SATURDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 68, @Jacksonville State 58
@Eastern Kentucky 55, Belmont 51
@Eastern Illinois 82, Southeast Missouri 62
@SIUE 67, UT Martin 66 (OT)
Tennessee State 68, @Morehead State 56
@Tennessee Tech 73, Austin Peay 51
MURRAY STATE 68, JACKSONVILLE STATE 58
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 68-58 decision to Murray State on Saturday in Ohio Valley Conference women's action at the Pete Mathews Coliseum.
A 15-5 scoring run by the Racers over the final 4:18 of the contest secured the road win and kept them in line with OVC West Division leaders, Eastern Illinois and UT Martin. The ten-point win bumped MSU's overall mark to 12-7 and 5-3 in the OVC. Jax State fell to 0-21 overall and 0-9 against OVC foes.
Jax State matched its largest lead of the contest at 53-50 at the 5:30 mark of the contest after a Gia Banks lay up. Banks turned in a career day with 14 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. Banks' is previous career high was nine points on two occasions this season.
MSU jumped out to its largest lead of the game at 18-7 by the 13:26 mark of the first half, but the Gamecocks clawed back into the contest with 14-3 scoring spurt to get within a point at 22-21 with 6:49 left on the first half clock. Jax State took its first lead of the game at 30-29 with 42 seconds left and would add a pair of points to take a 33-30 advantage at the halftime break. It was the first halftime lead by JSU since the North Florida contest back on Dec. 14. Junior Dashauna Truss paced the JSU scoring first-half scoring surge with 11 of her 15 points in the first 20 minutes. Sophomore Miranda Cantrell also had seven first-half points.
The Racers quickly erased the halftime deficit with a 9-0 scoring run to open the half and eventually took an eight-point, 42-36, lead at the 11-minute mark of the second half. JSU responded with its own run which was capped off by a Banks basket to even the contest at 50-50 with 6:02 left in the game. Sophomore Marikate Gardler drilled a pair of three-point baskets to energize the JSU scoring run. Gardler would finish with nine points.
Erika Sisk, one of the top freshmen in the OVC, and Mariah Robinson combined to score 46 of MSU's 68 total points. Sisk posted 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting, while Robinson drilled five three-point baskets along with six rebounds. Jessica Winfrey added nine points.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 55, BELMONT 51
RICHMOND, Ky. - In a battle of the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference East Division, the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team held off Belmont, 55-51, Saturday afternoon in McBrayer Arena. Belmont won the first meeting between these two teams just five days earlier.
With the win, Eastern (11-7, 5-2 OVC) improves to 9-1 at home this season and also snaps Belmont’s (12-9, 7-2) five-game winning streak.
The Lady Colonels led throughout most of the game and built a 17-point cushion, 41-24, with 14:45 remaining. However, a few minutes later Belmont responded with 14 straight points thanks to EKU going more than eight minutes without scoring a point.
Two free throws by Katie Carroll with 4:29 left helped the Bruins close the gap to two points, 46-44. That would be as close as Belmont would get as a Marie Carpenter floater in the lane pushed the lead back to four points, 48-44. A pair of free throws each from seniors Jade Barber and Raechele Gray made the score 52-44 with 1:56 left.
Belmont made one final push back to two points in the final seconds, but two more free throws from Gray sealed the win.
EKU took a 33-21 lead into intermission behind a 10-0 run to end the half. Senior LaRa’e Allen, freshman Miranda Maples and junior Pilar Walker combined for 15 points off the bench for the Lady Colonels in the first 20 minutes of action.
Senior Alex Jones paced Eastern with her third straight double-double and seventh of the season – 11 points, 12 rebounds. Gray added 10 points behind 8-of-12 shooting at the charity stripe.
Jordan Coleman was the lone Belmont player in double figures with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Bruins, who shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half of Monday’s win over Eastern Kentucky, were held to 31 percent shooting today.
This was the first time in the 41-year history of EKU women’s basketball that the Lady Colonels have played the same opponent in consecutive games.
SIUE 67, UT MARTIN 66
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Michaela Herrod hit the game-winning free throw with 5.8 seconds left in overtime as SIUE women's basketball outlasted UT Martin 67-66 Saturday at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE evened its overall record at 10-10 and its Ohio Valley Conference record at 4-4. UT Martin fell to 10-12 and 5-3 in league play.
Raven Berry and Tierny Austin each turned in a double-double for the Cougars. Berry scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Austin scored 18 points and picked up 10 rebounds. Herrod missed a double-double by a single point with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Jasmine Newsome led the Skyhawks with 17 points followed by 14 from Heather Butler and 10 from Sydney Vanlandingham.
TENNESSEE STATE 68, MOREHEAD STATE 56
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Tennessee University women’s basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Morehead State, 68-56, on the road in Johnson Arena Saturday night.
TSU used a 15-2 second-half run to open up the game and would go on to outscore MSU, 38-26, in the second frame to secure the win.
With the win TSU improved to 8-10 (4-3 OVC) and took over sole possession of fourth place in the East Division standings.
Three Lady Tigers scored in double-digits led by Kesi Hess’ 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Simone Hopes just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds while Avery Jones added 14 points and seven boards. Rachel Allen dished out six assists.
Morehead State (7-14, 3-4 OVC) was led in scoring by Almesha Jones (15) and Allie Turner (15).
Both teams went tit for tat in the first half as the statistical categories were nearly even on both sides. TSU shot 42.3 percent from the field, in a half that featured four ties and five lead changes, while MSU knocked down 40 percent from the floor.
Each team had 17 rebounds, seven turnovers and five steals in the first stanza.
TSU was trailing, 30-28, when Kesi Hess hit a jumper at the buzzer to make the score 30-all at the break.
The first part of the second half was much like the first as the scored stayed close and the teams traded buckets. The game was knotted at 36 when TSU used an 8-0 run to go ahead, 44-36, with 13:41 left in the game.
A few moments later, Brianna Lawrence knocked down a triple before Simone Hopes connected in the paint to make the score, 51-38, in favor of TSU.
With about five minutes left in the game, MSU cut the deficit down to nine but the Lady Tigers answered with a couple buckets to increase the lead back up to double-digits.
The Lady Tigers maintained the lead the rest of the contest.
Tennessee State shot 42.0 percent from the field, including 46.2 percent from three-point range. TSU also won the battle of the boards, 42-33, while holding the advantage in bench points, 10-1.
TENNESSEE TECH 73, AUSTIN PEAY 51
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech misfired on its first seven 3-point attempts Saturday night, but once they found the range the Golden Eagles were deadly, making eight of their next nine attempts and finishing the game going 13-for-24.
By scorching the nets from long range, Tennessee Tech was able to claim a 73-51 victory over Austin Peay in Eblen Center, allowing the Golden Eagles to gain some ground in the East Division of the Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball race.
Tech improved to 11-9 overall and 5-2 within the league, pulling to within one game of leader Belmont and tied for second with Eastern Kentucky. Austin Peay, playing in the West Division, fell to 5-14 overall and 0-7 in the OVC.
Seniors Kellie Cook and Jala Harris were the snipers who lit the fuse Saturday. Cook was 5-for-6 in the first half and finished the game 7-for-9 for a game-high 23 points. She also tied for the team lead with six rebounds as the Golden Eagles owned a 36-24 advantage on the boards.
Harris, meanwhile, was 5-for-6 from long range and contributed 17 points and eight assists. Diamond Henderson also reached double figures in scoring, adding 12 points.
Meghan Bussabarger topped APSU with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Leslie Martinez had a solid all-around game, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
A bomb from the corner by Cook made it a 10-5 Tech lead early, and the Golden Eagles took their margin up to 13 points, 21-8, as Cook hit three more. Cook was 5-for-6 from the distance in the first half and went to the break with 15 points.
But Austin Peay fought back with a couple of 3-pointers, one by Nicole Olszewski and one from Martinez, and the Lady Govs were back within five points, 21-16, with 6:02 to play in the half.
APSU got within four, 26-22, with 2:23 left on a layup by Jenifer Nwokocha, and again with 36 second left when a layup by Martinez made it 30-26. Henderson’s 3-pointer from the corner with three seconds to play too it to halftime with a seven-point difference.
Martinez scored the first two baskets of the second half, and following two free throws from Nwochoka, the Lady Govs were within one point, 33-32, with 15:42 to play. APSU got within one two more times, and each time the Golden Eagles had an answer, twice from Molly Heady and once from T’Keyah Williams.
Cook knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and Harris added another, and the lead suddenly was back to a dozen, 48-36, with 10:11 remaining.
Tech slowly added to its lead over the next six minutes, eventually making it a 20-point lead with 2:06 to play. The final 22-point edge was the largest lead of the game.
Tech finished the game hitting 53.2 percent from the floor (25-for-47) and 54.2 percent from outside the arc. Austin Peay was 19-for-55 for 34.5 percent overall, and went 3-for-21 from long range for 14.3 percent. Both teams were 10-for-12 at the free throw line.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 82, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 62
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois used runs of 14-2 and 13-0 to blow open a tight game and send the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team to an 82-62 loss at Lantz Arena on Saturday.
The Redhawks (8-12, 2-5 Ohio Valley) dropped their fourth-straight game and lost their eighth-consecutive meeting to the Panthers (12-8, 6-2 OVC).
Southeast grabbed an early 5-4 lead thanks to a Bailie Roberts three and a Patricia Mack low-post jumper. From there, EIU scored on seven-straight possessions as part of a 13-3 run to take a 17-8 lead with 14:52 left in the first.
Jordan Hunter responded with a personal 8-0 run, hitting a pair of threes and free throws to pull the Redhawks within 17-16 just over four minutes later.
Baskets by Brittany Harriel and Hunter pulled Southeast within 21-20 with 7:43 left in the opening stanza. EIU countered with consecutive baskets from Kelsey Wyss and Ta'Kenya Nixon in the next minute to regain a five-point edge. From there, the Redhawks went on an 8-0 run as Olivia Hackmann canned a jumper, Mack hit a layup and two free throws and Roberts hit a long-range two to make it 28-25 with 4:36 left to play in the half.
The Panthers offered another counterpunch in the form of an 11-2 run, the last six points coming on threes by Wyss and Nixon that put them up 36-30. Undeterred, Southeast whittled the deficit to five points (39-34) at halftime.
Southeast came out of the locker room with a purpose, tying the contest up on a Roberts three and a Harriel layup. The Redhawks half opening run extended to 9-0 as Mack made a layup and Harriel hit a jumper to put them up 43-39. EIU came right back with a 10-2 spurt that made it 49-45 at the 16:03 mark.
The Redhawks got three-pointers from Harriel and Allyson Bradshaw to pull within 53-51 just past the five minute mark of the second half, but went scoreless for the next four minutes. The Panthers scored the next eight points to go up 61-51 before Roberts' jumper cut the deficit to single digits with 10:13 left. Back-to-back threes by Kaitlyn Paine bumped EIU's lead to 67-53.
Bradshaw's three cut the gap to 11 (67-56) with 7:38 left, but the Panthers' next run put the game away. The Panthers scored 13-straight points over the next four minutes to grab their largest lead of the night at 80-56 with 3:21 left.
Eastern Illinois shot 42.1 percent from the floor while Southeast hit 38.7 percent of its shots. The Panthers made 8-of-23 (34.8 percent) three-pointers against the Redhawks' 8-of-25 (32 percent) mark from beyond the arc. Neither team got to the foul line much with EIU making 10-of-11 (90.9 percent) free throws and Southeast going 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) from the charity stripe. Southeast committed 15 turnovers and EIU had 12 miscues.
The Panthers held a decided 51-31 advantage in rebounding, and outscored the Redhawks 38-18 in the paint and 18-4 on second chance points.
Roberts tallied a team-high 14 points while Harriel chipped in 13 points. Mack and Hunter were also in double figures with 10 points apiece, with Mack tying a game-high with eight rebounds. EIU's Nixon led all players with 23 points while Mariah King posted 19 and Wyss scored 12.