SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Ketnucky 80, Jacksonville State 69
@Eastern Illinois 73, Murray State 59
Austin Peay 67, @SIUE 53
Tennessee Tech 84, @Morehead State 70
@UT Martin 75, Southeast Missouri 61
EASTERN KENTUCKY 80, JACKSONVILLE STATE 69
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team connected on a season-high 10 three pointers as the Lady Colonels defeated Ohio Valley Conference foe Jacksonville State, 80-69, on Saturday at McBrayer Arena.
With the win, EKU improved to 15-8 (9-3 OVC) and 11-1 at home. The loss dropped JSU to 0-25 (0-13 OVC) on year.
Junior Marie Carpenter and senior Brittany Coles led Eastern in the victory. Carpenter knocked down three three-pointers and scored 23 points, while Coles knocked down four triples and scored a season-high 18 points. Senior Alex Jones, meanwhile, posted her 10th double-double of the season and 34th of her career, scoring 11 points and grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds. Jones is now four double-doubles shy of tying the EKU career record, and 18 rebounds shy of moving past Sandra Mukes to No. 2 on the EKU career rebounds list.
As a team, EKU was 44 percent (28-of-63) from the field and 41 percent (10-of-24) from behind the arc, its best shooting effort since a 69-49 win at Murray State on Dec. 31, 2012.
Five JSU players reached double figures in the losing effort. Miranda Cantrell led the way with 17 points, while Candace Morton contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Gamecocks out-rebounded the Lady Colonels, 38-36, marking only the second time EKU has been out-rebounded in its last 14 games.
A layup by freshman Shelly Harper off an assist from junior Pilar Walker capped an early 9-0 run for EKU and gave the Lady Colonels a 14-8 advantage with 13:11 to play in the first half.
Eastern took its largest lead of the half, 32-18, when Coles buried a three-pointer with 3:11 on the clock. After JSU cut that lead to six with a 10-2 run, Carpenter beat the buzzer with a trey from the corner that sent the Lady Colonels into the locker room at halftime up by nine, 37-28.
Jacksonville State, however, did not go away. The Gamecocks stormed out of halftime and took the lead, 48-47, when Cantrell converted a layup at 13:57 mark of the second half. On EKU’s ensuring possession, though, Coles sunk a three-pointer to give EKU the advantage, this time for good. Following Coles’ three-pointer, the Lady Colonels went on a 10-2 run, and then used an 11-2 run later in the game to finally put Jacksonville State away.
TENNESSEE TECH 84, MOREHEAD STATE 70
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Visiting Tennessee Tech put together an 18-2 first-half run and never looked back in defeating the Morehead State women’s basketball team, 84-70, Saturday night at Johnson Arena.
Tech, in second place in the Ohio Valley Conference East division, defeated MSU for the fourth straight time and improved to 15-10 overall and 9-3 in the league. MSU faltered for the fifth time in six games and dipped to 8-18 and 4-8 in the conference.
Following a 14-14 tie at the 12:34 mark of the opening half, TTU scored 18 of the next 20 points and held MSU to one field goal in a seven-minute span. The visitors also committed just 10 turnovers on the night.
MSU sophomore guard Almesha Jones registered a team and game-high 30 points, including a 6-for-10 effort from three-point range. It marked her third 30-point outburst this year. Junior guard Terrice Robinson handed out a career-high seven assists and scored 16 points, her 22nd double-figure performance.
The Golden Eagles placed four in double figures, led by guard Diamond Henderson’s 26. T’Keyah Williams recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Jala Harris put in 13 points.
Tech finished the night shooting 50 percent (31-of-62) overall and 44 percent (7-of-16) from three-point range. The visitors also outscored the hosts 15-5 at the free throw line. MSU committed just nine turnovers but was out-rebounded 43-25. The Eagles hit 11 three-pointers.
Tech’s bench outscored MSU, 21-7, and the Golden Eagles put in 38 points in the paint.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 73, MURRAY STATE 59
CHARLESTON, Ill. -
– Senior Sydney Mitchell scored her 1,000th career point on Saturday afternoon as the Panther women’s basketball team defeated Murray State, 73-59, inside Lantz Arena. EIU improves to 17-8 on the year and 10-2 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
After trailing by eight (30-22) at intermission, the Racers (15-9, 7-5 OVC) opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take its largest lead of the contest, 30-33, with 17:59 left on the clock. The Panthers responded by going on a 21-8 run, taking their first double-figure advantage of the contest, 51-41, with 11:34 left to play.
The Panthers led by as much as 17 points (71-54) with 1:23 left in the game, sealing their sixth consecutive win and remaining in first place of the OVC’s West Division. EIU hit 60 percent of its field-goal attempts in the second half (18-for-30) compared to only 28.6 percent (12-for-42) in the first stanza.
Mariah King scored a game-high 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting. The senior forward scored 13 points in the second half, going 6-for-7 from the floor. Ta’Kenya Nixon added 15 points and six assists while Mitchell chipped in 10 points.
Taryn Olson also went 5-for-5 from the floor, scoring a career-high 11 points. Kelsey Wyss scored nine points and dished out six assists. Wyss is now two made three pointers away from becoming the school’s all-time leader in three pointers.
Defensively, the Panthers posted 19 more rebounds than Murray State (51-32), led by Sabina Oroszova’s game-high 11 rebounds. King and Mitchell added nine rebounds each while Nixon pulled down eight.
Mariah Robinson led two Racer players in double figures with 17 points, going 6-for-15 from the floor and 5-for-10 from behind the arc. Erika Sisk added 14 points and two steals in the loss. Jessica Winfrey led the Racers on the glass with 10 rebounds.
Murray State finished the day hitting 37.7 percent of its field-goal attempts (23-for-61) while going 8-for-24 from behind the arc. The Racers also went 5-for-9 from the charity stripe.
The Panthers return to action on Monday, Feb. 18 against Austin Peay at 7 p.m.
UT MARTIN 75, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 61
MARTIN, Tenn. - Senior Shelby Crawford finished the game with a career-high 11 points and five rebounds, while senior Rickiesha Bryant recorded her sixth-career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds to lead UT Martin to a 75-61 victory over visiting Southeast Missouri State in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center Saturday afternoon.
Juniors Jasmine Newsome and Heather Butler tossed in 27 and 23 points respectively. Newsome is now UT Martin’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,764 points.
However, McMillan said the player of the game was not one of the four players with stellar stat lines. It was freshman Chelsey Hall who came off the bench and played 17 minutes. Hall scored two points, had two rebounds and had three assists and two steals.
With the game knotted at 45-all with 13:05 left to play, the Skyhawks went on a 21-6 run over eight minutes to build a 66-51 advantage.
Newsome scored seven points in the run, including a pair of free throws. She was 13-of-14 from the charity stripe in the game.
After trailing 34-32 at the half, Southeast Missouri State went on a 9-0 run to build a 41-35 advantage. Southeast Missouri was led by Bailie Roberts who scored 18 points. Kara Wright scored 15 points, while Patricia Mack had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Despite Mack’s effort, UT Martin won the battle on the boards, 45-34. UT Martin cashed in at the free throw line, making 18-of-24 attempts for 75 percent. The Skyhawks also scored 22 points in the paint, 29 points off turnovers and 20 second-chance points.
The Skyhawks are now 7-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 12-14 overall. The Skyhawks will return to action when they play at Tennessee State in Nashville. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
AUSTIN PEAY 67, SIUE 53
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Behind a season-best 26-point night from senior Meghan Bussabarger, Austin Peay State University women's basketball team rolled to a 67-53 victory against Ohio Valley Conference foe SIUE, Saturday, at the Vadalabene Center.
Austin Peay (7-17, 2-10 OVC) relished its role as spoiler against the Cougars (12-13, 6-7 OVC). While the Lady Govs are already out of next month's OVC Tournament, the victory not only avenged a 54-49 loss to the Cougars at the Dunn Center, Jan. 21, it also hurt the Cougars chances of moving up in the OVC West Division race; SIUE has division-leading Eastern Illinois and second-place Murray State in two of its final three games.
After trading baskets in the game's opening minutes, the Lady Govs embarked on a 22-7 run spearheaded by Bussabarger. She came off the bench hot, hitting three first-half three-pointers and leading all scorers at the break with 13 points at the break.
The Lady Govs defense was dominating at times throughout this contest, particularly in the first half. Austin Peay forced 14 Cougar turnovers in the game's first 20 minutes, with freshman Tiasha Gray (four steals) and junior Nicole Olszewski (three steals) jumping passing lanes and clamping down on SIU Edwardsville's unsteady guard play.
Gray and Olszewski filled the stat sheet from the backcourt against SIUE. Gray, the Clarksville native, scored a career-high 15 points, assisted on six Lady Gov baskets and pulled down six boards. Olszewski had nine points, eight rebounds and five helpers, while also tying Gray with a game-high four steals apiece.
As a unit, the Lady Govs defense shut down SIU Edwardsville all night, holding the Cougars to a 25 percent (17-for-68) shooting mark from the field and an embarrassing 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) from three. Not only was it the worst shooting day by an opponent against the Lady Govs this season, it was the worst by an opponent during Carrie Daniels' head coaching tenure. The last time Austin Peay held an opponent to a worse shooting night was Nov. 25, 2005, when Memphis shot 21.9 percent (16-for-73) from the field.
With Gray and Olszewski locking down the defensive end, Bussabarger was free to abuse the Cougar defense on the other end of the court. Her season's sixth 20-point effort came on 10-for-15 shooting, including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Bussabarger chipped in with seven rebounds and hit a number of timely shots to jumpstart the Lady Govs offense, which grew stagnant at times in the second half. When SIU Edwardsville's Raven Berry hit a lay-up to cut the Lady Govs lead to 10 with 7:39 remaining, it was Bussabarger who hit the jumper to end a five-minute Lady Govs scoring drought, after which Austin Peay clamped down defensively and allowed the Cougars to hit just two shots from the field for the rest of the game.
Berry led the Cougars with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
TENNESSEE STATE 54, BELMONT 53
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Rachel Allen free throw with 17 seconds left proved to be the difference Saturday night at the Gentry Center as the Tennessee State Lady Tigers won their third straight game, 54-53.
It is the first three game winning streak for TSU since winning five in a row from Feb. 7-26, 2009, a span of 117 games.
TSU (11-12, 7-5 OVC) had two players in double figures as Simone Hopes had 11 points, while Kesi Hess added 10. Jasmin Shuler and Allen contributed eight points each.
The Lady Tigers led nearly the entire game as the Bruins never held more than a one possession lead.
Midway through the first half, TSU clamped down defensively as they turned a one point defecit into an eight point halftime advantage, 31-23.
Belmont (15-11, 9-4 OVC) made one shot during an 11 minute, 43 second stretch between the first and second half going 1-for-11 for a total of six points.
Just when it seemed that Tennessee State had the game well in hand with their largest lead of the game, 50-49 with five minutes remaining, TSU went cold from the floor making only one field goal the rest of the contest. On the other hand, Belmont went 5-of-10 from the floor, forcing four Lady Tiger turnovers.
The Bruins completed the comeback with a three pointer from Katie Carroll, the only three that Belmont made in eight attempts, to tie the game at 53 with 39 seconds remaining.
After a missed jumper by Hopes, TSU regained possession on a jump ball. Before the Lady Tigers could inbound the ball, Adrienne Tarrence of Belmont fouled Rachel Allen to send her to the line where she made the first of her two free throws.
The Bruins were led by Katie Brooks with 12 points while Jordan Coleman added 11.
Belmont had won nine of the past 10 meetings against TSU dating back to the 2001-02 season.