MONDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 77, @Austin Peay 71
Belmont 59, @Murray State 50
@SIUE 80, Jacksonville State 58
@Tennessee State 68, Southeast Missouri 58
@Eastern Illinois 89, Tennessee Tech 79
MOREHEAD STATE 77, AUSTIN PEAY 71
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore guard Almesha Jones scored 24 points to lead four Morehead State women’s basketball players in double figures as the Eagles defeated Austin Peay, 77-71, on the road Monday night at the Dunn Center.
The Eagles, the best free throw shooting team in the Ohio Valley Conference, also went 12-of-13 at the stripe to hold off the hosts and improve to 6-12 overall and 2-2 in the conference. APSU fell to 5-11 overall and 0-4 in the league, its worst OVC start in Head Coach Carrie Daniels’ tenure.
MSU hit a season-best 53 percent (28-of-53) for the game, and Jones scored 19 of her points in the first half. Junior guard Allie Turner tied her season-high with 15 points, including a key three-pointer with 46 ticks left that helped the Eagles distance themselves from a rallying Lady Gov effort. Turner was also 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
The Eagles had a season-high 18 assists, hit nine three-pointers, and were 19-of-30 (63 percent) inside the three-point arc. MSU improved to 2-8 in road games in 2012-13.
Junior guard Terrice Robinson added 15 points, while sophomore forward Casey Ryans registered 10. Jones also handed off a team-high six assists, while Robinson dished out five dimes.
After falling behind 9-4 early and 21-15 midway through the opening half, the Eagles used a 9-2 run to gain their first lead, 24-23, at the 9:12 mark. MSU then doubled up the hosts, 14-7, over the next six minutes to build a 38-30 advantage before holding a 40-34 lead the break.
MSU led 56-46 with 11 minutes remaining but saw the Lady Govs cut the margin all the way to 70-68 with 1:12 left. That’s when Turner nailed a triple from the right side to help seal the triumph. Leslie Martinez drilled a trey with six on the clock to make it 75-71, but Turner iced it with two more free tosses.
Meghan Bussabarger topped APSU with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Kristen Stainback had 17, including 10 in the first four minutes. APSU won the rebounding battle, 35-26.
TENNESSEE STATE 68, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State Lady Tigers returned to the Gentry Center for the first time in 2013 and were victorious taking down Southeast Missouri State 68-58 in OVC action Monday night at the Gentry Center.
Kesi Hess led all players with 18 points, while Simone Hopes added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Big Blue.
Outside of the opening six minutes, TSU (6-9, 2-2 OVC) never trailed in the contest. SEMO (8-9, 2-2 OVC) was held to just six made field goals and 26 percent shooting in the first half. The Lady Tigers limited SEMO to just one made field goal in the final 7:30. The Redhawks were led by Jordan Hunter with 17 points and Ballie Roberts who tied a career-high 13 rebounds.
TSU ended the half on a 10-3 run take put them up 40-28 heading into the locker room.
The big advantage for the Lady Tigers was in the paint as they outscored SEMO 28-0 downlow in the first half and 40-16 in the game.
An Alana Morris layup early in the second half gave TSU their largest lead at 47-32 with 17:18 remaining.
The TSU defense was solid after the half giving up 30 points as the Redhawks never got closer than six points and shot just 33 percent for the game.
TSU has won four straight vs. SEMO at the Gentry Center with their last loss coming on Jan. 17, 2008. The loss snapped the Redhawks three game winning streak.
BELMONT 59, MURRAY STATE 50
MURRAY, Ky. - The Belmont women's basketball team (10-8, 5-1 OVC) rallied from a 12-point deficit to pull off a win on the road at Murray State (9-7, 2-3 OVC) on Monday night. The Bruins battled for a 59-50 win to move to 5-1 in OVC action.
The Racers led 26-22 at the half, carried by a strong performance at the stripe. Belmont did not go to the free-throw line a single time in the first stanza but went 20-22 in the second.
The Bruins were down by as many as 12 before a stunning performance at the stripe gave them the lead with just under six minutes remaining. Excellent clock management and stringent defense helped carry BU to the 59-50 win.
Sophomore Katie Carroll led the Bruins with 13 points. Also reaching double digits were seniors Katie Brooks and Alyssa Visbeen each adding 10. Redshirt sophomore Jordyn Luffman pulled down a team and season-high 10 rebounds. Senior Jordan Coleman, Brooks, and sophomore Torie Vaught each recorded two blocks.
Erika Sisk led the Racers with 14 points while Tessa Elkins recorded 10 points to go with a team-high 10 rebounds. Sisk also recorded a game-high six steals on the night.
SIUE 80, JACKSONVILLE STATE 58
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Five players scored in double figures Monday as SIUE women's basketball powered past Jacksonville State 80-58 at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher shook up her starting lineup, and the Cougars responded with their biggest win of the season. SIUE improved to 8-9 overall and 2-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Three players tied their season high and two more players set new season bests.
SIUE scored 25 points off Jacksonville State's 22 turnovers.
Jazmin Hill, making her first start of the season, matched her season high with 16 points, including four three-pointers. Hill, a junior from O'Fallon, is now 10 three-pointers shy of No. 2 on the all-time three-pointers list.
Hill, who shot 6 of 8 from the field, opened the game with a three-pointer from the corner 25 seconds into the contest. Jacksonville State, 0-18 overall and 0-6 in the OVC, tied the game 5-5 but quickly fell behind the Cougars
SIUE went on a 10-0 run behind Ashley Capotosto who tied her season best with 10 points.
CoCo Moore scored a solid 10 points. Jessie Wendt came off the bench for the Cougars for 11 points, matching her career best. Tierny Austin was SIUE's fifth player in double figures with 12 points on a team best 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Candace Morton led Jacksonville State with 12 points. The Gamecocks shot 52 percent from the field but took 16 fewer shots than the Cougars.
SIUE's Raven Warford scored her first field goal of the season in the first half and recorded a season high in scoring.
SIUE players also rallied around Brooke Smith late in the game. Smith, who played volleyball during the fall season, got into her first game of the season and made sure she was on the stats line. She grabbed a rebound and scored her first collegiate with 16 seconds left in the game.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 89, TENNESSEE TECH 79
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panther women’s basketball team remained in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference west standings on Monday night, picking up an 89-79 win over Tennessee Tech. EIU improves to 10-7 overall and 4-1 in conference action.
With the contest tied at 53 with 13:20 left in the game, the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to take a 62-57 lead they would never relinquish. The Golden Eagles (10-8, 4-1 OVC) got within three points on the following possession, but could not overcome a hot shooting Panther squad.
EIU was able to hang onto the lead late in the game by going 18-for-18 from the charity stripe. The Panthers finished the day going 22-for-24 from the foul line. The Panthers also hit 64 percent of their shot attempts (16-for-25) in the second stanza, including a 4-for-5 mark in the game’s final six minutes.
Ta’Kenya Nixon paced the offensive attack for EIU, scoring 23 points on 6-for-14 shooting. The senior guard also went 11-for-12 from the foul line and dished out a game-high six assists. Mariah King added 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting while Kelsey Wyss chipped in 17 points and Sydney Mitchell had 11 points.
EIU finished the day connecting on 50.8 percent of its field-goal attempts (30-for-59). The Golden Eagles went 30-for-57 on the night, draining 52.6 percent of their shots.
Defensively, the Panthers posted 12 more rebounds (35-23) than the Golden Eagles. Nixon led EIU on the glass with nine rebounds while Sabina Oroszova added six rebounds. The Panthers also forced 15 TTU turnovers, converting the miscues into 21 points.
Diamond Henderson led three Golden Eagle players in double figures with 28 points, going 11-for-14 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the foul line. Both Lashay Davis and Jala Harris added 12 points. Molly Heady led the team with five rebounds.