THURSDAY’S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 65, Samford 56
Western Kentucky 62,
@Morehead State 38
@Ohio 69,
Eastern Kentucky 58
@UT Martin 78, Saint Louis 62
@Murray State 100, Mid-Continent 28
TENNESSEE TECH 65, SAMFORD 56
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech defeated Samford, 65-56, Thursday in the Eblen Center.
With the win, the Golden Eagles brought their overall record back to the .500 mark at 5-5. Samford, a former Ohio Valley Conference foe that now plays in the Southern Conference, moved to 5-3.
Senior Jala Harris led the Tech attack with 20 points in addition to five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Diamond Henderson also netted double figures with 12. Molly Heady added eight points and led Tech with seven rebounds, while Kellie Cook and Lashay Davis scored eight each.
Shelby Campbell was the top scorer for Samford, fouling out with 16 points and six rebounds. Reece Taylor added 14 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists. Hannah Dawson’s seven rebounds led Samford on the glass.
It was during the first half when Tech’s long-range shooters were blazing that the Golden Eagles took control of the contest.
Tech lit it up from long range and scored some inside, too, in pulling ahead by a many as 18 points. The TTU defense, meanwhile, forced Samford into nine first half turnovers and wouldn’t allow the Bulldogs to mount any momentum as the hosts took a 32-21 lead into halftime.
After Samford tied things early at 8-8, the Golden Eagles went on a nearly flawless, 20-2 run to build a 28-10 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Tech made its first six 3-point tries in the half.
The Bulldogs bounced back with a 13-0 stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers and five points from Shelby Campbell, pulling to within seven at 28-21 with 2:20 remaining.
Tech added layups from Molly Heady and Jala Harris to regain the double-figure advantage at the break.
Tech surged back on top by 16 early in the second half and maintained a double figure lead for nearly the entire first 17 minutes, but Samford got a 3-pointer from Kendall Schwantz with 2:10 to play to pull within seven, 61-54.
The rest of the month is a road adventure for the Golden Eagles, who don’t play at home again in Eblen Center until Saturday, Jan. 5. In the meantime, coach Jim Davis and his troupe will play six road contests, with their travels landing them in North Carolina, New York City, West Virginia, Alabama and Memphis.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 62, MOREHEAD STATE 38
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Western Kentucky’s women’s basketball team scored the game’s first 14 points and held host Morehead State to just eight points in the first half as the Lady Toppers defeated the Eagles 62-38 at Johnson Arena Thursday night.
WKU moved to 6-2 on the year, while MSU dropped to 1-7.
MSU outscored the Lady Toppers 30-27 in the final half but shot just 3-of-23 in the first period and fell behind 35-8, its lowest-ever scoring output in a half. The Eagles also turned the ball over 26 times and were outrebounded 44-35.
The Lady Toppers were up 14-0 before MSU’s Almesha Jones dropped in the first Eagle field goal at 13:07. WKU built a 25-4 lead late in the half.
Western Kentucky forward Chastity Gooch finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals. Denay Fothergill scored 14, and Alexis Govan tallied 11 points and six rebounds. WKU shot 40 percent (24-of-60) for the game and had 19 steals.
MSU junior guard Terrice Robinson led all Eagle players with 18 points, including 6-of-7 at the free throw line. Sophomore forward Casey Ryans grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, and Jones notched eight points and career-high six rebounds.
WKU led by as much as 31 in the second half and held MSU to 2-of-18 on three-point shooting.
The Eagles travel to Ohio University on Sunday for a 2 p.m. ET contest.
OHIO 69, EASTERN KENTUCKY 58
ATHENS, Ohio - The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team fell at Ohio, 69-58, on Thursday night at the Convocation Center. With the loss, the Lady Colonels dropped to 5-4 on the season.
EKU led by as many as 12 points in the first half, as a layup by senior Jade Barber gave the Lady Colonels a 22-10 advantage just over 10 minutes into the game. However, Ohio (2-5) battled back and used a 10-1 run over the final three minutes of play to tie the score, 34-34, at halftime.
Eastern then went cold in the second half, shooting just 26.3 percent (10-of-38) from the field and 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from three-point range. The Bobcats slowly pulled away and knocked down 7-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes of play to seal the win.
Senior Alex Jones led EKU with her third consecutive double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She also notched a career-high five steals. Fellow senior Raechele Gray was also productive in the defeat, recording 14 points and tying a career-high with seven assists.
Shavon Robinson led four Bobcats in double figures with 14 points.
EKU had won its two previous meetings with Mid-American Conference opponents before Thursday’s loss, defeating preseason MAC East favorite Miami (Ohio) and Kent State at home to begin the season.
The Lady Colonels return to action on Sunday when they travel to face Cincinnati at 2:00 p.m.
MURRAY STATE 110, MID-CONTINENT 28
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s basketball team had little trouble with NAIA Mid-Continent on Thursday night at the CFSB Center, as the Racers won their sixth straight game, 110-28.
Murray State (6-3) never really struggled in the game, with only one tie coming at 2-2. Besides the one tie, the Racers led Mid-Continent (4-11) for almost the entire game at 39:02.
MSU shot a season-high 54.2 percent on the night, marking the first time since last year’s OVC tournament win over Austin Peay that it shot over 50 percent in a game. The game also marked just the 21st time in program history that the Racers have scored over 100 points in a single contest.
With 110, points, the game ties for the 3rd best offensive performance in program history and marked the first time since 1984 that the Racers have scored 110 points. The 82-point margin victory is the largest ever against a collegiate opponent and second largest in school history. The largest margin, 85, came in a 103-18 win over the Fort Campbell army post on Dec. 3 1975 in Murray.
All five MSU starters scored in double-digits in the contest, led by freshmen Erika Sisk and Kelsey Dirks, who had 20 points each. Junior Erica Burgess followed closely behind with 17 points, while senior Kyra Watson had 12. Senior Mariah Robinson rounded out the starters with 11 points, while sophomore Keiona Kirby also got in on the double-digit party to lead the MSU bench with 10 points.
Dirks led all rebounders in the game with 11, for her second consecutive double-double, while Burgess chipped in with seven boards of her own. The game was a well-rounded one for Burgess, as she was over halfway to a quad-double in the contest, also notching seven assists and six steals in just 25 minutes of action
Murray State will have a lengthy break before returning to action on December 16. The Racers will wrap-up a six-game home stretch on that Sunday, when they host Alabama A&M at 12 p.m.
UT MARTIN 78, SAINT LOUIS 62
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team posted its highest scoring output of the season en route to a 78-62 victory over Saint Louis Thursday night at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (4-6) trailed by four points before going on a 12-0 run with 2:34 remaining in the first half to regain control of the game. Three field games by junior Heather Butler in the final two minutes of the half, including a jumper at the buzzer, sent the Skyhawks into the locker room with a 37-29 advantage. Butler led UT Martin by tying a season-high with 28 points (10-for-25 shooting) and seven rebounds, while Jasmine Newsome built off her recent OVC Player of the Week selection by tallying 24 points (8-for-15 shooting), nine assists, three steals and no turnovers. Shelby Crawford posted a career-best 10 points while wrangling five rebounds.
For Saint Louis (4-5), Mallory Eggert posted a career-high 17 points along with eight rebounds, while Lorreal Jones tallied 11 points and eight rebounds. Courtney Webb and Desirae Ball rounded out double-digit scoring with 10 points each.
After four lead changes in the first six minutes, UT Martin went on a 6-0 run over the course of 1:56 to take a 13-10 lead at the 12:39 mark of the first half.
UT Martin found its stroke from range at the 11:25 mark as Butler, Crawford, Newsome and Megan White made four consecutive threes to push their lead out 11 points with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
However, then the Billikens countered with a 15-0 run to reclaim and extended their lead out to four with 3:27 left in the half.
A 3-pointer by White at 2:34 began a 12-0 run for the Skyhawks, giving the home team an eight point lead going into halftime, 37-29.
Newsome’s 13 points led all scorers at the break, while Butler chipped in 10 points in the first half.
The second half began with back-and-forth baskets by both teams, with UT Martin winning the battle of the first media segment 12-11 with a basket by Butler at the 16:33 mark.
Senior forward Rickiesha Bryant set a career-mark at the 6:41 mark of the second half when the defender rejected Eggert’s layup opportunity, marking her fifth block of the night.
A pair of free-throws by Butler at the 3:11 mark gave the Skyhawks their largest lead of the night at 19. She capped of her 18-point second half with a jumper at the 1:27 mark to bring the game’s scoring to a close.
The Skyhawks will host Big Ten powerhouse No. 14 Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday, Dec. 9. Tipoff from the Elam Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.