SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 61, Jacksonville State 51
Southeast Missouri 61, @Eastern Kentucky 55
UT Martin 80, @Morehead State 63
@Belmont 69, SIUE 57
Eastern Illinois 73, @Tennessee State 55
Tennessee Tech 75, @Murray State 58
AUSTIN PEAY 61, JACKSONVILLE STATE 51
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay defeated visiting Jacksonville State, 61-51, on Saturday afternoon.
JSU (7-4, 4-3 Ohio Valley Conference) falls to 2-4 on the road this season, in stark contrast with their unblemished 5-0 mark at home. The Governors (8-5, 6-3 OVC) now lead the all-time series 18-11 after their second win in a row between the two schools.
Austin Peay had three players reach double-figures in scoring with Maggie Knowles leading the way with 11. Knowles also had eight rebounds and made a trio of threes. D'Shara Booker notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Tahanee Bennell drained a pair of three to finish with 10 points on the night. Bennell also dished out six assists.
The Gamecocks struggled mightily from the floor, being held to its second-lowest point total of the season at 51, only behind the 47 allowed at Georgia in early December. Junior Yamia Johnson came on in the second half to finish with 16 points to lead the team, while Kiana joined her in double figures with 10.
With just eight made field goals in the first, JSU trailed by 17 at the intermission, down 35-18. Kiana Johnson made a layup on the opening possession of the third quarter to cut to 15, and the Gamecocks worked diligently to trim the margin below 10.
With under four minutes to play in the third quarter, APSU lead 44-29 when Imari Martin hit one of two free throws to spark a 9-0 JSU run. The charity stripe was also a challenge with Jax State connecting on just 12-of-21 attempts. JSU's run brought the Gamecocks within six with under 30 seconds to go in the third, before APSU's Maggie Knowles, who led the Govs with 11 points, hit a later triple to send it back to nine entering the final stanza.
A layup by K. Johnson early in the fourth made it 52-48, and a free throw from Taylor Hawks with just under five minutes to go brought it to a one-possession game. The Governors responded with a crushing three-pointer, one of nine the Govs connected on during the game, to regain momentum and stave off another comeback opportunity to win 61-51.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 61, EASTERN KENTUCKY 55
RICHMOND, Ky. - Four Redhawks finished in double-figures as Southeast Missouri women's basketball (8-5, 6-2 OVC) defeated Eastern Kentucky (6-8, 5-5 OVC), 61-55, Saturday at McBrayer Arena.
Tesia Thompson paced the Redhawks with 18 points and six rebounds. Roshala Scott added a career-high 15 points, on a 7-for-12 shooting day. Terri Smith and LaTrese Saine each chipped in 10 points apiece. Saine also had a game-high 11 boards for her second-straight double-double outing.
Saine registered two blocks Saturday to surpass Chandra Brown (2004-05, 49) for the Redhawks single-season blocks record with 51. She now has all three SEMO blocks records in single-game (10), career (160) and season.
Tied at 29-29 at the break, SEMO utilized a 13-6 third quarter to pull ahead 42-35. The Redhawks started the frame with a 6-0 run to increase their advantage to 36-29 with 5:47 showing on the clock.
The Colonels missed their first eight shots of the second half and went on a 6:02 scoring drought to start the period.
Scott buried a 3-pointer after a bucket by Jayla Johnson with 3:45 to play in the third to make the score 38-31.
SEMO extended its margin to 12 to start the final quarter. Scott tipped in a basket and Smith hit a trey to give the Redhawks their largest lead of the day with 9:04 left in regulation.
EKU responded and cut the SEMO lead to four (55-51) with a 3-pointer by Emma Hacker with 2:07 remaining before a three-point play from Thompson pushed the edge back to seven (58-51).
SEMO shot 37 percent from the field (23-63) and just 24 percent (4-for-17) from three-point range. The Colonels converted on 41 percent of their shots and were perfect on all five of their free throw attempts.
The Redhawks benefited from 16 points off EKU turnovers.
Johnson finished with a season-best 19 points with seven rebounds and two blocks for EKU. Kendall Wingler added 15 points and three assists.
UT MARTIN 80, MOREHEAD STATE 63
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team put the finishing touches on a perfect road trip through the Blue Grass State with an 80-63 win at Ohio Valley Conference foe Morehead State on Saturday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (7-3, 6-1 OVC) picked up their fifth straight victory behind a strong shooting performance and three players in double figures. UT Martin registered its fifth road win of the season and third consecutive against the Eagles – including back-to-back in Johnson Arena.
UT Martin struggled offensively in the first quarter – shooting just 29 percent from the floor – but found its stroke for the final three quarters by shooting 61 percent for the final 30 minutes of action. The Skyhawks also capitalized at the free throw stripe where they made 16-of-19 attempts (84.2 percent). The visitors used a key 16-0 run in the second quarter to find a lead it would not relinquish in the second half.
Senior Chelsey Perry turned in yet another game worthy of her All-American accolades with 28 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks, three assists and two steals. The game marked her 10th consecutive game with at least 20 points and her 16th career double-double.
Sophomore Dasia Young gave the Eagles fits throughout the contest with a career-best performance, tallying 22 points on 10-of-14 field goal attempts while also tallying five rebounds and two blocks. It marked the first 20-point performance for Young and just the second time this season that a pair of Skyhawks had scored 20 points or more in the same contest. Junior Paige Pipkin rounded out the Skyhawks in double figures with 14 points to post a career-high of her own while also grabbing four rebounds and tallying two assists and a pair of blocks.
Morehead State (5-9, 4-6 OVC) struggled from the field for much of the afternoon outside of an impressive third quarter which posed its biggest threat in the second half. The Eagles would shoot just 38 percent from the field but would make a good number of their attempts from beyond the arc where they knocked down 46.7 percent of their attempts to stay within striking distance.
The Eagle duo of Ariel Kirkwood and Lauren Carter paced the team with 17 points and six rebounds each while Gabby Crawford posted a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
BELMONT 69, SIUE 57
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A season-high 23 points from freshman guard Destinee Wells fueled Belmont women's basketball to a 69-57 home victory over the SIU Edwardsville Cougars Saturday afternoon.
Wells was backed by junior forward Conley Chinn (14 points) and fellow freshman guard Tuti Jones (12 points), as the Bruins (6-3, 3-1 OVC) shot above 40 percent from the field and from deep range on the day.
In total, Belmont grabbed 15 steals and forced 23 Cougar turnovers, as they cashed in on 25 points off turnovers. The Bruins also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds for 16 second chance points and dished out 15 assists.
SIU Edwardsville (5-9, 2-7 OVC) was led by sophomore forward Mikayla Kinnard with 17 points and five assists, while two other Cougars recorded double-figure points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 73, TENNESSEE STATE 55
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois (7-8, 5-5 OVC) outlasted the Tennessee State Tigers (0-10, 0-8 OVC) in Saturday's match up, 73-55. The Panthers were led by Abby Wahl, who scored a career-high 34 points against the Tigers. A 25 point fourth quarter sealed the win for EIU. Along with Wahl's phenomenal day, Morgan Litwiller shot 3-9 from beyond the arc and finished the game with 13 points, and recorded three blocks. Kira Arthofer finished up her day with 11 points, three steals, and four assists on the day.
The Panthers and Tigers went back and forth in the opening quarter. The teams were nearly identical at the end of the first quarter, as both shot 54% from the floor, had two fouls, and recorded five assists. The Panthers grabbed six rebounds, one more than the Tigers, and six turnovers, again, one more than the Tigers. Wahl was off to a hot start in the game with a team-high 8 points. The Tigers led the Panthers, 19-17.
The Panthers came out gunning early on in the second; EIU scored 6-quick points and forced two turnovers. After a slow start from both teams out of the break, the Panthers started to find their rhythm. EIU out-rebounded the Tigers, 18-11 in the first half: a major factor in EIU's lead. Litwiller's back-to-back 3-pointers pushed Eastern Illinois ahead as they headed into the locker room for halftime. Panthers led, 33-28.
Eastern Illinois came out of the half sluggish, and the Tigers took advantage. The Panthers scored only 5 points before the halfway point of the third quarter. Eastern Illinois turned it around after the timeout and went back to basics. The Panthers fed Wahl in the post, and she did not let the team down. She finished the quarter with 10 points and gave the Panthers the lead heading into the final quarter, 48-45.
The Panthers came out with everything clicking early in the fourth quarter. The Panthers went on an early 7-0 run to push the lead to 60-49 going into the media timeout. TSU could not stop Wahl as she finished with 34 points and shot 82% from the field. The Panthers leave Nashville with a big win against TSU as EIU outlasted the Tigers, 73-55.
Andreana Wrister and Taylor Roberts led the Lady Tigers with 20 points each.
TENNESSEE TECH 75, MURRAY STATE 58
MURRAY, Ky. - Tennessee Tech picked up a 75-58 road win over Murray State on Saturday night. Tech improves to 7-4 overall, 5-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while Murray State saw its record evened at 7-7, 4-5 in the league.
The Golden Eagles' Mackenzie Coleman had 10 points in the first quarter and finished with 15 total on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 3-for-4 at the free-throw line. She also had six rebounds in the contest.
A third foul in the third quarter, combined with an escalating lead – one that reached 30 at its peak in the fourth and final stanza – saw Coleman’s night end with her Tech career total hitting 999 points.
One more point will make Coleman the third 1,000-point scorer on this season’s squad and the 33rd in program history.
The night wasn’t all Coleman’s. Junior Anna Jones led the Golden Eagles with 17 points as she was able to connect on seven of her 12 attempts from the floor, including 2-for-3 from long range, while also pulling down a game-high seven rebounds.
Sophomore Jada Guinn continued to make an impact as well, scoring 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while collecting six rebounds.
Offensively, Tech controlled the paint once again, outscoring Murray 42-12 under the glass. The Golden Eagles were also on fire, shooting 58.3 percent in the first quarter and 52.9 in the third, finishing the game with a 48.3-percent clip. Tech also only missed two of its 11 shots at the free-throw line.
Coleman scored 10 of Tech’s first 12 points, pacing the Golden Eagles to a 21-11 advantage after the first quarter, then extended their lead to 37-23 at the intermission. Another dominant effort in the third quarter saw Jones lead the way with eight points in the period as Tech outscored Murray 25-15.
As the Golden Eagle lead ballooned, Tech was able to rest the starters and give valuable time to its young players. Murray State was able to chip away slightly from the 30-point lead, climbing back within 17 as the Racers outscored Tech 20-13 in the final 10 minutes with an 11-0 run ending at the 40-seconds-remaining mark.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles owned the boards, dominating 36-27 with 12 offensive rebounds. Tech was also able to convert 17 Murray State turnovers into 30 points. Guinn had four steals to lead the game.
Macey Turley was the only double-digit scorer for the Racers, collecting 22 points on a 7-for-16 night, knocking down four of her seven 3-point tries. The Golden Eagles were able to contain Racer freshman Katelyn Young, who averaged a double-double a game entering Saturday’s contest. Young was held to four points and four rebounds on 2-of-6 shooting.