SUNDAY’S SCORES
No. 10 Georgia 70,
Belmont 38
@Austin Peay 71, Binghamton 63
Northern Illinois 76,
@Morehead State 46
No. 4 Stanford 92,
UT Martin 68
GEORGIA 70, BELMONT 38
ATHENS, Ga. - In spite of a late rally down the stretch to recover from an icy first half performance, the Belmont women's basketball team (1-3) fell on the road at No. 10 Georgia (4-0) on Sunday afternoon. The Bruins fell 70-38 and slip to 1-3 on the young season.
After senior Jordan Coleman (Orlando, Fla.) netted the first jumper of the afternoon, both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm through the first 10 minutes of action, shooting a combined 32 percent. The Bruins went ice cold after Coleman's first basket for a span of nine minutes. By the 10:28 mark, the Lady Bulldogs had managed to build a 16-2 lead and the Bruins called a timeout.
BU's rim remained lidded through the midpoint of the contest despite great scoring opportunities inside and outside of the arc. Redshirt freshman Blair Bryce (Red Oak, Texas) added two points under the basket, snapping the nine minute scoring drought but the spotty shooting would continue. By the six minute mark, Georgia had built a 27-point advantage, 31-4.
Belmont began to show signs of life as Coleman scored again and senior Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn.), spurred by a Bryce block on the opposite end, went on to net her first two of the day. In the final 70 seconds of the half, Brooks would score again from a jumper in the lane and the Bruins would turn up the defensive pressure on the other end. Bryce and sophomore Torie Vaught (Maryville, Tenn.) collected blocks to keep Georgia off the board in the final 30 seconds. BU would have the final points of the first half behind a pair at the charity stripe by sophomore Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) to head into the locker room down, 40-12.
Undaunted by the point deficit, the Bruins came out firing on all cylinders behind back-to-back triples by junior Molly Ernst (Louisville, Ky.) and senior Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.) to open the second half. Ernst continued to drill long distance shots to begin trimming the Lady Bulldogs lead down while Bryce forced turnovers under the basket on the other end. As the clock ticked near the 10-minute mark, the Bruins saw also point production from Tarrence and Visbeen.
Coleman was fouled on a lay-in and completed a three-point play as the Bruins forced a turnover to open the door for a Vaught lay-in to move the score to 63-36 with just over six and a half minutes left in regulation. BU was able to hold the Lady Bulldogs steady for four minutes before they hit the final field goal of the afternoon to pull away, 68-38. Georgia added two more free throws in the final 60 seconds to take the second-ever meeting between the programs, 70-38.
Georgia shot 39.7 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent from three-point range, and 75 percent from the free-throw line. The Lady Bulldogs held the advantage in rebounds, 53-29, assists, 19-8, and steals, 9-0.
UGA was led in scoring by Jasmine Hassell, who scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Jasmine James also reached double figures adding 10.
Belmont shot 28.6 percent from the hardwood, 27.3 percent from behind the three-point arc and 60 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins held the advantage in blocks, 4-1.
Coleman narrowly missed her first double-double as a Bruin with a team-high nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Tarrence added eight points while Ernst and Brooks each contributed six points. Bryce had a game-high two blocks.
Belmont returns to action on Tuesday at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins host first-time opponent Binghamton beginning at 6 p.m.
AUSTIN PEAY 71, BINGHAMTON 63
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A 23-12 second-half opening burst helped Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team escape with a 71-67 victory against Binghamton, Sunday afternoon at the Dunn Center.
Trailing by 10 points at halftime, Austin Peay (1-2) scored 23 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, making 9-of-16 from the floor. Sophomore Kristen Stainback gave APSU its first lead of the half with a three-pointer at the 12:33 mark. Two minutes later, senior Leslie Martinez made a fast-break layup to give the Lady Govs a 44-43 lead with 10:16 remaining and they would not trail again in the game.
The Lady Govs were able to push their lead to nine points, 61-52, on freshman Tiasha Gray’s jumper at the 3:07 mark but they could not build a larger lead. Binghamton (0-3) began employing a full-court defense and was able to whittle away at the Austin Peay lead and closed to within three points, after Sharae Swinson hit a three-pointer with 25 seconds left. Austin Peay hit three of their final four free throws to seal the win.
Binghamton held a halftime lead thanks to a 22-8 run over the final 10:46 of the first half. The Lady Govs offense could not get a basket to fall, senior Kaitlyn Hill making the only field goals at 5:58 and 4:06 of the period. Binghamton’s Sharae Swinson scored all of her 10 first-half points during the closing stretch.
Martinez led Austin Peay with 20 points, her second career 20 point performance, thanks to a 6-of-14 shooting performance and a 6-of-8 free-throw line outing. Hill finished with 14 points and nine rebounds while Stainback and freshman Alexis Hardaway each had 10 points.
Binghamton’s Swinson led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Vaneeshia Paulk added 12 points. The Bearcats won the rebounding battle by a 40-33 margin as Jasbriell Swain and Kara Elofson grabbed 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Austin Peay begins a three-game road trip with the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic, Friday and Saturday. The Lady Govs will face host UTSA in a 7 p.m., Friday contest before meeting William & Mary, Saturday.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 76, MOREHEAD STATE 46
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Visiting Northern Illinois shot 59 percent, including 63 percent beyond the three-point line, Sunday in handing the Morehead State women's basketball team a 76-46 defeat in the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament at Johnson Arena.
The Huskies improved to 2-1, while MSU fell to 1-2. NIU was 7-of-11 from the three-point arc and hit 27 of its 46 field goals overall.
Satavia Taylor hit all six of her three-pointers for a game-high 18 points to lead NIU. Jada Buggs had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Amanda Corral tallied 11 points.
The Eagles got a career-best 13 points from freshman guard Kailee Howe. She was 5-of-7 from the field before fouling out with 10 minutes left. Sophomore forward Casey Ryans grabbed a career-hgh nine rebounds, while junior guard Tyler Ituen corraled six boards.
Morehead State hit just 30 percent (14-of-47) from the field and was 5-of-25 from three-point range. In the second half, NIU limited the hosts to 25 percent from the floor (7-of-28).
The Huskies opened the game on a 13-1 run, including the first two triples from Taylor, and never trailed by less than seven. MSU cut it to 29-22 with 4:33 left, but the visitors scored the half's final eight. NIU opened the second half on a 14-5 flurry and pushed its advantage to 24 (51-27) with 13:11 remaining. MSU never trimmed the deficit below 20.
MSU returns to action on Wednesday at Xavier. Tipoff time is set for 7 p.m. ET at the Cintas Center.
STANFORD 92, UT MARTIN 68
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Recap coming soon