Ohio Valley Conference

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - East Tennessee used a key 6-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pick up a close win over Eastern Illinois in the final game of the Louisville MTE Classic on Sunday morning.

ETSU broke a late 50-50 tie to post a 60-54 win over the Panthers.

EIU trailed by nine points to open the fourth quarter and chipped away at the lead with five points by Clara Glad and a 3-pointer by Tiny Lewis.

Abbie Boutilier tied the game at 50-50 with 2:52 remaining, ending the Panthers 11-2 run.

The Bucs answered with a 6-0 run of their own capped by a Daniela Lopez basket with 41 seconds left.  Lopez led ETSU with 22 points. 

Following the ETSU run, EIU was unable to get the lead down to one possession.  The Bucs knocked down four free throws to close out the game. 

Lewis led EIU with 14 points, her fourth consecutive double figure scoring game.  Ava Stoller had eight points, nine rebounds for EIU as the Panthers are now 1-7.

ETSU improved to 3-6.  The game was tied at 14-14 after the opening quarter before the Bucs took a 32-26 lead at the half.

SAN DIEGO 65, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 55
TEMPE, Ariz. - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (2-4) fell to San Diego (3-5), 65-55, at Desert Financial Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Redhawks managed 28 points in the paint but were unable to overcome San Diego's 50-32 rebounding advantage.

Southeast Missouri started strong with Lexi McCully assisting Ainaya Williams for an early lead. Carmen Taylor connected from beyond the arc, pushing the visitors ahead 7-5. Olivia Owens and Hallie Rhodes each drained a 3-pointer, helping the Toreros claim the lead. At the end of the quarter, San Diego held a 16–11 advantage.

Carmen Taylor opened the scoring for the Redhawks with a 3-pointer, assisted by Williams. Dresha Moore contributed a defensive rebound and an assist for San Diego, helping maintain their lead. Eva Ruse sank a 3-pointer at 2:14 and added a layup to extend San Diego's advantage. At halftime, San Diego held a 33–26 lead.

Williams opened scoring for the Redhawks with a jumper in the paint, assisted by McCully. San Diego's Ruse responded with a layup, pushing the lead to 37–28. McCully capitalized on a fast-break opportunity with a layup, narrowing the deficit to 39–30. At the end of the third, San Diego maintained a 39–36 advantage.

Rhodes of the Toreros initiated scoring with a layup and a 3-pointer, contributing to an early lead. McCully responded for the Redhawks with a layup and a fast-break 3-pointer, cutting the deficit. Owens secured key rebounds and Ruse added crucial points from the free throw line to maintain San Diego's lead. At the final buzzer, San Diego secured a 65–55 victory over the Redhawks.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY 77, SOUTHERN INDIANA 71  (OT)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball and Northern Kentucky University added another classic battle between the two programs on Sunday afternoon, but the Screaming Eagles fell on the road in overtime against the Norse, 77-71.
 
The two former Great Lakes Valley Conference rivals were meeting for only the second time as Division I foes on Sunday, as Northern Kentucky (3-6) made the trip to USI (4-2) last season. On Sunday, USI Women's Basketball made its first trip to Northern Kentucky since 2012, which was the final year with both schools in the GLVC before NKU made its jump to the D-I level.
 
In Sunday's tilt, USI shot for 40 percent (28-70) from the floor and nearly 36 percent (5-14) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Northern Kentucky shot just below 36 percent (24-67) overall and just over 38 percent (13-34) from three-point range. The Screaming Eagles outrebounded the Norse, 47-41, and outscored NKU in the paint, 40-18.
 
Four Screaming Eagles scored in double figures, with two Eagles notching double-doubles. Junior forward Chloe Gannon led USI with a career-high 21 points and matched a career-best 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and second in her career. Junior guard Sophia Loden logged her second consecutive double-double and third of the season with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Junior forward Amiyah Buchanan nearly had a double-double with a season-best 13 points and eight boards. Senior guard Ali Saunders tallied 12 points, dished out seven assists, and had five steals.
 
Sunday's game went back and forth despite USI jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead and holding the Norse scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the contest. While Northern Kentucky closed the early deficit, Loden drained a pair of threes in the early minutes to give USI a 12-7 lead halfway into the first quarter. The Norse answered to grab a 19-14 lead, but Loden connected twice inside of two minutes left in the first to bring the Eagles right back. USI led the early shootout, 22-21, through the opening period.
 
The game turned into a defensive battle in the second quarter with neither side able to score until the seven-minute mark. A couple of makes by Saunders and junior forward Maddy Fay helped push USI's lead to five. However, Northern Kentucky stayed within arm's reach. Despite the Screaming Eagles maintaining a five-point advantage, 32-27, with three minutes to go in the first half, USI went scoreless for the rest of the half. Northern Kentucky was limited to only three points inside the final three minutes of the first half, as USI led 32-30 at the break.
 
USI relied on its post play in Buchanan and Gannon to start the second half, but the Norse stayed neck-and-neck with the Eagles with their three-point shooting. Northern Kentucky took a 43-39 advantage just past the midway point of the third quarter. A few more inside looks by the Eagles, including a couple more by Buchanan and Gannon, helped propel USI back in front, 48-47, at the end of the third frame.
 
The two sides matched made shots in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter before Northern Kentucky surged to a five-point lead, 58-53, with five minutes to go in the period. A three-point play by Gannon brought it back to a two-point contest. Loden drilled two jumpers with under 4:30 remaining, but the Norse continued to answer. With under two minutes left, Saunders netted a triple and Gannon scored a basket inside to tie the game up at 66, as the battle went into overtime.
 
In the extra session, NKU claimed the lead nearly three minutes into overtime, leading by as many as two, 71-69. USI earned its way to the free-throw line to knot the game back up, 71-71, with under a minute remaining. However, Northern Kentucky scored on a layup and converted its ensuing free throws to close out the game.

MOREHEAD STATE 66, MARSHALL 56
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State used an inside/outside attack to surge ahead in the third quarter and topped Marshall 66-56 Sunday in Johnson Arena.
 
Morehead State (3-4) got eight points inside from Kate Dike and outside with two three-pointers apiece from Violet McNece and Anja Eckstrom to outscore the Herd 26-17 in the quarter and take a 54 42 lead into the final quarter. The Eagles sizzled from the floor in the quarter, shooting 9-15 (60%) and 4-8 (50%) from three-point range.
 
Dike led Morehead State with 18 points, matching her career high set last week against USC-Upstate. She just missed her second double-double of the season with nine rebounds. Anja Eckstrom hit five of her 11 three-point attempts for a season-high 17 points.
 
Marie Sepp again flirted with a triple-double: she scored nine points, matched her career-high with 10 assists and pulled down eight rebounds. Josephine Enander set a new career-high with nine points while logging a season-high 29 minutes.
 
Marshall (5-4) was led by Olivia Olson with 12 points. Peyton Ilderton and Herd leading scorer Timaya Lewis-Eutsey both finished with nine points.
 
The first quarter was evenly played, with Marshall maintaining a slim advantage throughout. Both teams shot 33% from the floor; the Herd committed eight turnovers to three for MSU. The Eagles got the last two baskets of the frame to go to the quarter break tied at 15-15.
 
The second quarter was again close, Morehead State led by five at one point and took a 28-25 advantage into the intermission. Marshall shot just 23% from the floor in the quarter, while MSU improved to 42%.
 
After their third-quarter surge, the Eagles expanded their lead to 14 with a Marie Sepp layup to make it 56-42 with 8:08 to go. Marshall rallied and cut the lead to five (60-55) with an Ilderton three pointer with 4:25 remaining. The Eagles shot 6-9 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help preserve the win.

UT MARTIN 78, OAKWOOD 53
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team had little trouble with Oakwood Sunday as it cruised to a 78-53 victory at the Tom & Kathleen Elam Center in Martin.

The outcome was never really in doubt, thanks to a strong second quarter in which the Skyhawks scored 29 points. UT Martin outshot the Ambassadors 42.6-percent to 32.7-percent and outrebounded them as well, 46-36. The UT Martin reserves also shone Sunday, combining for a season-high 28 points off the bench.

Noah Clark led the Skyhawks in scoring in the game with 14 points to go along with two assists and a career-high four blocks. Kenley McCarn was next in line for UT Martin with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Zy Thompson added 11 points, a game-high nine rebounds, three steals and two assists.

LINDENWOOD 58, VERMONT 54
HONOLULU - The Lindenwood women's basketball team (6-2) ended the Rainbow Showdown with a 58-54 win over Vermont (6-3) on Sunday afternoon in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Lindenwood led 8-6 at the first media timeout as Aleshia Jones and Brooke Coffey had four points apiece early. The Catamounts scored the final seven points of the first quarter and led 11-8 after one.

The Vermont lead remained three at 13-10 early in the second quarter. Lindenwood would go on an 11-0 run over the next 2:42 to take a 21-13 lead, capped off by a three from Coffey which forced a timeout. The Black and Gold remained in front by eight late in the half, but Vermont was able to tie the game at 25 heading into the break. Lindenwood shot 67 percent in the second quarter and Jones led the way with 10 points in the opening half.

Lindenwood started the second half shooting four-of-six from the field and held a 37-35 advantage halfway through the third quarter. The Lions continued to lead by three with a few minutes to go in the third, but Vermont closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to go ahead 45-42 heading to the fourth.

In the fourth, Lindenwood held Vermont to just nine points on 30 percent shooting from the field. With the game tied at 50, Coffey made back-to-back buckets to put the Black and Gold ahead by four with just under five minutes to go. Neither team would score for the next three minutes until Vermont cut it to two. The Catamounts got within two once again at 56-54 with 19 seconds to go. Ellie Brueggemann knocked down a pair of free throws, followed by a defensive stop to seal the 58-54 win.