Late surge lifts Lenox past Murray
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| SETTING THE SCREEN: Murray’s Amber Rider drives the ball to the basket as teammate Ashley Rider sets a screen on a Lenox defender. Amber scored 18 and added Ashley added 11 in a 49-41 loss to the Tigers Thursday night in Lenox. (S-T photo by Matt Pfiffner) |
A huge discrepancy at the free throw line played a big role in the Murray girls’ basketball team’s 49-41 loss at home Thursday night to Lenox.
The Tigers went 14-for-23 at the charity stripe, including 4-for-7 in the final 1:22 of the game, while the Mustangs only shot three free throws all night, making one.
Murray trailed most of the second half, including 41-37 with 2:20 left in the game, when Ashley Rider scored a basket to bring the Mustangs to within two. Seconds later, Ashley Rider stole the ball under Lenox’s basket and tossed the ball to Amber Rider for a layup to knot the score at 41-41 with two minutes remaining.
The Mustangs would go scoreless the rest of the way, while the Tigers knocked down enough free throws and scored a late basket to pull away.
Murray fell to 3-4 with the loss.
Amber Rider finished the night with 18 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals before fouling out. Ashley Rider added 11 points, four rebounds and six steals. Tessa Otto had eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Summer Glasener had four rebounds, two steals and two assists.
The Mustangs improved to 2-1 in the Bluegrass Conference with a 40-39 victory Dec. 15 at home over Diagonal.
Murray trailed 17-13 at halftime, but outscored the Maroons 16-9 in the third to take the lead by three. Diagonal rallied in the closing minute, but the Mustangs were able to hold on for the league win.
“A hard-fought battle was finally won by the Mustangs,” Murray Coach Jerry Shields said. “We had a six point lead with less than a minute left, but couldn’t make our free throws down the stretch. We were just lucky to hang on.”
Otto had nine points and five rebounds, while Glasener added eight points, three assists and three steals. Amber Kilmer had eight rebounds and six points, Ashley Rider had nine rebounds and six points, Haley Hodges grabbed eight rebounds and Amber Rider had six points, 10 rebounds, three assists and six steals.
The Mustangs and Maroons will meet again after break on Jan. 5 at Diagonal in a non-conference contest.
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