Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
DENISON, Texas – Saturday's showdown with perennial power Grayson County College and former head coach Steve Lowe was one Murray State coaches and players had circled on the calendar months ago. And the battle of teams vying for national ranking lived up to its billing with Coach Nate Levine's club posting a pivotal 67-63 victory.

The Lady Aggies appeared headed to a dominant victory with just over nine minutes remaining but watched the Lady Vikings completely erase a 17-point Murray State lead while going in front with 1:11 remaining.

Even without veteran point guard Arissa Garcia, who had fouled out early in the fourth stanza, Levine's troops never wavered in regaining the advantage on a Keshanti Gordon transition lay-in with a minute left and then canned three free throws down the stretch to close on a decisive 5-0 run.

Running their winning streak to three in a row, the Lady Aggies improved to 7-1 on the season and will take the Thanksgiving break off before returning to action with another huge test on the road at nationally 12^th ranked Collin County College on December 4. Grayson slipped to 6-2 on the year.

"This one has been on our minds since the day I got hired," Levine commented. "We knew we needed to get a win while we were all together. We blew an eight-point lead against them last year and lost, but we were able to hold on today against a big-time opponent.

"We got the lead because we played with momentum and our pressure defense was no joke. We knew they were going to make a run and we had just enough left to get the win."

Both teams put together solid runs in the opening half with the Lady Aggies canning four first quarter three pointers to take a 18-9 edge. Grayson responded in kind during a 10-0 second period burst that helped narrow the gap to only 33-31 at the break in a nearly stalemated first half.

A Garcia three pointer and conventional three-point play fueled a fast start in the third frame and she finished the stanza with three straight rebounds and assists as Murray State built a 54-40 lead.

That margin increased to 17 points on a Gordon trey to begin the final frame before the Lady Vikings turned up the defensive pressure, forcing nine Murray State turnovers in the final second minutes.

Garcia was spectacular for three quarters, posting a triple-double in points, rebounds and assists as she paced four players in double figures with 17 points. Gordon tallied 13 with Olivia Quapaw chipping in 12 and Ongolea Afu adding 10. Jordyn McNeal was just shy of double digits with nine points while Taja Bennett and Mya Cotto scored three apiece.

"Arissa has been the most solid, consistent and reliable player we've got," Levine added. "Without her out there you saw what happened. She's a big-time player. Probably the best player in Region 2. We were still getting defensive rebounds and some stops after that and finally hit some key shots when we had to."