FRIDAY’S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 61, Presbyterian 43
Tennessee State 69, Idaho 64
EASTERN KENTUCKY 561, PRESBYTERIAN 43
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team led from start to finish in a 61-43 victory over visiting Presbyterian College Friday night in the opening round of the Comfort Suites Invitational. EKU will take on Jackson State in the championship game tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.
With the win, Eastern (4-3) improves to 4-0 in McBrayer Arena this season. Presbyterian had its two game winning streak snapped and falls to 4-4.
Seniors Jade Barber and Alex Jones paced the Lady Colonels with a pair of double-doubles. Barber posted a season-high 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Jones tallied her 25th career double-double thanks to finishing with 12 points and 10 boards. Fellow senior Raechele Gray added 12 points while freshman Alexus Cooper came off the bench to chip in with eight points in 22 minutes of action.
Karlee Taylor was the only Presbyterian player to reach double-figure points with 12.
Back-to-back buckets from Barber gave EKU its largest lead of the first half at 24-12. The Blue Hose went through a nine-minute stretch where they scored just two points. However, Presbyterian responded with nine consecutive points before halftime to cut the deficit to three points, 24-21.
Eastern Kentucky scored the first four points in the second half and never looked back. Gray netted a trifecta with 10:16 remaining to push the lead back to double figures, 44-34. The Blue Hose never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
The Lady Colonels shot 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field and outrebounded Presbyterian by 10 (25-15) in the final 20 minutes of action.
This was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
Eastern Kentucky and Jackson State will meet in the championship game of the Comfort Suites Invitational tomorrow, Dec. 1. Tip time is set for 4:30 p.m. The consolation game featuring Marshall and Presbyterian is slated to start at 2 p.m.
TENNESSEE STATE 69, IDAHO 64
MISSOULA, Mont. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team shook off a sluggish start and battled from behind to defeat the University of Idaho, 69-64, in Dahlberg Arena at the 32 annual Lady Griz Classic Friday night.
TSU (3-3) trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half before outscoring Idaho, 43-34, in the second stanza. The Lady Tigers forced the WAC opponent into 14 turnovers and held them to 26.9 percent from three-point range, a team that usually shoots over 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Simone Hopes led the Lady Tigers and recorded her second career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kesi Hess also registered a double-double, the first of her career, with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Jasmin Shuler added 14 points and six rebounds.
The start for Tennessee State was sluggish, as Idaho scored nine unanswered points to capture an early, 9-0, lead. TSU had only made 3-of-17 from the field through the first eight minutes while the opponent was shooting 50 percent from the floor.
The Vandals increased their advantage to, 19-5, before back-to-back buckets from Simone Hopes pulled TSU to within 10.
Idaho maintained at least a nine-point lead for most of the first half but the TSU defense picked up and the Lady Tigers used a 7-0 run, during the last three minutes, to cut the deficit down to four.
TSU trailed, 30-26, at halftime.
With about five minutes ticked off the clock in the second frame, TSU closed within two behind a three-pointer by Chelsea Hudson. The Vandals, however, answered with consecutive triples and a break-away lay-up to go back up by double-digits.
The Lady Tigers continued to fight from behind and once again rallied to within two, 53-51, after Tanesha Stenson forced a turnover that allowed Simone Hopes to score on a break-away.
Another Hopes’ bucket pulled the Lady Tigers even, 53-53 with 6:39 remaining. On the next play, Jasmin Shuler capped a 19-7 run that put TSU on top, 55-53.
With 2:52 remaining, the Lady Tigers managed to build their advantage up to, 66-60, but the Vandals responded with four straight to pull within two.
Idaho had possession with 31.4 seconds left in the game when TSU forced a turnover and got the ball back. Idaho was forced to foul and put Destiney Gaston on the line.
Gaston made the front-end of a 1-and-1 but missed the second to make the score, 67-64, in favor of TSU with 20.7 seconds remaining.
On the Vandals’ next possession they attempted two three-pointers but came up empty on them both.
After being fouled, Kesi Hess stepped up to the line and knocked down two free-throws to ice the game.
The Lady Tigers return to action tomorrow against host Montana at 7 p.m. MT to conclude the Lady Griz Classic