Click here to view a photo gallery of the Ohio Valley Conference Championship game against Murray State.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Eastern women’s basketball team couldn’t cut into Murray State’s deficit.

And at the end of the game, they couldn’t cut down the nets, either.

Murray State senior guard Shaleea Petty put up a running jumper in the lane with 1 minute, 39 seconds remaining in the game. The shot hit, and Eastern was too far down with too little time left.

Petty’s jumper put the Racers ahead by 11 points.

Eastern never recovered from the deficit as the Panthers lost, 69-58, in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship on March 8 at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

It was the first time Eastern had ever been in an OVC Tournament Championship game. Murray State (24-7) earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the win.

Murray State had too much momentum and was more efficient from the field.

The Racers shot 35 percent from the field and 29-of-38 (76 percent) from the free-throw line.

Eastern (19-13) had trouble from the field.

The Panthers shot 28 percent (15-53), which included 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.

Even down at the end of the game, Eastern didn’t rely on 3-pointers.

“I think our team also understand there’s been games where we haven’t shot the 3 very, very well,” said Eastern head coach Brady Sallee. “Clearly, we didn’t shoot it very well today, so the last thing we were going to do was clang it up there just to clang it up there.”

Sallee said Murray State’s game plan affected the Panthers’ shooting.

“This is a little bit different stage,” Sallee said. “When you shoot 28 percent, it’s hard to beat a team like Murray State.”

The OVC Tournament Most Valuable Player and Murray State junior guard Amber Guffey led the Racers with 27 points and hit all of her 3-pointers in the second half.

“We didn’t have it in our game plan to guard Guffey from the concession stand, and she hit a couple from there,” Sallee said.

Guffey hit three-pointers with 18:57, 13:01 and 3:33 left in the game. Her last 3-pointer extended Murray State’s lead to 54-45.

Racer junior forward Ashley Hayes added 17 points, and senior guard Alaina Lee chipped in 15 points. Only two other Racers scored in the game.

“They just put so many talented players on the floor,” Sallee said. “Ashley Hayes is such a bear to guard with her dribble drive and pull-up (jump shot). You have to help, and you have to expend so much energy that when they kick it out and they hit those shots they make it very tough to guard.”

Eastern junior forward Rachel Galligan led the Panthers with 23 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Maggie Kloak added nine points, and junior forward Lindsey Kluempers and red-shirt sophomore guard Megan Edwards scored seven points each.

Galligan shot 4-of-12 from the field but finished 15-of-16 at the free-throw line.

Galligan said every time Eastern plays Murray State, she thinks she is going to get to the free throw line often.

“I really felt it was going to be tough to get my shots off,” Galligan said.

The Panthers’ coch agreed.

“Every time we play Murray State, it’s going to be physical,” Sallee said.

Galligan finished her junior season with 500 points, the most by a Panther since 2002. Galligan broke Eastern’s career free-throw record and tied the Eastern single-game mark for free throws made for the second time this season. She also established a new single-season record for free throws made for the second year in a row. Her 15 made free throws in the loss represent an OVC Tournament record. Her 28-of-31 showing in Eastern’s three tourney games was also a record for made free throws.

Galligan represented Eastern on the OVC All-Tournament Team.

Murray State led 31-21 at halftime.

Murray State’s speed echoed the Racers’ namesake in the first half. The Racers had eight steals in the first half. Petty had six steals for the game.

“I knew it was going to be a game of runs and one of our keys, and it was going to be our mentality and how we were going to handle the run,” said Murray State head coach Jody Adams.

Murray State lost in last year’s OVC Tournament championship game, 62-60, to Southeast Missouri.

“We wanted to get back to this position because we knew we could win it – we could go all the way if we worked hard,” Hayes said.

The Panthers will be in a similar position for next season.

All but one player, senior Brittney Coleman, will return next year.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.

Sophomore guard Megan Edwards dribbles the ball up court against Murray State’s press defense during the Ohio Valley Conference Championship game last weekend in Nashville, Tenn. (John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

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