FRIDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 56, @Eastern Kentucky 51
Murray State 79,
@Southern Indiana 77
Morehead State 84, @Bellarmine 68
Tennessee Tech 59, @Jackson State 53
Memphis 64,
@Little Rock 62
Wright State 85,
@Tennessee State 80
SIUE 56, EASTERN KENTUCKY 51
BEREA, Ky. - Women's basketball claims their second win of the season, defeating Eastern Kentucky 56-51. Freshman Lauren Miller led the Cougars with 25 points. She has a series of career highs against the Colonels including nine rebounds and making 10 of 19 shots from the field. Miller also made five free throws off six attempts.
SIUE is now 2-0 overall while EKU falls to 1-1.
The Cougars trailed for the first quarter, before tying the game three times in the second quarter and eventually taking a one-point lead after Syanne Mohammed made a free throw (25-24) before halftime.
At the start of the second half EKU gained a one-point lead (26-25), before Miller made a shot in the paint sparking a five-point lead for SIUE (31-26). SIUE maintained their lead through the remainder of the game, securing the win.
Freshman Kiyoko Proctor had her second game of the season scoring in double digits with 10 points. While Adebukola Akomolafe grabbed nine rebounds, Mohammed followed with a career-high five rebounds.
SIUE and EKU were evenly matched, with each team having six points off turnovers, 24 points in the pain, having tied the game four times in the first half and having five lead changes.
MURRAY STATE 79, SOUTHERN INDIANA 77
EVANSVILLE, Ky. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball battled Murray State University to an exciting, competitive battle on Friday night at Liberty Arena, but the Screaming Eagles came up short, 79-77, after the Racers hit a game-winning layup at the buzzer.
USI Women's Basketball (1-1) found itself in another tight contest against Murray State (1-0) on Friday night, just like last year's battle in Murray, Kentucky. Neither side built a lead bigger than single digits on Friday night. USI led by as many as seven in the first quarter, while Murray State's largest lead was nine points in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Both teams shot for 42 percent from the floor in the game. USI went 32-76 compared to the Racers' 22-52 effort in shooting the basketball. A significant difference came at the free-throw line. USI was 8-13 at the stripe, while Murray State racked up 34 attempts and made 30 free throws. The Racers won the battle on the glass by four, 42-38.
Individually, senior guard Ali Saunders returned to the court and paced the Screaming Eagles with 23 points on 10-18 shooting with eight assists. The 23 points are a personal best for Saunders since putting on the Screaming Eagles uniform. Right behind Saunders was junior guard Sophia Loden with a career-best 21 points on 8-15 shooting and a career-high 12 rebounds, marking Loden's first career double-double performance. Junior forward Amiyah Buchanan nearly joined Loden with a double-double, recording 10 points and nine boards.
The Screaming Eagles got off to a solid start on both ends of the court, jumping out to a quick 8-1 advantage three and a half minutes in. USI limited Murray State to only one field goal for five-plus minutes in. Loden tallied the first four points for USI while also crashing the boards early. Following the first-quarter media timeout, the Racers charged back. However, sophomore guard Lexi Sepulveda came off the bench with five points in the final two minutes to help USI go ahead 15-14 after the opening quarter.
Murray State went on a small run to begin the second quarter, building a five-point lead, 24-19, just over four minutes into the frame. Saunders made a pair of field goals, while junior guard Shannon Blacher drained a three later in the second to propel USI back in front, 28-25, with three minutes to go in the first half. USI went ahead by as many as five in the final 90 seconds before Murray State responded to tie the game at 32 going into halftime.
After a quick bucket by junior forward Chloe Gannon to begin the second half, Murray State went on an 8-0 run to take a 42-34 advantage. Near the midway point of the third quarter, the Screaming Eagles cut the deficit down to three, 45-42, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Saunders. Murray State tried to pull away again, but once again, USI climbed back. With a minute left, Buchanan drilled a straightaway triple to tie the game at 51. The Racers ended up taking a 55-53 lead into the fourth period.
Murray State went on a 6-0 run to begin the fourth quarter before Gannon scored a layup two minutes into the quarter to end the run. While the Racers' lead grew to nine, 64-55, with seven minutes to go. The Screaming Eagles continue to show no quit, as Loden cashed in to reach a new career high, and Buchanan converted a three-point play to make the score 66-63 in favor of the Racers with under five minutes to play. The contest wound up coming down to the wire. As Murray State led by three, 77-74, with just under 10 seconds left, Saunders netted a game-tying triple with two seconds on the clock. Following a timeout and advancement of the basketball, the Racers scored a game-winning layup at the buzzer.
MOREHEAD STATE 84, BELLARMINE 68
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Led by Landon Forbes with 22 and Laura Toffali with 20, Morehead State earned head coach Ashton Feldhaus her first Division I win with an 84-68 victory at Bellarmine Friday night in Knights Hall.
Forbes shot 8-10 from the floor, including 3-5 from three-point range and hit all three of her free throw attempts. Toffali went 6-15 from the field and hit one of her four threes. She made seven of nine from the free throw line. Both players just missed double-doubles, sharing game honors with nine rebounds each.
Morehead State (1-1) had four players finish in double figures scoring. Violet McNece finished with 13 and Marie Sepp, hampered by early foul trouble, scored 12 points in just 16 minutes of play.
Bellarmine (1-1) had three players finished in double figures, led by Triniti Ralston with 18. Ava Smith added 14 and Rose Jamison finished with 12 points.
Morehead State opened with a 9-0 run to grab the early advantage; Bellarmine charged right back with a nine-point run to force the game's only tie. The Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to take a 16 9 lead. MSU led 21-12 at the end of the quarter, led by Toffali's nine points in the opening 10 minutes.
The Eagles got the first two baskets to begin the second frame, and Forbes' three-pointer at the 4:29 mark put MSU up 14. Bellarmine whittled away at the lead got as close at six with 14 seconds to go in the half. Two free throws by Forbes gave MSU a 40-32 lead at the intermission.
The Eagles came out of the break and extended the lead out to 15 by the media timeout. Bellarmine again chipped away the lead and trailed by seven 60-53 heading into the quarter break, having out-scored MSU 21-20 in the frame. Bellarmine forced 10 MSU turnovers.
Morehead State outscored the Knights 12-2 to start the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 72-55, and the lead was no lower than 11 the rest of the way.
TENNESSEE TECH 59, JACKSON STATE 53
JACKSON, Miss. - It was a physical contest Friday night in Jackson as the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team battled with Jackson State from start to finish, breaking away in the second half to pull away with a 59-53 victory.
It certainly wasn't easy as the host Tigers kept battling even to the final possession. The Golden Eagles led 2:25 in the opening quarter and just 14 seconds in the second quarter. However, the momentum shifted Tech's way with a seven-point run to help build a nine-point lead in the third quarter, then the Golden Eagles never trailed in the fourth, holding serve with a 10-point lead at the 7:38 mark.
Neither team shot well in the opening stanza as the Golden Eagles (2-0) were 3-for-17 from the field in the first 10 minutes, draining one of its five 3-point tries. The second quarter wasn't much better, hitting 2-for-10 from the field and 0-for-5 from downtown. Tech also had a slow start at the free-throw line, going 6-for 14 in the first half.
The second half was a completely different story – Tech came out on fire, shooting 69.2 percent from the field as the Golden Eagles were 9-for-13 and 3-for-4 from 3. Tech also did not miss a free throw in the second half, going 10-for-10 to salvage a 16-for-24 performance on the night.
Newcomer Cam Mathews led the Golden Eagles with 16 points, knocking down five of her 10 shots and going 5-for-6 at the line. She also ended the game with a team-best five assists while also collecting a steal. Reghan Grimes scored 14 points, while Reagan Hurst scored 13. LaReesha Cawthorn had a strong night on the defensive side, pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds with three steals and three blocks.
Jackson State outscored Tech 10-8 in the opening stanza, then kept its pace with an 11-9 performance in the second to take a 21-17 lead into the intermission. The Golden Eagles outscored the Tigers 24-15 in the third, then edged JSU 18-17 in the fourth, even as the Tigers cut Tech's lead down to two points with 1:27 remaining in the game.
Chloe Larry and Mathews each sank a pair of free throws in the final 27 seconds to extend Tech's lead back out to six points.
Leianya Massenat and Pierre-Noelle Tcheuhchoua each scored 15 points to lead Jackson State (1-1), as Tcheuhchoua collected a double-double with 10 boards.
MEMPHIS 64, LITTLE ROCK 62
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Recap coming soon.
WRIGHT STATE 85, TENNESSEE STATE 80
NASHVILLE - Tennessee State women's basketball went toe-to-toe with Wright State in its 2025-26 home opener Friday night at the Gentry Center but came up just short in an 85-80 decision.
The Lady Tigers (0-2) controlled the pace early, taking a 45-39 lead into halftime behind an efficient offensive rhythm and relentless energy on the glass. Sophomore forward Erin Martin led the charge with a dominant double-double performance, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks to pace Tennessee State on both ends of the floor.
Xai Whitfield added 18 points and six rebounds, while Somah Kamara and Kiki Roberts each chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Tigers' balanced attack kept the Raiders on their heels through much of the night.
Tennessee State finished with 11 offensive rebounds that led to 11 second-chance points and turned 14 Wright State turnovers into 17 points on the other end. The bench also provided a spark, contributing 29 points, highlighted by key minutes from Amiyah Ferguson and Brianna Wooldridge.
After leading by six at the break, TSU faced a tough Wright State surge in the third quarter as the Raiders shot 44 percent from the field and connected on four three-pointers to swing the momentum. Despite trailing 62-56 entering the final period, the Tigers refused to back down—cutting the deficit to four in the closing minute after a Whitfield layup.
Martin's interior presence and Whitfield's late scoring helped TSU stay within striking distance until the final buzzer, but Wright State's free-throw shooting down the stretch sealed the outcome.