WEDNESDAY’S SCORES
@Morehead State 98, Saint Louis 86
@Vanderbilt 80, Eastern Kentucky 38
@Bradley 71, Eastern Illinois 69
@UMKC 69, SIU Edwardsville 56
MOREHEAD STATE 98, SAINT LOUIS 84
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Junior guard Tiffany Hamilton scored a career high 19 points and added career bests of eight assists and seven rebounds to lead six Morehead State women's basketball players in double figures as the Eagles raced past visiting Saint Louis, 98-86, Wednesday at Johnson Arena. MSU scored 53 points in the second half and shot 55 percent from the floor in the final half to improve to 2-1 on the 2008-09 season. SLU fell to 1-2.
It marked the highest single-game point total for MSU since Nov. 28, 2005 when they scored 103 against Kentucky Christian. It also was the highest point total for MSU against a Division I team since scoring 102 against Murray State on Feb. 15, 2001.
Hamilton topped the Eagles by going 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range. She scored 14 of her 19 in the second half. Freshman guard Ashley Martin came off the bench to net a career high 18 points on a 5-for-7 shooting night. She also hit both her three-point attempts and 6-of-7 free throws and also grabbed a career best eight rebounds.
Junior Brittany Pittman recorded her first double-double of the season and once again nearly had triple-double numbers. She had 11 points, a team high 13 rebounds and seven more blocked shots. Pittman has 22 blocks in her first three games and now has 145 in 33 career games at MSU. Junior Tiffanie Stephens reached double figures for the third straight game with 16 points, while sophomore Chynna Bozeman tallied 13. Freshman Courtney Lumpkin came off the bench for 10 points and five assists. MSU had 48 points off the bench.
Saint Louis was led by guard Theresa Lisch with a team high 32 points - three short of her career high. She also had eight rebounds and a team best eight assists. Katie Paganelli netted 18 points, Janisha Gearlds had 14, and Alisha Goodwin was the fourth in doubles for the Billikens with 11.
The Eagles racked up the points both inside and outside the three-point arc. They were 11-of-25 from behind the line and 20-of-45 inside. MSU also won the battle on the glass with 51 boards to SLU's 45. Free throws were prevalent as well as the teams combined for 50 total fouls and 62 total free tosses. MSU was efficient, hitting 81 percent (25-of-31) while SLU was nearly as good at 77 percent (24-of-31).
Morehead State trailed 37-31 with 3:47 left in the first half after Goodwin's layup. But, the Eagles called timeout and then outscored the Billikens 14-3 in the final three minutes to take a 45-40 lead at the half.
In the second half, the Eagles never trailed and built as much as a 16-point lead four times. The Billikens made it interesting late though. Paganelli's pair of succesful free throws drew her team back to within five (88-83) with 2:08 left. But the Eagles were able to outscore SLU 10-3 in the final two minutes.
The Eagles shot 44 percent (31-of-70) for the game and 44 percent from three-point land. SLU shot 38 percent.
VANDERBILT 80, EASTERN KENTUCKY 38
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Vanderbilt University, the 12th-ranked team in the nation, scored the first 14 points of the game and rolled to an 80-38 win over Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday night. Freshman Kayla Drake led the Lady Colonels (2-1) with 14 points. All-Southeastern Conference forward Christina Wirth finished with a game-high 16 points for the Commodores (3-0).
The Commodores scored the first 14 points of the game, missed only two of their first 11 shots and led 22-8 with 13:34 left in the first half. Hannah Tuomi scored eight of Vandy’s first 14 points.
Drake’s three-pointer almost four minutes into the game got the Lady Colonels on the board. A minute later she knocked down a second trey to make it a 16-6 game.
A jumper by Jence Rhoads with 7:59 to go before intermission stretched the lead to 20 points, 30-10. A pair of free throws at the 1:58 mark by Chanel Chisholm pushed the Commodore advantage over 30, 44-13. Vanderbilt led by 35 inside of a minute before the break, but a three-pointer by Ilona Muszak and a jumper by Sarah Fraser-Jones at the buzzer sent the Lady Colonels to the locker room trailing by an even 30 points.
Vanderbilt made 18-of29 first half shots for 62.1 percent. EKU went 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from the field. The Commodores out-rebounded Eastern 19-6 and scored 25 points off 16 Lady Colonel turnovers in the first half.
Five minutes into the second half the Vandy lead hit 40, 60-20, on a three-pointer by Lauren Lueders. The Commodores took their largest lead of 47 points, 71-24, on a lay-up by Jessica Mooney.
Vanderbilt shot 51.8 percent for the game from the field. Eastern Kentucky finished 15-of-47 for 31.9 percent.
Tuomi finished with 12 points and Mooney scored 11 off the bench. Eleven different Commodores scratched the scoring column.
Cherie White scored four points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Jasmine Lewin handed out four assists.
Vanderbilt entered the game ranked 12th in the nation in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll and No. 13 in the AP Poll.
BRADLEY 71, EASTERN ILLINOIS 69
EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Rachel Galligan led all scorers with 28 points, but Eastern Illinois women's basketball gave away 21 second-chance points and blew an eight-point halftime lead in a 71-69 loss to Bradley Wednesday evening.
Galligan scored 18 of her 28 in the first half. She also collected nine rebounds, moving into ninth place on both the EIU all-times lists in scoring and rebounding.
Bradley (2-0) outrebounded the Panthers 44-27, including a 22-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Monica Rogers posted a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double off the bench. Sonya Harris collected six of her 12 boards off the offensive glass. She also scored five points and blocked four shots before fouling out.
Eastern (1-2) shot an efficient 46 percent from the field. But Bradley connected on 52 percent of its shots in the second half to finish at 44 percent for the game. Freshman guard Michelle Lund made all four of her team's 3-pointers, including a clutch trey with 2:09 remaining in the game and EIU trailing by one.
The Panthers have failed to hold a significant halftime lead in each of its first three games this season. Bradley, meanwhile, has rallied back from a significant halftime deficit in each of its first two games, coming back from 11 down vs. Loyola on Saturday.
Eastern was without senior guard Ellen Canale, who was sidelined by the flu. Lindsey Kluempers and Dominique Sims were also under the weather but gutted it out. Megan Edwards and Ashley Thomas both connected on a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 points apiece.
The Panthers led 42-34 with 15:55 remaining in the game when Bradley put together a 16-5 run to take the lead for good. Eastern connected on only one field goal during that stretch, nearly five minutes of game action.
UMKC 69, SIU EDWARDSVILLE 56
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Despite a 25-point effort from Jenny Wuest (Madison, Wis.), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's basketball dropped a 69-56 contest at Missouri-Kansas City Wednesday at Swinney Recreation Center.
Both teams are now 1-1 for the season.
Along with Wuest's (Madison, Wis.) 25 points and eight rebounds, senior Jessie Stapleton (Chillicothe) turned in her second double-double in as many games with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Melia Duncan (Folsom, Calif.) added 10 points.
Chazny Morris led the Kangaroos with 15 points and four rebounds. Kalei Nance added 13 points.
SIUE found itself down by 13 points at halftime, trailing 36-23. The Cougars shot 11-30 (36 percent) from the field in the first half. SIUE shot just two free throws in the first half, missing both.
SIUE worked to turn it around in the second half.
UMKC used its bench effectively, outscoring the Cougars 24-2.
The Cougars will be on the road again Saturday in Morehead, Ky. Game time is set for 4 p.m. against Morehead State, a future rival in the Ohio Valley Conference.