"We're definitely going to have to play one of our best defensive games", Hawkeyes not taking Murray State lightly

What started with Jan Jensen simply sitting down to watch her alma mater Drake and friend Allison Pohlman face off against Murray State in the MVC Tournament, quickly turned into scouting for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Although Jensen wasn’t in scouting mode as she watched the Bulldogs fall to the Racers 96-90 in the MVC semifinals, she was impressed with what she saw. Just over 24 hours later, Murray State popped up as the Hawkeyes first round opponent in the Norman Regional.

“I’m watching as a fan. I’m sitting on my couch… (Murray State) was up 30 when I turned it on, and I haven’t seen Drake 30 many times in my life. Drake closed the gap, but I remember thinking that team’s hot, they’re kind of fun,” said Jensen. “Then the next day we get the draw, and it was like, gosh, we’ve got Murray State. That’s what’s fun about the tournament.”

“When I started watching with a more critical eye, they just love to go fast…They’re kind of an offensive juggernaut, but they run really good stuff when they’re not going fast. We’re definitely going to have to play one of our best defensive games.”

Although Murray State may not be the first team that comes to mind when you think of ‘offensive juggernaut’ in the women’s game, they have a high-octane offense capable of filling up the scoreboard. The Racers are the top-scoring offense in the country, averaging 87.8 points per game, and rank second only to Arkansas State in three-pointers made, averaging 10.3 per contest. Over their last six games, they are putting 91.5 points per game, including pouring 96 points on Drake. Jan Jensen wasn’t the only one watching that game. Syd Affolter’s attention was captured by the Racers as well.

“They do push the ball. I watched when they played Drake and they like to get up and down a lot,” said Affolter. “We have all the respect for them.”

The 11th-seeded Racers have a number of offensive threats, but 6-foot-1 grad senior forward Katelyn Young leads the way, averaging 22.2 points per game. A First Team All-MVC selection, Young is active leading scorer in DI women’s college basketball, with 3,023 career points. She has scored 20+ points in 22 games this season, including six games with 30+ points. Jan Jensen had a lot of praise for Young’s game.

“She is just so smooth as a shooter. Her elbow jumper, her three-point shot, her turn around and she’s really unassuming, but she’s one of the few people that can consistently catch it at the elbow, look for the high-low and her shot is so pure that she can look, look, look and if you’re not really guarding her, swish.”

“One of the best pure shooters, as a big, as I’ve seen in a long time,” said Jensen. “A lot of times, bigs, when they set a screen out on the perimeter, they role and she can do that, but she’s lethal when she pops because you’re not always as used to bigs that shoot threes. She does that as well as anyone in the country.”

Along with Katelyn Young, who has knocked down 43 triples this season, the Racers have six other players that have totaled at least 25 made threes this season. Leading that group of three-point shooters is sophomore guard and Waterloo native Halli Poock. She has totaled 71 made threes this season, including ten games with at least three made triples.

“Halli Poock is a baller. Crafty. Boy, you don’t want to give her much space,” said Jensen. “If they get into the paint, it’s not always about them getting a layup. They’re really good at kicking out to those great shooters.”

Along with Young and Poock, Briley Pena (54), Haven Ford (53), Braxcynn Baker (36), Ava Learn (34) and Trinity White (26) can all shoot it from behind the arc. Those top seven shooters are shooting 36.8% from three-point range. The Racers have totaled 13 games with 12+ made threes and have hit a season-high 14 triples on three occasions, most recently against Belmont in the MVC championship game.

“They’re a great shooting team, three-point shooting team and they’ve got a great interior post, so being able to defensively, know the personnel and what they’re tendencies are,” said Kylie Feuerbach. “Our coaches, this whole entire year have done a phenomenal job at doing the scouts and gameplans. We’re definitely ready to go, but they are a really, really good team.”

“For us to beat Murray State, we’re going to have to have everybody play really well. We can’t have an off night,” said Jensen.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes and Racers are set to be the first game off during the Saturday slate. Tipoff is set for 11:00am CT on ESPN.