WEDNESDAY’S SCORES
@Cincinnati 55,
Morehead State 45
@No. 6/7 Louisville 76,
Eastern Kentucky 42
@Vanderbilt 67,
Austin Peay 36
UT Martin 73, @Evansville 57
Kennesaw State 51,
@Jacksonville State
CINCINNATI 55, MOREHEAD STATE 45
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Morehead State’s women’s basketball team hit a season-best nine three-pointers Wednesday at Cincinnati, but the hosts used a 12-3 run to end the first half and 10-3 run to finish the game as they defeated MSU 55-45 at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats improved to 4-1, while MSU dipped to 1-5.
Junior guard Terrice Robinson and sophomore forward Casey Ryans each buried a trio of three-pointers as Robinson led MSU with 13 points and Ryans had 11, but the Eagles went without a field goal for the final 6:28. UC’s Dayeesha Hollins, who led all players with 18 points, scored five of her team’s final 10 in the last eight minutes.
Robinson also pulled in a team and career-best seven rebounds. UC only won the rebounding battle, 36-29.
MSU freshman Kailee Howe hit a running jumper in the lane to bring her team to within 45-42 at the 8:01 mark. A three-pointer by Robinson at 6:28 was the final field goal as UC hit three field goals and four free throws down the stretch.
Sophomore guard Almesha Jones tied her career high with seven assists, and junior guard Tyler Ituen scored a season-best eight points for the Eagles.
The Bearcats scored the games’ first four, but a pair of three-balls from Robinson keyed a 10-4 run to give the visitors their first lead, 10-8, at the 12:19 mark. The Eagles hit seven three-pointers in the opening half and held leads of five (19-14 and 22-17) twice. A 12-3 run in the final seven minutes shifted the lead back to UC at the half, 29-25.
The Eagles finished 9-of-24 from three-point range and shot 37 percent overall (17-of-46). UC hit 39 percent (21-of-54) overall, including 42 percent in the final half.
Morehead State returns home on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET to host East Tennessee State.
LOUISVILLE 76, EASTERN KENTUCKY 42
LOUISVLLE, Ky. - Senior Jade Barber recorded her third double-double of the season in a return to her hometown, but it was not enough as the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team fell to No. 6/7 Louisville, 76-42, on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
The loss was EKU’s third in a row and it dropped the Lady Colonels to 3-3 on the year. Undefeated Louisville, meanwhile, improved to 8-0 with the win.
Barber, a graduate of Ballard High School in Louisville, went for 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and grabbed 10 boards. She came into Wednesday’s contest ranked 19th in the country averaging 11.4 rebounds per game. Senior Jalisa Bryant scored 10 points, all of which came in the first half, while senior Alex Jones contributed nine points and four rebounds in the loss.
Sisters Shoni and Jude Schimmel paced a balanced Louisville scoring effort with 12 points each.
EKU stifled Louisville to 0-of-11 shooting from the field to begin the game and Bryant knocked down a pair of three-pointers as the Lady Colonels raced out to an early 6-0 lead in front of a stunned home crowd.
Louisville, however, recovered from EKU’s early blow and reeled off 19 unanswered points to take a 19-6 lead with 8:54 remaining in the first half. After Bryant knocked down another triple to halt the Cardinal rally, Louisville went on another run, this one 14-0, and cruised into the locker room at halftime with a commanding 39-11 lead.
The Lady Colonels shot a much-improved 40 percent (12-of-30) from the field in the second half; however, it was not enough to cut into their daunting deficit as Louisville held on to earn its fifth consecutive win over EKU.
EKU returns to action this weekend when the Lady Colonels host Presbyterian, Marshall and Jackson State in the Comfort Suites Invitational at McBrayer Arena.
UT MARTIN 73, EVANSVILLE 57
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Junior Heather Butler had no trouble getting acclimated to the Ford Center, Evansville’s two-year-old off-campus arena. She rattled off 16 consecutive points before missing twice. She redeemed herself by making a 3-pointer with :03 to play in the first half. She led all scorers at halftime with 19 points, seven field goals, four 3-pointers and a free throw.
Butler finished the game with 23 points to lead The University of Tennessee at Martin to a 73-57 victory over Evansville. Junior guard Jasmine Newsome scored 18 points, while senior Rickiesha Bryant netted 13 points.
Evansville was led by Samantha Heck with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Khristian Hart scored 14 points.
With the victory, the Skyhawks improve to 2-5 on the young season. Evansville falls to 2-4.
Butler missed her first five attempts from the field in the second half, but scored her 1500th and 1501st career points when she made two free throws with 5:09 to play in the game. The Gibson County product wrapped up her scoring effort with a short jumper with 1:40 to play in the contest.
While Butler and Newsome’s offense led the way for Skyhawks, it was junior Megan White’s defense and rebounding that made a big difference in the game. Newsome and White led the Skyhawks with eight rebounds each.
After the lead changed four times and the score was tied three times, Butler made a 3-pointer with 12:37 to play in the first half and the Skyhawks took a 16-12 advantage and never looked back.
The Skyhawks closed out the half with a 25-16 run and led 41-28 at the break.
With 7:25 to play in the game, Evansville’s Hart knocked down a 3-pointer and just 10 seconds later Heck made a layup to cut the Skyhawk lead to 15 points, 63-48. However, the Skyhawks countered with a 7-0 run and led 70-48 with 3:53 to go.
The Skyhawks will return to action when they host Central Arkansas at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
VANDERBILT 67, AUSTIN PEAY 36
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay women’s basketball team suffered through one of its worst halves in recent history, scoring nine second half points in a 67-36 loss to Vanderbilt, Wednesday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
Austin Peay (1-5) was just 3-of-28 (10.7 percent) from the floor in the second half and had two stretches where it missed 13 consecutive shots. Only four Lady Govs scored in the period, including freshman Tiasha Gray who hit one of her four three-pointers in the period.
Despite the Lady Govs shooting woes, Vanderbilt (4-3) could only build an 11-point lead in the opening 10 minutes. It took a 16-0 run over a stretch of four minutes later in the half to expand its lead to 28 points.
Austin Peay’s second half woes overshadowed a first-half performance that saw it keep pace with homestanding Vanderbilt. The Lady Govs did trail by nine points with 5:13 left in the period, but Gray hit two of her three point shots in that final stretch, the latter cutting the deficit to two points, 27-25, with 1:27 left.
The Lady Govs tied the game on its next possession thanks to senior Kaitlyn Hill’s turnaround hook shot. However, the Commodores took a 29-27 halftime lead after Clair Watkins’ layup.
Gray led Austin Peay with a career-best 12 points, making 4-of-6 from three-point range. Hill was next on the Lady Govs scoring list with six points.
Tiffany Clarke led Vanderbilt with 19 points and seven rebounds. The Commodores shot just 39.6 percent from the floor, but easily outpaced the Lady Govs 23.2 percent shooting effort.
Austin Peay will return to the floor when it hosts Ball State in a 5:15 p.m., Saturday contest at the Dunn Center.
KENNESAW STATE 51, JACKSONVILLE STATE 50
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Kennesaw State hit a pair of free throws with 3.6 second left to squeak past Jacksonville State, 51-50, on Wednesday night in women's college basketball action at JSU's Pete Mathews Coliseum.
After JSU's Dashauna Truss drilled the go-ahead three-point basket with 11 second left to give JSU a 50-49 lead in the waning seconds left in the contest, but the Owls' Kristina Wells went to the free throw line to sink a pair of free throws for the road win. The loss drops Jax State to 0-6 on the season, while KSU moved to 2-5 on the year. The one-point setback was the third consecutive game that was decided by three points or less.
In a game that saw ten ties and five lead changes, JSU played catch up for the last 21 minutes of the contest after building its largest lead of the season at 15-6 at the 13:11 mark of the opening half. KSU clawed its way back into the game and found itself in a back and forth affair until the Black and Gold mounted a final push of the opening half to take a four-point, 31-27 lead into the halftime break.
Both teams started the contest with hot shooting hands as both connected on 40 percent from the field, while both teams combined for seven three-point shots.
The shooting percentages simmered in the second half as JSU out-scored KSU, 23-20, but could not close the deal down the final stretch. KSU quickly took its largest lead of the contest with a pair of sic-point leads in the first two minutes of the half. JSU equalized at 38-all with a three-pointer from Bria'unna Bucker with 12:16 to go in the game. KSU would push the lead out to five points at 45-40 with just over four minutes left in the game and then had to fend off a furious Gamecock run.
Sophomore Miranda Cantrell missed the free throw opportunity after her fifth made bucket of the game at the 2:02 mark to cut the lead to 47-45, but sophomore Gia Banks pulled down the rebound for the put-back to even the contest at 47-all. KSU's Sametria Gideon hit a lay up with 25 seconds left before Truss' three-point basket.
Cantrell, inserted into the starting line up for the first time this season, turned in her third-straight double figure scoring game with ten points and three assists in just 19 minutes of action. Truss led all JSU scorers with 13 points with nine of those 13 points coming off three-point baskets. The Jacksonville, Fla.-native also dished out five assists. Freshman Peyton Hisel and sophomore Marikate Gardler added seven points each in the loss. Banks posted a career high six points and matched her career high in rebounds with seven.
Gideon, Ashley Holiday and Chelsea Mason all had 13 points each to lead the Owls in the scoring column.
For the first time this season, the Gamecocks were out-rebounded by the opposition. KSU had a plus-12 advantage on the boards. Jax State dished out 13 assists and limited its turnovers to a season-low 11, while forcing 16 KSU miscues.
JSU will close out the four-game homestand on Friday, Dec. 7 as it hosts Reinhardt at Pete Mathews Coliseum