MONDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 67, SIUE 62
@Belmont 61, Lipscomb 39
Tennessee State 67, @Murray State 61
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67, SIUE 62
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Kara Wright scored 20 points for the third time in six games to lead the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team to a 67-62 win over SIU Edwardsville on Monday.
Wright's outburst was the freshman's third 20-point performance in the last six games, this one happened coming off the bench as the Redhawks improve to 10-15 this season and 4-8 in Ohio Valley play.
A crowd of 1,609 cheered on the Redhawks as part of their inaugural Classroom on the Court initiative. Several area schools took in the afternoon showcase and contributed to the atmosphere.
After Southeast grabbed an early 4-2 lead, SIUE (12-12, 6-6 OVC) reeled off eight-straight points as part of a 10-2 run to go up 12-6 five minutes in. The Redhawks found their groove from there, scoring 10 in a row on a Jordan Hunter three-pointer, an Olivia Hackmann layup off a steal, a Patricia Mack jumper and a Wright three, which put them up 16-12 with 12 minutes left in the opening frame.
Following a Raven Berry three-point play, Wright got free on an inbound pass for a layup to up the lead back to three. Berry made a layup at the other end, but Wright drained a three and found Brittany Harriel for a baseline jumper to give the Redhawks a 23-17 lead with under nine minutes left in the frame.
An 8-2 SIUE run tied the game at 25 apiece, but Bailie Roberts had other ideas as she got to the rim for a layup to put the Redhawks in front once again. Two possessions later, Valerie Finnin hit the Cougars' first three of the game to put them on top 28-27 with three and a half to go in the half. Finnin hit another trifecta a minute and a half later to give SIUE a four-point cushion.
The Redhawks got those points back as Roberts calmly hit two free throws and Hackmann drilled a jumper from just past the foul line to even the score at 31 apiece in the final minute. After a stop and a timeout, Southeast ran a crisp set and Hackmann found Hunter cutting to the basket for a layup that put the Redhawks up 33-31 at the half.
Michaela Herrod's jumper tied the scored at 33 in the opening minute of the half, but Southeast hustled after a loose ball that ended up in Mack's hands for a fast break layup to put the Redhawks back in front 35-33 with under 18 minutes left. After Tierny Austin's three put SIUE in front, Hunter found Harriel for a layup and Mack nailed two free throws to put Southeast ahead 39-36. Austin once again connected from long range to even the score at 39-39 with 15:38 to go.
Wright snapped the tie with a jumper, but Berry's free throws evened the score at 41 apiece shortly thereafter. Southeast fed Wright's hot hand again as the freshman drained a three to snap the tie to make it 44-41. SIUE made two free throws to pull within a point, but Bailie Roberts hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead to 50-45 with 10:27 to play.
Southeast was still up 55-50 after a Hunter layup with 7:56 to go, but the Cougars got a three-point play out of Berry and a trifecta by CoCo Moore to go up 56-55. Roberts countered with a three of her own, but Berry drilled a hook shot to even the score at 58-58. On the ensuing possession, Wright corralled an offensive rebound and scored on the second opportunity to put the Redhawks back in front 60-58 with four minutes to go. That started a 6-0 run as Roberts scored on an inbound play and Wright sunk two free throws to make it 64-58 with under three minutes left. Two Moore free throws cut the Southeast lead to 64-60, but Hunter calmly sunk a free throw to extend the lead to five points.
The Cougars made it interesting in the final minute as Berry grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup to pull them back to within 65-62 with 35 seconds left. SIUE then forced a turnover but missed a contested three with three seconds left. Hunter made two more free throws to secure the win.
Southeast shot 40.6 percent from the field and hit 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) three-pointers while going 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) at the line. SIUE countered with 42.9 percent shooting and went 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from three-point territory while making 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) free throws. SIUE held a 35-29 advantage in rebounding, though the Redhawks won the battle of the boards, 20-17. Southeast forced 18 SIUE turnovers and committed only nine miscues.
Wright made 7-of-15 field goal attempts and went 3-of-5 from three-point range to lead Southeast. Twelve of her points came in the second half. Roberts tied a career high with three makes from beyond the arc to finish with 17 points. Hunter also cracked double figures, finishing with 12 and a game-high six assists.
Berry led all players with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Moore (11 points) and Austin (10) also scored in double figures for SIUE.
BELMONT 61, LIPSCOMB 39
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Bruins rolled by the Lady Bisons, 61-59, to pick up their eighth win in 10 contests in their final non-conference game of the year.
Lipscomb jumped out to an early 8-2 lead fueled by a pair of three pointers before the sophomore Katie Carroll (Lilburn, Ga.) drove for a layup to get the Bruins on the board. Redshirt sophomore Jordyn Luffman (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) answered back, exploding from the floor for her own 9-2 run against the Lady Bisons that forced their bench to burn a timeout to regroup. Senior Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn.) got in on the action with a pair of jumpers from the left elbow, helping to push the run to 15-2 as LU struggled to emerge from an icy spell that rolled into its fifth minute. Finally, the Lady Bisons broke the ice off the rim and worked to trim BU's lead down to five, 22-17.
Sophomore Torie Vaught (Maryville, Tenn.) and junior Molly Ernst (Louisville, Ky.) answered back, hitting a jumper in the paint and drilling a triple from the top of the arc, respectively, to give Belmont its first double digit lead of the night, 27-17, with just over five minutes remaining in the half as BU continued to roll. LU continued to struggle and made only two field goals in the final six and a half minutes of the first half but it was enough to trim Belmont's lead as the teams headed to locker rooms separated by six points, 28-22.
After the intermission, the Lady Bisons immediately drained a three to cut Belmont's lead down to three, 28-25. The Bruins struggled to find the bottom of the net to open the half, going 0-3 from the floor until Luffman netted a pair at the stripe. However, it would not be until the 15:32 mark that BU would net its first field goal of the half when freshman Natalie Cohlmeyer (Evansville, Ind.) and sophomore Torie Vaught (Maryville, Tenn.) knocked down back-to-back three pointers. Senior Jordan Coleman (Orlando, Fla.) followed with a layup to expand the lead to 11, 38-27, two minutes later. Mallory Charpentier pushed for a layup that trimmed the gap to nine points but that would be as close as Lipscomb would come for the remainder of the contest.
Lipscomb attempted to spark a rally around the eight minute mark but the Bruin defense quickly put a damper on it, despite not scoring extra points. Frustration fouls began to add up for LU, sending Belmont to the stripe three consecutive times, knocking down five of six to put 17 points, 53-36, between the teams. By the two and a half minute mark, the Bruins had crossed the 20-point differential threshold and never looked back. Coleman closed the contest with her own 8-3 run to seal the 61-39 victory.
Lipscomb shot 26.5 percent from the floor, 23.8 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line.
LU had only one player reach double digits- Presley Stastny, who netted 14 points. Hannah Phillips led the team in rebounds, grabbing eight. Mallory Charpentier finished with three steals.
Belmont shot 31.3 percent from the hardwood, 38.9 percent from behind the three-point arc and 85.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins held the advantage in all categories – rebounds, 47-37, assists, 13-6, blocks, 5-3, and steals, 13-5. BU forced 19 Lady Bison turnovers.
Luffman led the Bruins with her second double-double of the season with a game and career-high 16 in both points and rebounds. Brooks added 11 and classmate Coleman contributed 10 points. Coleman also finished with a game and career-high six steals.
Belmont returns to action on Saturday at crosstown rival Tennessee State.
TENNESSEE STATE 67, MURRAY STATE 61
MURRAY, Ky. - In a game that wasn’t decided until the final minutes, Tennessee State came away with an impressive, 67-61, road victory over Murray State Monday night in the CFSB Center.
Tennessee State trailed by nearly double-digits in the second half but battled from behind to get back in the game. The Lady Tigers outscored the Racers 7-1 to close out the contest.
With the win TSU improved to 10-12 and 6-5 in the OVC while Murray State fell to 15-8 (7-4 OVC).
Kesi Hess led TSU with 19 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds while Simone Hopes (16) and Jasmin Shuler (12) also registered double-digits.
Erika Sisk had 29 points to lead Murray State followed by Kelsey Dirks’ 12. Jessica Winfrey added 11 rebounds.
The teams played to an 11-11 deadlock in the first half before the Lady Tigers used a 7-0 run to go ahead, 18-11. Later TSU went on top, 25-14, behind buckets from Kesi Hess and Simone Hopes with 7:54 on the clock.
The Lady Tigers, however, went without a score for the next seven minutes as the Racers reeled off 13 unanswered points to take a, 27-25, lead going into the halftime break.
The second half was a battle that featured several ties and lead changes through the first ten minutes of play. With the game knotted at 41-all, Murray State scored seven unanswered to take a, 48-41, lead. Rachel Allen knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut into the lead but the Racers increased their advantage to 54-46 a few possessions later.
The Lady Tigers, however, continued to fight. With just over five minutes left to play, Kesi Hess buried a three-pointer to spark a 10-2 run that would pull the Lady Tigers even, 56-56, with the Racers.
With 2:22 left in the game TSU went ahead, 63-61, when Kesi Hess buried her fifth triple of the game. Both teams missed their next shot attempts before a trailing Murray State was forced to foul. With 19.6 on the clock, Hess made two free-throws to make the score, 65-61, in favor of TSU.
Murray State came up empty on its next trip down the floor. Meanwhile, Destiney Gaston connected on a pair of freebies to ice the game.
Tennessee State shot 37.9 percent (25-of-66) from the field including 33.3 percent from three-point range while Murray State went 22-of-62 (35.5 percent) from the field and 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) from long range.
TSU outrebounded MSU, 47-38, and held the advantage in bench scoring, 11-4, and points in the paint, 32-30.