2017 OVC Women's Basketball Championship - Semifinals

3/3/2017 8:58:14 AM

#1 BELMONT 83, #4 UT MARTIN 62
NASHVILLE - Erasing a 12 point deficit, the No. 1 Belmont University women's basketball team (26-5) earned an 83-62 victory over No. 4 UT Martin (12-19) in the OVC Tournament Semifinals Friday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.

The Bruins advance to the OVC Tournament Championship for the second-straight season, which tips off Saturday at 2 p.m. Belmont will take No. 7 Eastern Kentucky in the Championship bout in a rematch of last season's title game.

In a matchup between two OVC women's basketball stalwarts, the Bruins overcame a slow start and fought their way to their 20th-straight win. Belmont's 20-conseuctive victories are the second most in all of NCAA Division I trailing just UConn's 104.

Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) led the way with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor and on 7-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe. Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) added 18 points, including six three-pointers. Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) scored 16 points and Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) 14, to round out Belmont's quartet of double figure scorers.

After trailing by eight at the end of the first quarter, Belmont stormed back to outscore the Skyhawks 65-37 the rest of the way. Facing just their third deficit after a first quarter in OVC play, Belmont finished the second quarter on a 14-2 run to tie things at 36-36 at the half. The Bruins then carried their momentum into the second half, outscoring UT Martin, 47-26 in the final 20 minutes.

Belmont finished 14-of-31 from three-point range, registering an OVC Tournament record in three-pointers attempted.

Maggard finished with a game-high seven assists while Roy grabbed eight rebounds, finishing just shy of her second-straight double double. Maggard knocked down six or more three-pointers for the fourth time this season and McCabe, the reigning OVC Tournament MVP, had a special night.

UT Martin finished the game shooting 27-of-58 (46.6%) from the floor, including a 12-of-17 performance in the game's opening quarter. The Skyhawks were led in scoring by Janekia Mason who finished with a double double at 23 points and 15 rebounds.

Belmont's 26 victories are its most in a single season since turning Division I and are the most of any OVC team since Morehead State won 28 in 1978-79.

Belmont is just the sixth team in OVC history to register at least 26 wins in a regular season, joining Tennessee Tech (28, 1975-76), Morehead State (28, 1978-79) Austin Peay (27, 2002-03), Tennessee Tech (26, 1989-90) and Middle Tennessee State (26, 1982-83).

Belmont trailed 25-17 after the first quarter, facing its largest deficit at the end of a first quarter since trailing 26-16 at Louisville on Nov. 13. UT Martin shot 70.7% from the floor in the first as it came out hot from the jump and brought the fight to Belmont. Belmont did lead 5-0 early, but the Skyhawks countered with 10-straight points. Playing just five players, UT Martin got off to a terrific start offensively while the Bruins took a little while to get things going.

Belmont's inspired play in the second quarter helped it gain some serious momentum heading into the half as it outscored UT Martin, 19-11. The Bruins, who trailed by as many as 12 in the quarter, would surge back with a 14-2 scoring run heading into the intermission. Maggard caught fire in the second, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance.

Midway through the second, Maggard hit a three to cut the deficit to just nine, but UT Martin banked in a three on the ensuing possession to go back up 12. McCabe and Paris Lawson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) then knocked down jumpers on back-to-back possessions and the Bruins cut the UT Martin lead to 34-27 at the media timeout with 3:43 on the clock. After the break the Bruins' momentous run would surge to 11-0 as Smith made a three and Maggard followed suit on the next possession with a clutch pull up three from the top of key. All the sudden Belmont trailed by just one at 34-33 with with 2:36 to go in the half. The Skyhawks snapped their scoreless streak with a basket at 1:19 mark, but again it was Maggard who answered right back with another triple to even the score. All told Belmont closed the second quarter on crucial run to tie the score at 36-36 heading into the intermission. Belmont finished the half shooting 13-of-31 (41.9%) from the floor while UT Martin shot an impressive 17-of-30 (56.7%). Lawson connected on a pair of crucial three's in the first half, as she totaled her most points since Dec. 31 at Austin Peay. There were only four fouls called in the first half and Belmont was tied with its opponent at the half for the first time this season.

Belmont picked off right where it left off in the first and began the second half outscoring UT Martin, 15-5 and held a 51-41 lead at the under five media timeout. Roy knocked down a big three-pointer to beat the shot clock and McCabe converted on a conventional three-point play to help Belmont grow their lead in the early stages of the period. Maggard's fifth three-pointer gave a Belmont a 56-43 lead at the three minutes mark. Belmont led by 10 at 58-48 heading into the final stanza, after outscoring the Skyhawks 22-12.

Belmont's highest-scoring quarter came in the fourth when it outscored UT Martin 25-14. Roy was a force down the stretch scoring nine on 3-of-3 shooting while McCabe added eight. UT Martin cut the lead to single digits at 66-57 after Kendall Spray connected on a tough jumper from straight on with 5:57 remaining in duration. On UT Martin's next possession, McCabe blocked a Skyhawk shot attempt, grabbed the loose ball, passed it to Maggard, sprinted the floor and scored on a layup off an assist from Maggard. This sequence helped the Bruins extend their lead back to double digits, and they would never lead by fewer than 10 from this juncture. The Bruins shot 9-of-17 (52.9%) in the period.

Belmont improves to 20-11 against UT Martin all-time and 1-2 vs. the Skyhawks in OVC Tourney action. The Bruins improve to 3-2 in the semifinal round.

Belmont is now 34-1 in its last 35 OVC games including last season's OVC Tournament and has won 24-straight conference matchups.

Senior Frankie Joubran (Goodrich, Mich.) grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists, providing a spark off the bench for the Bruins.

Friday was the 37th time in the Coach Newbauer era that the Bruins knocked down at least 10 three-pointers.

#7 EASTERN KENTUCKY 61, #3 SIUE 58
NASHVILLE - The No. 7-seeded Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team held on to beat No. 3 SIUE, 61-58, in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.

EKU (12-19) will now face No. 1 Belmont in the OVC Championship game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET.

The Colonels led by 13, 36-23, when junior Madison Wood converted a layup along the baseline with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Eastern still led by double digits, 45-35, when senior Jalen O’Bannon scored early in the fourth quarter. However, SIUE (14-17) responded by going on 11-2 run and pulled to within one, 47-46, when Cloe Churchill knocked down a free throw with 6:17 left in the game.

That is when Shavontae Naylor took over. The senior scored or assisted on EKU’s next 10 points, as her final jumper in the stretch gave the Colonels some breathing room, 57-52, with 3:08 on the clock.

SIUE was not finished, though. The Cougars stormed back once again and made it a one-point game, 59-58, when Donshel Beck drained a jumper with 36 seconds remaining.

On EKU’s ensuing possession, senior Mariah Massengill responded. The point guard buried a jump shot from the top of the key with nine ticks on the clock to push the lead back out to three.

SIUE missed a potential equalizing three-point attempt on the other end, and EKU held on for the win to set up a rematch of last year’s OVC title game.

Naylor knocked down a career-high 10 field goals to finish with 20 points and four rebounds. O’Bannon chipped in 16 points and nine boards, while Massengill had 10 points and team-best four assists.

For the second straight game, the EKU defense put the clamps on its opponent. The Colonels held SIUE to 33 percent (19-of-57) shooting from the floor and 22 percent (2-of-9) shooting from deep.

Eastern was out-rebounded in the game, 44-32; however, the Colonels won the turnover battle, 17-12.

The two teams played a low-scoring first half. EKU took its largest lead of the half, 19-12, when Wood blocked a shot and found Naylor on the break for a layup with 6:40 on the clock in the second quarter. SIUE, however, cut the lead to four, 25-21, with a free throw just before halftime.

The Colonels stifled SIUE to 1-of-14 shooting from the field in the second quarter. The Cougars did not hit a field goal in the final 5:38 of the first half.

EKU outscored SIUE, 11-2, to open the second half and grabbed a 13-point advantage when Wood converted a layup along the baseline to make it 36-23 with 5:20 showing on the clock in the third quarter.

SIUE, however, pulled back to within one, 47-46, with 6:17 left to play, setting up Naylor’s late-game heroics.