The Murray State Racers saw their historic basketball season come to an end Saturday in Oklahoma at the hands of Iowa in the opening round of the women's NCAA tournament.
The Racers fell 92-57 to the Hawkeyes to end their 10-game win streak, but it also ended a 17-year absence from March Madness.
The Racers (25-8) kept it close in the first half, down only five with 90 seconds left until intermission. But Iowa broke out a 7-0 run to take a 42-30 lead into the break.
Then, half a minute into the second half, Murray's all-time leading scorer, Katelyn Young, went down with an injured ankle. Young never returned for the rest of the game, ending her career on the sideline.
Iowa’s defense held the Racers to a season-low 31% from the field and 17% from the three-point line. Their 57 points was also a season low.
Halli Poock led the Racers with 15 points. Haven Ford, Braxcynn Baker and Ava Learn all finished with eight points.
Young finished her career with 3,029 points, 14th all-time in Division 1 women’s basketball.
The Racers were co-regular season champions and tournament champions of the Missouri Valley Conference.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Sunday was maybe the biggest single day in the history of women's basketball at Murray State.
The Racers defeated Belmont in convincing 83-62 fashion to capture the Missouri Valley Conference championship at Evansville. But that was just the beginning.
During that game, Katelyn Young surpassed 3,000 points for her Racer career, and moved into 14th place on the all-time NCAA scoring list. But the day wasn't over yet.
When the team arrived home to the CFSB Center, they were just in time for March Madness Selection Sunday activities. That's when they got the news that they'll meet the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Racers (25-7) were given a No. 11 seed and Iowa (22-10) is a No. 6 seed. The game is scheduled for 11 a.m. on ESPN.
A Murray State win would advance them into a Monday second-round game against the winner of No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 13 Florida Gulf Coast.
It's just the second NCAA tournament appearance in school history. In 2008, the Racers were a No. 14 seed and played No. 3 Duke in a 78-57 loss.
For the Racers, it has been a remarkable season in which the team has risen to a No. 51 NCAA Net ranking. The Racers enter the tourney as the highest scoring team in the nation, with an average of 87.8 points per game.
MSU enters the postseason with a school record 25 wins, and riding a 10-game winning streak that is one away from the program record set in 2009.
In five seasons for the Racers, Young has 3,023 points and moved past Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller (Southern California, 1986) with 3,018.
(Photo MSU Athletics)
On the Net:
NCAA.com - brackets, game/broadcast times
