Ohio Valley Conference

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Tennessee State women's basketball team opened the 2025-26 campaign with grit and resilience, pushing Conference USA powerhouse Middle Tennessee to the final minutes before falling 59-53 inside the Murphy Center on Monday morning.

The Tigers (0-1) showed fight from start to finish, rallying from a double-digit deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter behind a tenacious defensive effort and a strong showing on the glass.

Sophomore Aaniya Webb led TSU with 17 points, including a key fourth-quarter bucket that gave the Tigers their first lead of the day. Somah Kamara added 11 points and four steals, while Xai'Onna Whitfield filled the stat sheet with nine points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Erin Martin anchored the paint with eight points, eight rebounds, and four blocks, and Kiki Roberts grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.

Tennessee State dominated the offensive glass, pulling down 22 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second-chance points. The Tigers also forced 20 turnovers and blocked nine shots, holding the Blue Raiders to just 39 percent shooting from the field.

After trailing 38-28 at halftime, the Tigers stormed back in the third quarter. Kamara and Martin combined for clutch baskets during a 7-0 run that trimmed the margin to five, and Whitfield's layup late in the frame capped an inspired 15-point quarter that brought TSU within one, 44-43.

The Tigers carried that momentum into the fourth, opening with six straight points — including a jumper from Whitfield — to take a 49-44 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Middle Tennessee, however, closed on a late surge to reclaim the advantage and seal the narrow win.

DRAKE 83, EASTERN ILLINOIS 65
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women's basketball had its 16-game home winning streak, which ranked 11th longest active streak in the NCAA, snapped on Monday afternoon as Drake knocked off the Panthers 83-65.
 
EIU had balanced offense throughout the game with four players finishing in double figures.  The Panthers held the lead 20-19 after one quarter of play.
 
Drake turned to the driving ability of Anna Becker as they led 39-34 at the half.  Becker made 16 trips to the free throw line in the game finishing as one of two Bulldogs players with 22 points (Abbie Aalsma the other).
 
Lalani Ellis led the Panthers with 14 points with Ava Stoller, Clara Glad and Meioshe Mason joining the double figure party.
 
Stoller scored 13 going 2-of-3 from 3-point range.  Glad had 11 points and Mason added ten.  Nyah Hardy knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter finishing with eight points.
 
As a team EIU finished 7-of-23 from 3-point range with cold shooting quarters in the second (26.7 pct) and third (29.4 pct) doing the damage.
 
Drake posted a 50-26 rebounds advantage with 16 offensive rebounds.  Maggie Taylor had 16 boards with 11 points.

#20 KENTUCKY 75, MOREHEAD STATE 59
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State women's basketball opened the Ashton Feldhaus era with a 75-59 loss to the 20th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.

Morehead State (0-1) got a huge effort from senior Marie Sepp who nearly posted a triple-double in her debut as an Eagle. Sepp led all scorers with 21 points, pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and dished out a game-high nine assists. Sepp shot eight of 16 from the floor and two of four three-point attempts. She played all 40 minutes.

Violet McNece tossed in 15 points on five of eight shooting from the floor, including four of seven three-point attempts. Senior Laura Toffali finished with 11 to round out the double-figure scorers for the Eagles. Senior Kate Dike finished with nine points on 3-7 from three-point range.

Kentucky (1-0) placed four players in double figures led by Tonie Morgan with 16 points. Jordan Obi and Clara Strack both finished with double-doubles; 15 points and 15 rebounds each. Amelia Hassett finished with 10 points.

The Eagles got off to hot start, making their first five shots from the floor, including their first three attempts from three-point range. A Kate Dike jumper put the Eagles ahead 13-4. Kentucky responded with a 21-4 run over the last 5:55 of the quarter and led 25-17 after the first 10 minutes. Sepp led the Eagles with nine points in the quarter. The Eagles hit 47% from the floor in the opening frame.

The Eagle offense cooled in the second quarter; hitting three of their 10 field goal attempts and one of their six three-point shots. The Wildcats' superior size played a major role in the first half: UK claimed 15 offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes resulting in 17 second-chance points as Kentucky took a 43-27 lead into the intermission.

The Eagles opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run highlighted by Dike hitting two three-pointers in the run, to cut the Kentucky lead to 43-35. Kentucky got a 10-0 run out of the media timeout to extend the lead back out to 57-40.

The Eagles closed out the game outscoring the Wildcats 13-12 in the quarter, led by McNece with seven points on two of three shooting from three-point range.

NORTH ALABAMA 57, UT MARTIN 54
FLORENCE, Ala. - Despite an 8-0 run over the final minutes of the game, the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team fell in its season opener at North Alabama Monday, 57-54.

The Skyhawks held a 3-point lead at halftime and led by as many as six early in the third quarter. However, a 14-0 run by the Lions in the third gave them a five-point lead heading into the fourth. In the fourth, North Alabama led by as many as nine in the frame, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Kenley McCarn cut the lead to just one with under a minute to play.

With just 14 seconds left Katie Criswell hit a jumper to push the lead back out to three. In the end, Kenley McCarn had a good look at a 3-pointer to tie the game that eventually rimmed out, giving the Lions the 57-54 win.

McCarn led all scorers in the game with 16 points, to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Brittani Wells had a solid debut for UT Martin with 10 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists.

The Eagles return to action Friday when they travel to Bellarmine.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 85, FRANKLIN COLLEGE 45
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball opened the 2025-26 season Monday night at Liberty Arena, home of the Screaming Eagles, with an 85-45 victory against Franklin College.
 
USI Women's Basketball (1-0) got stronger as Monday's game went on, allowing its defense to turn into offense. The Screaming Eagles shot over 50 percent from the floor (32-63) while holding Franklin to just over 35 percent shooting (16-45). USI forced Franklin into 34 turnovers, which led to 46 points for the Eagles. USI also had 46 points in the paint compared to only 12 for Franklin. The Screaming Eagles received 29 bench points on Monday. USI was plus nine (38-29) on the boards.
 
Individually, junior forward Chloe Gannon tallied a game-high 17 points on 8-12 shooting with four rebounds in 31 minutes. Junior guard Shannon Blacher netted a career-high 15 points in her USI debut, going 5-8 from the floor with five rebounds and a career-best seven steals. Junior guard Sophia Loden totaled 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Junior forward Amiyah Buchanan had 10 points with four rebounds and a career-high four blocks.
 
Gannon scored the first basket of the 2025-26 season a minute into Monday's contest. After Franklin grabbed a two-possession lead over the next couple of minutes, Gannon helped USI come back and take a 9-8 lead by the midway point of the opening quarter. The two sides battled for the remainder of the first quarter, with the score tied at 19 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
 
In the second period, a couple of threes by Loden and Blacher helped catapult the Screaming Eagles to a 10-0 run and a 29-19 lead. As the Grizzlies tried to respond, a three-point play by Gannon at the 3:16 mark of the second quarter pushed the Eagles' advantage to a dozen, 36-24, as Gannon crossed into double figures for the game. Blacher also reached double digits later in the period to extend USI's lead to 18, its largest lead of the first half. The Screaming Eagles went into halftime ahead 44-27.
 
While Franklin tried to cut into USI's lead in the early going of the third quarter, the Screaming Eagles continued to get stronger as the game went along. Loden was aggressive, getting to the basket and converting at the foul line. Loden eclipsed double figures with a pair of free throws at the six-minute mark of the third, giving USI a 51-35 lead. A minute later, the Eagles' margin swelled to 21 on a bucket from Buchanan. Freshman guard Lily Graves had a strong showing in the third with seven points, aiding USI to carry a 67-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Screaming Eagles continued to roll in the fourth quarter. Blacher drained another three, and Buchanan knocked down a jumper to reach 10 points in the game. Gannon scored another bucket to reach her game-high 17 points. Down the stretch of the fourth frame, USI's lead reached as big as 42 points for the team's largest lead of the night.

TENNESSEE TECH 92, CUMBERLANDS (Ky.) 67
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Reghan Grimes only needed five points to start the season to reach the 1,000-point club. Instead, the Tennessee Tech senior poured it on for 24 total points to lead all scorers Monday night to lead the Golden Eagles to a 92-67 victory over the University of the Cumberlands in the Eblen Center.

Grimes was 7-for-13 from the field and 10-for-11 at the free-throw line to pace the Golden Eagles (1-0). Chloe Larry also collected 17 points, while Tulsa transfer Cam Mathews chipped in for a career-high 13 points with both players draining a trio of 3-pointers. Reagan Hurst scored 10 points in her first regular-season game back following an injury before the start of last season's campaign.

While Tech shot well in the game – hitting nearly 50 percent with a 30-for-61 effort from the field, while going 10-for-22 from downtown and 22-for-33 at the stripe – fouls almost made things a little challenging.

The Golden Eagles were whistled for 33 total fouls in the game, putting seven players on the brink of their fifth and disqualifying foul. That gave the visiting Patriots 50 trips to the free-throw line, where they hit 32 for a 64-percent clip.

Joy Kendrick, who was 12-for-15 at the stripe, led Cumberlands (3-0) with 21 points despite going 4-for-15 from the field. Tech's defense was able to hold the Patriots to a 32-percent night from the field as they hit 16 of their 50 field goal attempts and only 3-for-11 from long range.

Darcie Anderson and Jaydyn Carrico each scored 11 for the Patriots.

Cumberlands won the rebounding battle with 39 boards to Tech's 34, but the Golden Eagles took advantage of its eight offensive caroms to collect 16 second-chance points to the Patriots' seven.

The game was an exhibition contest for Cumberlands, meaning the defeat and statistics will not count toward their season totals.

SIUE 96, MISSOURI BAPTIST 47
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE women's basketball dominated Missouri Baptist in their home opener with a commanding 96-47 win.
 
The last time the Cougars' 96-point performance marked their first 90-plus point game since the 2023 season, when they scored 91 against Evansville.
 
The Cougars saw stand-out performances across the lineup. Ava Gugliuzza led the Cougars with 17 points, shooting 6-for-10 from the field. Kiyoko Proctor followed with 14 on 6-for-14 shooting.
 
Macy Silvey added12 points, while Emiyah Cobb contributed 11 points and four rebounds. Adebukola Akomolafe led the team on the boards with nine rebounds, and Meegan Fahy was perfect from the field, going 4-for-4 for eight points and two rebounds.  
 
As a team, SIUE shot 50 from the field and 43.5 percent from beyond the arc. The cougars capitalized on turnovers, resulting in 35 of their points, and recorded19 fast-break points. They also led in points off the bench, outscoring the Spartans reserves 54-14.

LITTLE ROCK 99, CENTRAL BAPTIST 41
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It was an historic night for the Trojan women, who poured in their most points in a game since 2001, rolling past Central Baptist College, 99–41, in Monday night's season opener at the Jack Stephens Center.
The 99 points marked the most by a Little Rock team since scoring 103 against Morris Brown on February 3, 2001.

Every Trojan player on the roster scored at least two points in the lopsided win. Senior Jordan Holman led all scorers with 24 points, adding three assists, five steals, and two blocks. Mya Cotto added 13 points, while Brenna Burk chipped in 10.

The Trojans will stay home to host Memphis on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center. The Tigers dropped their season opener Monday to Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

CBC jumped out to a 14–7 lead early and held a 20–18 advantage after the first quarter. Alaina Payne gave Little Rock a 24–22 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half — a lead the Trojans never relinquished. A 22-3 run to close the half put Little Rock in command, up 44-25 at the break over the NAIA-member Mustangs (1–3).

The advantage ballooned to nearly 30 by the end of the third quarter and close to 60 by game's end. The Trojans had a chance to reach 100 points late, but Wiedower instructed his team to let the clock expire rather than take another shot.
Little Rock forced 38 Mustang turnovers and scored more than 50 points off those miscues, dominating defensively throughout the second half.