SATURDAY’S SCORES
Morgan State 63, Tennessee State 57
@Morehead State 77, SIU Edwardsville 63
@Alabama A&M 69, Jacksonville State 56
@Belmont 68, Tennessee Tech 62
MORGAN STATE 63, TENNESSEE STATE 57
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - For the third straight game, offensive struggles hampered the Lady Tigers in the first half as Tennessee State dropped the consolation game of the Fifth Third Classic Saturday afternoon to Morgan State, 63-57.
Kendra Appling finished the game with 15 points while Nikki Rumph turned in 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Chelsea Cromartie recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
TSU shot 26.1 percent from the field (6-of-23) and were 0-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first half.
With the game tied 3-3 early in the first half, TSU suffered through a three minute scoring drought that saw MSU grab a 10-3 lead. The Lady Tigers cut the deficit down to four (14-10) but costly TSU turnovers coupled with another scoring drought led to the Bears building the advantage to 20-10.
TSU came to within four again (20-16) but Morgan Stateʼs Corin Adams nailed a three-pointer to put the Bears back on top 23-16 with 4:31 left in the half. MSU outscored TSU 9-1 in the final four minutes of the game to claim a 32-17 lead going into halftime.
Tennessee State had 15 first half turnovers, in which Morgan State turned into 15 points.
The Lady Tigers outscored the Bears over the first four minutes of the second half to cut the deficit down to 35-27. A three-point bucket by Kendra Appling brought the score to 39-32 before a jumper by Meredith Stafford cut the deficit down to five (41-36) with 9:36 on the clock.
TSU didnʼt score again until the 6:31 mark, by then MSU had stretched its lead back up to 47-38. The Lady Tigers once again made a small run and came to within four (55-51) following a three-point play by Chelsea Cromartie with 2:44 left to play.
That, however, would be as close as the Lady Tigers would get as the Bears held on for the 63-57 win.
Tennessee State shot an improved 40 percent (16-of-40) from the field in the second half and ended up outscoring Morgan State 40-31.
The Lady Tigers return to action on Monday, Nov. 24 when they host the Bulldogs of Cumberland University.
MOREHEAD STATE 77, SIU EDWARDSVILLE 63
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Junior guard Tiffany Hamilton set a career high with 23 points and added nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, while junior Brittany Pittman narrowly missed a triple-double with 14 points, 15 rebounds and a season best nine blocked shots as the Morehead State women's basketball team defeated visiting SIU Edwardsville 77-63 Saturday at Johnson Arena. The Eagles won their third straight game to open the 2008-09 season 3-1, while the Cougars fell to 1-2.
Hamilton, who eclipsed her career best of 19 set just Wednesday against Saint Louis, was 10-of-17 from the floor and grabbed five of her nine boards on the offensive glass. She also made only one turnover in 37 minutes of action. Hamilton averaged 21.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in the Eagles' two games this week.
Pittman, meanwhile, continued her torrid assault on the MSU and Ohio Valley Conference career blocks record. She now has 31 in just four games this season (7.7 per game) and 154 in only 34 games at MSU, meaning she is just 52 blocks way from breaking Tasha Gales' MSU career record of 205. She now needs only 80 more rejections to break Gerlonda Hardin's (Austin Peay, 2000-04) OVC mark of 233. She pulled down a team best 15 rebounds today and is now averaging 11.7 per contest in the Eagles' first four. She also collected a team high four steals today.
But, those two weren't the only Eagles contributing today. Junior Tiffanie Stephens came off the bench and reached double figures for the fourth straight game to open her Division I career. She was 6-of-10 from the field and netted 17 points. Freshman point guard Courtney Lumpkin made her first collegiate start and tallied 11 points and three assists.
SIUE got a 21-point, 14-rebound performance from senior center Jenny Wuest. Brittany Imig scored 15, and Jessie Stapleton netted 13. Ashley Bey added six assists.
On the rebounding front, the Eagles won the battle, 54-43. MSU also limited the Cougars to only 22 percent shooting overall in the first 20 minutes. The Cougars warmed up somwwhat in the final half, finishing with a 31 percent total (22-of-70). MSU shot 39 percent (25-of-64) for the game and collected 23 points off 19 Cougar mistakes.
SIU led 3-2 at the 16:10 mark of the first half, but the Eagles erased that quickly, going on a 15-1 run - capped by a trey by Hamilton - to lead 17-4 at the 11:13 mark. At the half, the Eagles were on top 34-24.
MSU opened the second half on a 15-2 scoring flurry and led by their largest margin (23 - 49-26) with 14:14 left. The closest the Cougars cut it the rest of the way was 11 (72-61) with 1:32 left.
ALABAMA A&M 69, JACKSONVILLE STATE 56
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ? Jacksonville State could not overcome a cold shooting first half and an 18-point halftime deficit as Alabama A&M claimed a 69-56 win on Saturday at T.M. Elmore Gym.
The Gamecocks jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead on baskets Cassi Stuart and Danielle Beneby only to see Alabama A&M answer with an 8-0 run to take an 8-4 lead on a Katrich Williams layup with 17:17 left in the first half.
Alabama A&M would keep the lead and take a 17-point advantage, going on a 14-2 run to take a 32-15 lead with 3:01 remaining in the first half. AAMU took a 20-point lead on a Dominisha Johnson layup with 2:34 to play. A pair of Charlease Williams free throws cut the deficit to 37-19 at the half.
The Gamecocks shot 24 percent from the floor in the first half and missed on all three-point attempts. Alabama A&M shot 48.6 percent from the floor, making 17-of-35 shots.
Jacksonville State started the second half on a 5-0 run to trim the lead to 37-24 on a Stuart three at the 19:25 mark. Katrich Williams pushed the Bulldogs’ lead back up to 16 on a three-pointer with 18:11 left in the second half.
A 12-0 run gave Alabama A&M a 58-34 lead when Jenna Collier hit a jumper at the 8:43 points. The Gamecocks never got any closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Jolie Efezokhae led JSU with 16 points and had five rebounds. Charlease Williams had 15 points and six rebounds.
Alabama A&M had two in double figures led by Katrich Williams’ 17. Johnson added 11 points and nine rebounds while Brittany Manning chipped in nine points and six boards.
BELMONT 68, TENNESSEE TECH 62
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? Tennessee Tech dropped a 68-62 contest at Belmont on Saturday night.
The contest started slowly for both squads, with neither able to find the bottom of the net for the first two minutes after the opening tip. Finally, freshman Haley Nelson (Scottsboro, Ala.) pushed for a lay-up to put Belmont on the board first. Blair Bowens netted one of two attempts at the free-throw line to get Tennessee Tech on the board nearly one minute later. Back-to-back tripled by juniors Kristin Bunch (Fayetteville, Ga.) and Amber Rockwell (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) helped the Bruins expand their lead to five. The Golden Eagles pressured BU, answering almost all of their shots, and by the 9:30 mark had knotted the game at 11. Back-to-back jumpers by Jasmine White gave Tennessee Tech its first lead of the game, 15-13, with seven minutes remaining before the break.
The Golden Eagles were able to blow their lead up to three before a trip to the charity stripe and back-to-back lay-ups by senior Jessica Bobbitt (Trenton, Tenn.) and Rockwell put Belmont back on top by one, 18-17. As time ticked to under two and a half minutes, TTU was able to knot the score once again, this time at 18 but its dismal shooting percentage, as low as 18 percent, kept them from surging in the game. The Bruins were able to regain the lead, 20-18, behind a jumper in the paint by Rockwell. BU looked to take that lead into the locker room as time wound down but sophomore Rachel Swisher (Franklin, Ky.) nailed a trey with three-tenths of a second on the clock to give Belmont a 23-18 halftime lead.
Belmont opened the second stanza with a fast attack from the floor with buckets coming from Bobbitt and Rockwell. Junior LaWanna Holiday (Henderson, Tenn.) got hot draining a three pointer and a jumper to put the Bruins on top, 34-27, with about four minutes ticked off the clock. The Bruins continued to surge, finally reaching a double digit lead, 47-37, with 9:50 to go in the game. Krystal Stirrup kept the Golden Eagles in the game, adding eight points over the same span. TTU was only able to inch within seven points before another triple by Holiday rebuilt the 10 point lead. As time moved to under the five minute mark, Tennessee Tech was able to swing the momentum in their favor with the help of their fans. A pair of free throws from Tacarra Hayes and a three from Bowens made it a five point game, 58-53, but Swisher’s third triple of the night and a pair from the line by Holiday kept it a 10 point game.
TTU turned up the heat in the last two minutes of regulation, using full court pressure even as the Bruins tried to play keep away. Bowens hit two at the line and Allison Price drilled her second three pointer of the night to move the Golden Eagles to within four, 66-62, with just 30 second left on the clock. However, Bobbitt was fouled on a lay-up and went on to hit both of her shots from the stripe to seal the win with the score of 68-62.
The Bruins held the edge in scoring all night, hitting 51.1 percent of their shots compared to 32.3 percent for TTU. Belmont also outperformed the Golden Eagles from behind the three point arc, 42.9 to 23.8 percent. Tennessee Tech held the advantage in rebounds, 43-36.
TTU was led in scoring by White, who notched 19 points. Bowens and Price also reached double figures, adding 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Four BU players reached double digits ? Holiday, Bobbitt, Swisher, and Rockwell. Holiday led the Bruins with 15 points. Bobbitt picked up her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Nelson notched a career and game-high three blocks on the night.