SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 65, Eastern Kentucky 49
Morehead State 70, @Southeast Missouri 64
UT Martin 81, @Tennessee Tech 63
@Murray State 68, Eastern Illinois 58
SIUE 54, @Austin Peay 49
BELMONT 65, EASTERN KENTUCKY 49
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's basketball team (12-8, 7-1 OVC) dug in its collective heels once again and pulled off another come from behind victory on Monday evening. The Bruins grabbed the lead midway through the second half and hustled for the 65-49 win over Eastern Kentucky (10-7, 4-2 OVC). The win improves the Bruins to 7-1 for the best record in the OVC.
Eastern Kentucky jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before senior Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.) knocked down a jumper from the top of the key to cut the Lady Colonel lead in half. A pair of free throws by sophomore Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) and a jumper from the top of the left block by Luffman kept the Bruins within two, 10-8, with 14:30 remaining. Quick baskets by Raechele Gray and Jade Barber expanded EKU's lead back to five before the Bruins began chipping away at the deficit again.
Junior Molly Ernst (Louisville, Ky.) drilled a trey from the top of the arc to move BU to within two, 15-13, with just over nine minutes left on the clock but EKU fired back. Two minutes later, quick passes around the horn helped sophomore Katie Carroll (Lilburn, Ga.) knock down a triple from the right side of the arc to make it a one-point game, 17-16, one minute later. Barber fouled Visbeen and picked up a technical in the aftermath, opening the door for Belmont to tie the score from the stripe at 17 with 6:49 left on the clock.
The Lady Colonels had rebuilt its five-point lead, 24-19, before Ernst netted another three pointer from deep in the corner and senior Jordan Coleman (Orlando, Fla.) followed, driving in the paint for a tip-in to make it a one-point game, 25-24, with three minutes left before the teams headed to the locker rooms. The teams traded baskets in the waning minute of regulation, each trying to build momentum heading into the break. However, it would be the Bruins to find the bottom of the net last with Carroll hitting a jumper as time expired to send her teammates into the locker room only down by one point, 29-28.
After the break, the teams began trading baskets from all over the floor. Three minutes in, EKU had again pulled away by five, 38-33, but Coleman drained her lone triple of the night to cut the lead to two. Senior Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn.) followed with a spin around jumper from the top of the lane and suddenly, the Bruins found themselves within striking distance, 39-38, with 15:30 left in the game. Finally, Belmont was able to take the lead for the first time in the game since the first basket of the night behind a Carroll layup.
After starting out the half so hot, EKU was stagnant from the floor for upwards of six minutes as BU worked to put distance between the teams courtesy of a 13-3 run. The Lady Colonel bench called two timeouts during the span but nothing seemed to slow the Bruins, who had pulled away 51-42 after the flurry.
BU continued to pile on the points, using baskets from redshirt sophomore Jordyn Luffman (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) and Visbeen, to grab its biggest lead of the night, 15 points, 58-43, with 3:48 left in regulation. Barber hoped to put her teammates on her back and spur a rally with back-to-back layups but repeated frustration fouls continued to send the Bruins to the stripe. Leaning once again on excellent clock management and tough defense, BU was able to control the waning minutes. Belmont was sent to the free-throw line five times in the final two minutes, with Brooks and Tarrence combining for 7-for 10. EKU attempted one final three pointer with 48 ticks left on the clock but it bounced off the rim and BU held the ball to seal the 65-49 victory.
Eastern Kentucky shot 31.7 percent from the floor, 16.7 percent from three-point range and 63.6 percent from the free-throw line. The Lady Colonels held the advantage in steals, 12-5.
EKU was led in scoring by Jade Barber, who scored 14 points. Alex Jones and Raechele Gray each contributed 11 points. Jones finished with a double-double, pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds.
Belmont shot 41.5 percent from the hardwood, 43.8 percent from behind the three-point arc and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins held the advantage in rebounds, 39-37, assists, 15-9, and blocks, 4-3.
Visbeen led all scorers with a game-high 16 points. Coleman pulled down her fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Carroll rounded out BU's double digit scorers, adding 10 in the effort. Brooks finished with a game-high five assists and went 6-for-8 down the stretch at the line to secure the BU win.
MOREHEAD STATE 70, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 64
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Morehead State missed only eight second-half field goal attempts to come back and defeat the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team, 70-64, at the Show Me Center on Monday night.
MSU (7-13, 3-3 Ohio Valley) hit 61.9 percent of its shots and scored 41 points to come back in the second half.
Kara Wright and Brittany Harriel each scored five points to give the Redhawks (8-11, 2-4 OVC) an early 10-4 lead at the 14:12 mark of the first half. The Eagles countered with five points in a row to pull within one, but Connor King found Allyson Bradshaw cutting to the hoop for a layup to up the lead to 12-9.
Terrice Robinson evened the score at 12 apiece after driving through a foul for a bucket and hitting the ensuing free throw with 11:53 left. Just over a minute later, Jordan Hunter drove to the basket for a layup to put Southeast ahead, though Robinson tied it up with a layup two possessions later.
The Redhawks regained the lead by scoring four-straight points on mid-range jumpers by Wright and Dru Haertling. The Eagles followed that up by taking the lead on a 6-0 run that took less than 40 seconds. MSU kept the lead at 25-23 before Southeast went on a run of its own, scoring eight in a row to go up 31-25 with 2:33 left in the opening stanza. Bailie Roberts drained back-to-back three-pointers and Wright calmly sank two free throws to cap the run. Southeast eventually went to the locker room holding a 33-29 advantage.
After shooting 1-of-10 from three-point range in the first half, the Eagles caught fire from long range to start the second. MSU made its first four threes of the final period and grabbed a 45-42 lead with 14:11 left.
Southeast answered back with five-straight points as Olivia Hackmann made a baseline jumper and Bradshaw connected on a three to go in front 47-45 at the 12:42 mark. That lead was short lived as Casey Ryan scored three points the hard way, scoring through contact and hitting a free throw. Ryan's bucket spurred a 17-4 MSU run as it took a 62-51 lead with 6:27 left to play.
The Redhawks got baskets from Hackmann and Roberts to pull within seven points, but two Jones free throws upped the margin to 64-55. After making a free throw, Roberts connected on a three-pointer to bring the Redhawks as close as 64-59 with 1:12 to go. Two possessions later, Roberts made two free throws to make it a five-point game again at 66-61 with 38 seconds left, but that margin is the closest the Redhawks got the rest of the night.
MSU shot 51 percent from the field, the highest figure given up by Southeast this year, while the Redhawks made 39.7 percent of its shots. The Redhawks made 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) three-pointers while the Eagles hit 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from long range. MSU hit 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) from the foul line while Southeast made only 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) at the line. Southeast outrebounded MSU 42-29.
Robinson led the Eagles with 23 points while Casey Ryans added 13 points. Almesha Jones and Allie Turner each had 11 points.
Roberts finished with 20 points, her second 20-point game this season and two shy of her career high. Wright (12 points) and Bradshaw (11) each finished in double figures. Patricia Mack pulled in a game-high nine rebounds.
UT MARTIN 81, TENNESSEE TECH 63
MARTIN, Tenn. - A couple of freshman came off the bench and hit from long range, giving the UT Martin Skyhawks an unexpected added weapon on the way to an 81-63 Ohio Valley Conference road victory at Tennessee Tech Monday night.
Sydney Vanlandingham was 4-for-4 from long range and Katie Schubert went 4-for-6 as the Skyhawks drained 12 of 24 from outside the 3-point arc. They were among the five UTM players to score in double figures.
Lashay Davis was 5-for-9 from long distance for the Golden Eagles, who just couldn’t find enough firepower to answer. She finished with 19 points. Diamond Henderson added 13, while freshman Mariah Dean posted career highs with 13 points and seven rebounds. Jala Harris had six of Tech’s 17 assists.
Jasmine Newsome did much of her scoring late in the game, and finished with 19 points. Heather Butler scored 16 points and added six assists, while Schubert scored 14 and also dished out six assists. Rickiesha Bryant had 13 points and led UTM with six rebounds while Vanlandingham posted 12, all in the first half.
The game was a rematch of last year’s OVC Tournament championship game, and featured the teams picked to win the league’s East (Tech) and West (UTM) divisions. UTM improved to 10-11 overall and 5-2 in the OVC while Tech’s record moved to 10-9 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
After a close shootout during the first 19 minutes, UT Martin got back-to-back 3-pointers to move from an eight-point edge to a 14-point lead at halftime when Vanlandingham and Schubert found the net from long range. The Skyhawks were 7-for-11 from 3-point range in the opening half.
The Skyhawks opened their lead to 20 points through the first seven minutes of the second half, going on top 62-42 on a 3-pointer by Newsome. The largest lead of the game was 22 points.
MURRAY STATE 68, EASTERN ILLINOIS 58
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State held off Eastern Illinois defeating the Panthers, 68-58, on Monday night at the CFSB center.
EIU only hit 17.2 percent of its shot attempts in the second stanza, going 5-for-29 from the floor while only making two field goals in the final 10 minutes of action. Murray State had its largest lead of the game, 64-52, with 5:15 left in the contest before the Panthers went on a 6-2 run to get the game within eight (66-58) with just over two minutes left on the clock.
On the night, the Panthers hit 31.3 percent of their field-goal attempts while the Racers finished the game going 24-for-64 from the floor and 10-for-20 from behind the arc. EIU connected on 42.9 percent of its shots in the first half (15-for-35).
Ta’Kenya Nixon scored a game-high 20 points to pace the Panthers while adding seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Sydney Mitchell posted her second double-double in as many games with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Mariah King also added a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Murray State had six more rebounds (50-44) than EIU, dropping the Panthers to 0-6 on the year when being outrebounded. Jessica Winfrey led the Racers with a game-high 18 rebounds.
Tessa Elkins led three Racers in double figures with 17 points, going 6-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Mariah Robinson added 15 points while Winfrey chipped in 10 points for her 12th career double-double.
The Panthers scored 19 second-chance points on 17 offensive rebounds while scoring 18 points off of 20 Racer miscues. Murray State also had four more points (24-20) than the Panthers in the paint.
SIUE 54, AUSTIN PEAY 49
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit but went cold in the game’s deciding moments en route to a 54-49 Ohio Valley Conference loss to SIU Edwardsville, Monday night, at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (5-13, 0-6 OVC) trailed by 10 points with 18:55 remaining in the second half an SIUE basket by CoCo Moore. The Lady Govs then went on an extended 15-2 scoring run that lasted 7:25 to take a 34-31 lead with 11:11 left. Freshman Alexis Hardaway had six points during the burst while senior Meghan Bussabarger hit a three-pointer to give Austin Peay the lead.
SIU Edwardsville (9-10, 3-4 OVC) allowed Austin Peay to lead for 58 seconds, scoring the game’s next four points to regain the lead. Austin Peay would again briefly lead for 47 seconds after sophomore Shelby Olszewski’s three-pointer gave it a 39-38 lead, but SIUE made two free throws to gain the lead for good with 7:33 left.
The Lady Govs did not allow the Cougars to run away and hide – keeping the deficit within four points the game’s remainder. Senior Leslie Martinez hit a three-pointer with 3:29 left, cutting the lead to 50-49, but it would be Austin Peay’s final points of the night.
SIUE dominated the first half thanks to a 31-12 rebounding edge in the period, including 11 offensive rebounds that it turned into 13 second-chance points. Austin Peay did not help its cause when it went over eight minutes without a field goal in the period, but saw SIUE expand its lead to only nine points during that span. The Cougars would settle for a 27-19 halftime advantage.
Bussabarger led Austin Peay with 13 points on 3-of-18 shooting. Hardaway added a 12-point, six-rebound performance. Martinez chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
SIUE’s Raven Berry finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds after posting 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Tierny Austin chipped in 15 points and nine rebounds. The Cougars finished the game with a 52-28 rebounding edge, but committed a season-high 29 turnovers.