Jashae Lee and Kendra Fox netted three-pointers themselves to give the Racers a 20-13 lead with 9:08 left in the first half.
Of their first seven made field goals, five were three-pointers, with Taylor Porter accounting for a three-point play from the foul line.
With the Racers using a box-and-one defensive strategy on Wildcats sharp-shooter Chastity René Taylor, Bethune-Cookman (3-9) looked towards the inside to score points.
After a made jumper from just inside the foul line by Kiara Redmon trimmed the Racers' lead at 31-22, Murray State used another three-pointer – this time from Antonia Niebler, as well as another three-point play from Kirby to extend its lead at 37-22 at the half.
In the second half, Deja Gibson and Alea Godfrey cut the MSU lead down to 39-30 just under two minutes in, but another timely three-pointer from Porter – one of her two in the contest, extended the Racers lead back to 12 just seconds later.
B-CU would be unable to get the game down to single digits again despite baskets from Shakeyia Colyer and Kayla Crawford down the stretch.
The MSU lead extended to its largest of the game at 75-55 following another Fox three-point basket, but Colyer and Crawford combined with Taylor's efforts at the foul line to chip into the deficit at 75-63 with 2:30 remaining in the game.
The Racers would convert late free throws in order to preserve the victory and lift their record to 1-1 in the Hatter Classic. With the loss, Bethune-Cookman fell to 0-2 on the weekend.
Murray State used 28 points from Kirby, connecting on 4-of-10 shots from long range, as well as a 12-of-14 performance at the foul line. Winfrey registered a double-double with 16 points and 18 boards (10 defensive); while Porter contributed 13 points off the bench.
Bethune-Cookman dominated the post with a 40-20 advantage on points in the paint, but just a 3-for-16 effort from the three-point area proved to be the difference. The Wildcats shot 92.9 percent from the foul line, and led in second chance points (16-11), despite being outrebounded by a slim 45-42 margin.
Godfrey and Colyer paced the Wildcats offensively with 11 points each, and Redmon provided 10 points and seven rebounds. Taylor picked up a season-high seven rebounds from her guard position, despite being harassed all game defensively from the Racers' defensive exploits.
For Godfrey, the 10-point outburst was a season-high for the Barrett Station, Texas native.
Bethune-Cookman will break for the holidays before returning to the friendly confines of Moore Gymnasium for a nonconference matchup with East Carolina on Dec. 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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