A double-River Hawk, Murphy Jefferson was a two-time All-American, New England champion and America East champion for the River Hawks and set six program records during her collegiate career. She was a two-time recipient of the school's Lester H. Cushing Award for best female athlete and served as team captain in 2014-15.

After graduating UMass Lowell with a bachelor's in history in 2015, Murphy Jefferson served as the track and field director of operations for the River Hawks while earning her master's in education curriculum in 2015-2016. She went on to serve as the sprints and hurdles coach at Missouri Southern State University in 2016 where she coached the school's first Division II indoor and outdoor NCAA qualifiers.