THURSDAY’S SCORES
@UIC 68,
SIUE 61
@James Madison 71,
Murray State 51
No. 8 Louisville 90,
@Austin Peay 52
UIC 68, SIUE 61
CHICAGO, Ill. - UIC had to fend off a late SIUE charge to defeat the Cougars 68-61 at UIC Pavilion.
UIC and SIUE women's basketball are both 1-1 overall after Thursday's matchup. The Cougars now return to the Vadalabene Center for their home opener Saturday. SIUE faces off against No. 18-ranked Purdue with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
SIUE was down by 16 points with 10:46 to play in the game after being down by eight points at halftime. The Cougars pushed to within three points by outscoring the Flames 22-9 over the next 10 minutes of the game. Courtney Kenner hit a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left to make it a one-possession game at 64-61.
UIC's Rachel Story and Megan Wallace each hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to dash SIUE's comeback.
Valerie Finnin and Tierny Austin each scored 16 points for the Cougars. Finnin, a junior from Mokena, connected for four three-pointers. Austin, a sophomore from Rockford, bested her career high while shooting 6 of 10 from the field.
UIC guard Taylor Foulks lifted the Flames with seven of the team's 11 three-pointers. Foulks, who hit five three-pointers to help UIC erase an early SIUE lead, finished with a game-high 21 points. Story followed with 17 points on 7-of-23 shooting.
SIUE outrebounded UIC 39-37 behind seven boards each from Michaela Herrod and Raven Berry.
JAMES MADISON 71, MURRAY STATE 51
HARRISONBURG, Va. - It was a tale of two halves, however a big first half deficit was too much to overcome, as the Murray State women’s basketball team fell to James Madison, 71-51, on Thursday night at the Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va.
Despite the Racers opening the game with an 8-4 lead, the Dukes (1-2) ended the half on a 40-13 run and took a 44-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Racers (0-3) shot just 25.0 percent in the first half, while James Madison shot 48.7 percent.
However, in the second half, the Racers battled back and outscored the Dukes 30-27 in the frame. Murray State bumped its shooting percentage from 25.0 to 29.6 percent in the stanza and raised its free throw percentage from 62.5 to 70.0. The final free throw percentage of 70.8 (17-for-24) was a season-high for MSU and raised its season percentage to 69.6.
Senior Mariah Robinson led the Racers for the second-straight game with 14 points, while fellow senior Kyra Watson led the team with six rebounds to go along with 13 points. Robinson went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the game and is currently 16-for-18 (88.9%) on the year.
Another bright spot on the evening was the defense the Racers played on JMU’s Kirby Burkholder. Burkholder entered the game averaging 24.5 points, but was held to just two points in Thursday’s contest.
Tarik Hislop scored a game-high 17 points for the Dukes, while Crystal Ross pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds
On Saturday, the Racers will travel to Farmville,Va., to take on Longwood. The Lancers will enter the game with a record of 1-2, after falling at North Carolina State, 109-42 on Thursday night
LOUISVILLE 90, AUSTIN PEAY 52
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A poor second-half performance doomed Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team in a 90-52 loss to No. 8 Louisville, Thursday night at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (0-2) trailed by 15 at the break and narrowed the gap slightly to 14 points, 52-38, with 17:52 remaining on senior Leslie Martinez’ three pointer. However, the Lady Govs would go the next 10 minutes without a field goal.
Louisville (3-0) used the Lady Govs sudden shooting woes to piece together a 30-2 run during that 10-minute span to break the game open. The Cardinals led 72-40 by the time Martinez struck again with a jumper at the 7:50 mark and they would not look back.
The Lady Govs began the game with an impressive defensive start, forcing four straight Cardinals turnovers. Yet they could not convert on the offensive end, leading only 2-0 after the first 2:35. Louisville would end its game-opening drought with back-to-back three pointers by Antonita Slaughter and led 6-2 at the 16:40 mark.
Louisville made the game’s first run, a 10-0 burst over 2:19 to build a 13-point, 30-17, lead on Monique Reid’s layup with 10:19 remaining in the frame. Austin Peay responded right back with its own 10-0 run over the next 3:49, cutting the lead back to three points, 30-27, on senior Kaitlyn Hill’s layup with 7:38 remaining.
Austin Peay could not maintain that momentum and went the next five minutes without a point, losing six of its next 11 possessions courtesy a turnover. Louisville used a 14-0 run during that drought to push the lead to 17 points, 44-27, with 2:22 remaining. Austin Peay would close to within 13 points with 27 seconds left, but Louisville scored the half’s final basket to take a 48-33 halftime lead.
Martinez led Austin Peay with a 14-point performance, but was held to 5-of-12 shooting. Hill added nine points and grabbed a game-best 13 rebounds.
Reid’s 14 points led a Louisville bench effort that swamped the Lady Govs bench by a 46-9 count. Among Louisville’s starters, Shoni Schimmel finished with a 12-point, 10-assist double-double effort.
Austin Peay returns to action when it hosts Binghamton in a 2 p.m., Sunday contest at the Dunn Center.