SATURDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 75, Morehead State 56
Eastern Kentucky 69, @Jacksonville State 51
@Belmont 66, Tennessee State 54
@Murray State 81, SIUE 68
Eastern Illinois 68, @Austin Peay 43
EASTERN KENTUCKY 69, JACKSOVNILLE STATE 51
JACKSONVILLE, Ala - Sophomores Bria'unna Buckner and Candace Morton scored double figures to lead the Jacksonville State women's basketball team in a 69-51 loss to Eastern Kentucky in Ohio Valley Conference action at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Buckner, who led the Gamecocks in scoring with 15 points off the bench, and Morton combined for 25 points in JSU's 19th setback of the season. The Lady Colonels improved to 10-6 overall and 4-1 in OVC play.
It was Buckner's three-point shooting ability that kick-started Jax State's offense in the first half as she hit a pair of her three treys in the first half. The Detroit, Mich.-native bagged eight of her points in the first 20 minutes. Morton, playing against her home state school, gave JSU its largest lead of the contest at 12-6 with 11:52 left in the first half. Morton has now registered double digit scoring marks in the last three games. The Lexington, Ky.-guard matched her season high in assists with five and was credited with one block and one steal in 36 minutes of activity.
With the game tied for the fourth time of the opening half at 21-21 with 2:40 left before the break, EKU finished the half on a 9-0 scoring run to take a 30-21 lead into the locker room.
EKU extended the lead out to double digits in the first five minutes out of the halftime break, but the Gamecocks trimmed the lead down to nine points on two occasions by the 12:53 mark at 39-30. The Lady Colonels took their largest lead of he contest, a 19-point, 53-34 lead with 7:51 left to play to take control of the contest. The EKU lead dwindled down to ten points at 55-45 with 4:47 left in the game after a Destiny James basket.
The Lady Colonels feasted on JSU turnovers as they scored 23 points off 21 miscues by the Gamecocks, along with blocking six shots in the affair. EKU also had the advantage on the backboards by out-rebounding Jax State, 51-42. EKU's Jade Barber pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, including ten in the first half.
Marie Carpenter shared game-high scoring honors with Buckner, while Brittany Coles finished with 13 points and Alex Jones added a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
JSU freshman Destany McLin came off the bench to post nine points in the setback. Senior Danielle Vaughn and sophomore Miranda Cantrell each pulled down nine rebounds.
UT MARTIN 75, MOREHEAD STATE 56
MARTIN, Tenn. - With a balance scoring effort from junior guards Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome and the second consecutive double-double from senior Rickiesha Bryant The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team whipped visiting Morehead State 75-56 at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center Saturday afternoon.
Newsome led all scorers with 27 points, while Butler, the Skyhawks’ all-time leading scorer tossed in 24 points and four 3-pointers. Bryant scored 12 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as UT Martin out-rebounded Morehead State 35-32.
Also making a big contribution to the Skyhawks is true freshman Katie Schubert, who had seven rebounds and six points. The Springboro, Ohio, native grabbed seven rebounds, dished out seven assists and made four steals.
With 13:01 to play in the game, UT Martin stretched its lead to 22 points, 54-22. The Skyhawks shot 52.6 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3-point range, knocking down 8-of-17 attempts.
Morehead State was led by Terrice Robinson with 17 points. Allie Turner tossed in 11 points and Mackenzie Arledge finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
The first half was a lot tougher than the second half for the Skyhawks. Morehead State opened the game with a 9-2 run.
However, the Skyhawks turned the table with a 29-16 surge that erased the early Morehead State advantage.
Newsome made a steal and raced for a layup to give the Skyhawks their first lead of the game, 26-25 with 2:35 to play in the first half. Butler added her second 3-pointer of the half and Newsome closed out the first half with a shot at the buzzer to give the Skyhawks a 31-25 advantage.
Newsome had four steals and 10 points in the first half, while Butler led all scorers with 12 points. It was the 83rd consecutive game Butler has scored in double-digits.
With the victory the Skyhawks improve to 9-11 overall and 4-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. Morehead State falls to 6-13 on the year and 2-3 in the league.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 68, AUSTIN PEAY 43
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Panther women’s basketball team remained in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference’s west division with a 68-43 win over Austin Peay on Saturday afternoon at the Dunn Center. EIU improves to 11-7 overall and 5-1 in the OVC.
The Panthers struggled out of the gate, going 1-for-11 from the floor to trail Lady Govs, 12-2, through the game’s first seven minutes. EIU responded by going on a 29-5 run to take its largest lead of the half, 31-17, with 1:25 left on the clock. Austin Peay scored three unanswered points to cut its deficit to 11 points (31-20) heading into intermission.
The Lady Govs made their opening basket of the second stanza to get within nine (31-22), but the Panthers scored on their next basket to take a double-digit advantage they would hold onto for duration of the game. EIU hit 50 percent (17-for-34) of its second-half shots to eventually lead by as much 25 points in the closing minutes of the game to post their third consecutive conference win.
Defensively, the Panthers allowed a season-low 43 points. EIU also forced 20 Austin Peay turnovers, converting the miscues into 19 points.
EIU outrebounded the Lady Govs by 17 (55-38), led by Sydney Mitchell and Sabina Oroszova who combined for 28 rebounds. Both players recorded career highs as Mitchell had 15 rebounds and Oroszova grabbed 13 rebounds, respectively.
Ta’Kenya Nixon paced the Panther offense with a game-high 18 points, going 8-for-12 from the floor. The senior guard also dished out a game-high six assists. Mitchell also added 10 points for her fifth career double-double.
EIU finished the day hitting 40.3 percent of its field-goal attempts (29-for-72) while Austin Peay finished the day only connecting on 28.1 percent of its shots (16-for-57). The Panthers also went 6-for-19 from behind the arc with Kelsey Wyss and Katlyn Payne leading the way with two each.
Meghan Bussabarger led the Lady Govs with 13 points while Leslie Martinez had nine points to go with a team-best 11 boards.
MURRAY STATE 81, SIUE 65
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women's basketball team got a combined 57 points from senior Mariah Robinson and freshman Erika Sisk on Saturday night at the CFSB Center, as the Racers snapped a two-game home losing streak by topping SIU Edwardsville, 81-68.
The first half went back and forth in the early going, with three ties and two lead changes. However, once the Racers (10-8, 3-3) took back the lead with 11:59 left in the opening half, they never allowed the Cougars (8-10, 2-4) to regain it.
Robinson scored 17 of her game-high 31 points in the first half, including going 5-for-8 from 3-point range. As a team, MSU ended the half shooting 43.8 percent from the floor and going 10-for-12 from the free throw line.
In the second half, the Racers kept the lead for the entire stanza and led by as many as 20 with 13:35 to play. SIUE cut the lead to 10 twice with under eight minutes to play, including once with just a minute to play, but Murray State battled back each time and never allowed the lead into single digits during the half.
The Racers finished the game shooting 42.1 percent from the floor, their largest shooting percentage of the season against a Division I opponent. MSU also finished the night with an 80.6 free throw percentage, marking the first time since Nov. 29 against Ball State that they have eclipsed the 80 percent mark at the charity stripe.
Robinson tied her season-high by scoring 31 points and set a new season-high by nailing six 3-pointers in the game. Sisk also tied a season and career-high by scoring 26 points, while also setting a new season and career mark with eight made free throws, to finish the night at 8-for -11.
Senior Tessa Elkins and freshman Kelsey Dirks led the Racers on the night in the rebound column with six each. Elkins also had two points, four assists and two steals, while Dirks chipped in with six points and three blocks.
Despite fouling out with over five minutes left in the game, Raven Berry finished just one board shy of a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds to lead her team in both categories. CoCo Moore added 14, while Tierny Austin had 12 to round out the Cougars in double-digits.
BELMONT 66, TENNESSEE STATE 54
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Led by a strong second half performance by junior Molly Ernst (Louisville, Ky.), the Belmont women's basketball team (11-8, 6-1 OVC) rolled by crosstown rival Tennessee State (6-10, 2-3 OVC), 66-54, on Saturday evening at the Curb Event Center. The win, which moves the Bruins to a 6-1 mark in the OVC for first place in the East Division, extends the team's win streak to four straight.
The Lady Tigers hustled to win the tip but the Bruins were first to find the bottom of the net and pushed to an 11-3 lead behind back-to-back three pointers by senior Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.) and junior Molly Ernst (Louisville, Ky.), who capped the flurry with a jumper from the top of the key as TSU fell silent from the floor for more than three minutes. The Lady Tigers slowly got back into the contest and began to chip away at BU's lead but strong defense kept significant distance between the teams.
Suddenly, Belmont went icy from the floor for four minutes but Tennessee State was only able to close the gap to three points, 11-8, during the span. Redshirt sophomore Jordyn Luffman (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) snapped the dry spell, sneaking to the hoop with a backdoor pass from sophomore Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) to put BU by five. The Lady Tigers kept clawing at the BU lead and by the 9:28 mark, they managed to convert a three point play to knot the game at 15. TSU was able to take the lead on the next possession for the first time in the game, 17-15, one minute later.
The Bruins dug in their heels and used a tip-in by redshirt freshman Blair Bryce (Red Oak, Texas) and a drive by senior Jordan Coleman (Orlando, Fla.) to regain the lead, 19-17, with six minutes left on the clock. Baskets by Brooks and Coleman and another three pointer by Ernst expanded Belmont's lead to six, 24-18, with just under two minutes left before the half. Using a strong output at the free throw line, TSU surged down the stretch and used back-to-back triples by Kesi Hess to regain the lead, 26-24 in the final 45 seconds before the break. However, BU would have the final say before time expired. Tarrence picked up a steal with seven seconds remaining on the clock and raced with Coleman toward the Belmont basket, passing the ball back and forth until Tarrence tipped the ball in and was awarded a shot at the line after being fouled during the effort. She went on to net the free-throw, pushing the Bruins to a 29-26 lead at the half.
Ernst opened the second stanza with back-to-back triples from opposite sides of the arc but the Lady Tigers were able to convert a pair of three-point plays to narrow the gap to one, 38-37, four minutes into the game. However that would be as close as they would come for the remainder of the contest. BU began piling on the points. A jumper near the top of the key by Tarrence gave BU its first double digit lead of the half, 51-41, with 8:53 left on the clock.
BU did not let up on its double figure advantage for the remainder of the game, building its largest lead of the night, 62-45, on a converted three-point opportunity by Coleman with 2:59 remaining in regulation. The Lady Tigers were unable to net a field goal for the final six minutes of the game until Hess knocked down a three with 27 seconds left to trim the game to 12 points, 66-54. However, the Bruins returned to superior clock management as time expired to take the contest by the same score.
Tennessee State shot 26.3 percent from the floor, 41.7 percent from three-point range and 67.9 percent from the free-throw line. The Lady Tigers held the slim advantage in rebounds, 41-40.
TSU was led in scoring by Kesi Hess, who netted 21 points. Avery Jones added nine points in the effort. Chelsea Hudson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Belmont shot 41.8 percent from the hardwood, 44.4 percent from behind the three-point arc, and 80 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins held the advantage in assists, 14-8, and steals, 11-7. The teams were even in blocks with five apiece.
Ernst netted a game-high 22 points, including knocking down six three pointers. Senior Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn.) and sophomore Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) each added 10 points. Senior Jordan (Orlando, Fla.) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and had a game-high four steals. Redshirt freshman Blair Bryce (Red Oak, Texas) finished with a career and game-high three blocks.