I can't stand the woman, but I recall that she had to leave Washington before the vote, and voted present, which allowed Kavanaugh's confirmation to go through.
The Kavanaugh vote was 50-48. Murkowski “paired” with Sen. Daines (R-MT) — that way her opposition vote was cancelled by Daines’ affirmative vote, though neither one actually cast a vote.
If Murkowski had been there she would have voted No, Daines would have voted Yes and the final score would have been 51-49 instead of 50-48, i.e. no difference in the outcome.