SATURDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 66, @UT Marin 63
Eastern Kentucky 66, @Morehead State 64
Tennessee State 71, @Austin Peay 52
@Tennessee Tech 79, Jacksonville State 52
Eastern Illinois 64, @Southeast Missouri 46
SIUE 66, UT MARTIN 63
MARTIN, Tenn. - Three SIUE players finished with double digits in scoring and rebounding as SIUE women's basketball picked up a big road victory 66-63 at UT Martin.
Raven Berry, Michaela Herrod, and Tierny Austin all finished with double-doubles as SIUE improved to 12-11 overall and 6-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. After an overtime win at the Vadalabene Center earlier this season, the Cougars secured the regular season sweep with the victory at the Elam Center.
Berry led the Cougars in points and rebounds with 18 and 11, respectively. Herrod nearly matched her with a season-high 16 points to add to her 10 rebounds. Austin picked up her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The win moved SIUE into a tie for third place in the OVC West Division with UT Martin, 11-14 overall. The Cougars will look to sweep the weekend when they face off against Southeast Missouri Monday. Game time is a special 11 a.m. tip-off at the Show Me Center.
SIUE came out on fire to open the game. The Cougars built what would be its biggest lead of the game at 8-0 on a pair of three-pointers by Austin and Jazmin Hill plus a layup by Berry.
UT Martin, the highest scoring team in the OVC and one of the best from three-point range, would come back to take its first lead at 8:08 of the first half on a layup by Shelby Crawford.
The UT Martin duo of Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome once again led the Skyhawks back into the game. Butler finished with a team high 18 points and Newsome followed with 15. The Skyhawks shot 43.4 percent from the field and hit 9 of 27 from three-point range.
UT Martin led at halftime 28-25 and quickly made it a six-point game on a three-pointer by Katie Schubert nine seconds into the second half. The Skyhawks built their lead to 12 before SIUE made its comeback. After back-to-back buckets from Herrod and Austin, Buscher inserted Valerie Finnin into the lineup which turned out to be a key decision.
Finnin scored nine points and went to work defensively on Butler. With 6.7 seconds left in the game, Finnin made a key defensive play
Finnin would be fouled on the next play and hit one free throw to give the Cougars a three-point win.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 66, MOREHEAD STATE 64
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State’s women’s basketball team trailed by as much as 16 Saturday night against visiting Eastern Kentucky before a second-half rally nearly came to fruition. The Lady Colonels, however, held on for a 66-64 victory at Johnson Arena.
EKU moved to 14-8 and 8-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the Eagles fell to 8-17 and 4-7 in the league. EKU swept the season series from MSU.
LaRa’e Allen led four EKU players in double figures with 18 points and also had nine rebounds. Brittany Coles scored 16, while Raechele Gray and Marie Carpenter tallied 12 each. Alex Jones grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds as EKU out-boarded MSU 36-31.
MSU junior guard Terrice Robinson poured in 26 points, including 8-of-8 at the free throw line and 4-of-5 from three-point range. It marked her ninth 20-point game and 21st double figure effort. Junior guard Allie Turner turned in 11 points, and sophomore forward Mackenzie Arledge notched 10 rebounds. The Eagles hit 10 three-pointers, their ninth game with double digit treys.
The Eagles were within 11-7 at the 11:07 mark of the opening half, but a 12-0 Lady Colonel run gave the visitors a 23-7 cushion. EKU later led 26-10 before back-to-back three-pointers by freshman guard Kelsey Funderburgh. The visitors took a 28-18 advantage to the halftime break.
Leading 30-20, the Lady Colonels surrendered an 11-2 run to the hosts, keyed by back-to-back treys from Turner. The Eagles finally grabbed their first lead of the night, 41-39, via a pair of Robinson free throws. Another quick EKU run, 8-2, shifted the momentum back in the Lady Colonels’ favor. The teams were tied at 52, but EKU’s Marie Carpenter buried a three-pointer and nailed a jumper to give her team a five-point cushion it never relinquished. Robinson nailed a half-court three-pointer at the final horn.
After a 23 percent (6-of-26) shooting effort in the first half, MSU drilled 54 percent (13-of-24) in the final 20 minutes. EKU managed 56 percent (14-of-25) in the final half and hit on 44 percent efficiency for the game.
TENNESSEE STATE 71, AUSTIN PEAY 52
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Five players scored in double-digits as the Tennessee State University women's basketball team cruised to a, 71-52, win over Austin Peay Saturday night in the Dunn Center.
The contest was tied when the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Govs, 28-10, to take control of the game. Tennessee State (9-12, 5-5 OVC) shot over 40 percent from the field and forced Austin Peay (6-17, 1-10 OVC) into 20 turnovers.
Jasmin Shuler led a balanced attack from the Lady Tigers with 14 points while Kesi Hess, Destiney Gaston, and Chelsea Hudson each tallied 12. Hudson finished the game with 11 rebounds for her third career double-double. Simone Hopes registered 11 points and eight rebounds.
Austin Peay was led in scoring by Meghan Bussabarger's 11 points.
Despite Jasmin Shuler knocking down two early three-pointers, the Austin Peay defense slowed Tennessee State down in the first part of the opening frame. The game was tied, 12-12, when the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Govs, 7-2, to create a little distance.
APSU pulled to within three points a few possessions later but TSU would put together another rally to open the game up.
Fueled by their defense, the Lady Tigers went on a 13-0 run that made the score 32-16 with 2:58 left in the half. A steal and break-away lay-up by Rachel Allen put TSU up by 20 before the Lady Tigers went into the halftime break leading, 40-22.
Nearly three minutes ticked-off the clock before either team scored in the second half. Once the Lady Tigers got on the board, they continued to build on their lead. With 13:54 remaining in the game, TSU grabbed its largest lead of the game behind back-to-back buckets from Destiney Gaston.
Over the next several possessions, Austin Peay was able to cut the deficit down to 12 points thanks to a four-minute scoring drought by Tennessee State. Chelsea Hudson snapped the skid after connecting in the paint before Jasmin Shuler nailed her fourth triple of the game to put the Lady Tigers back on top, 64-42.
The Lady Tigers never looked back on the way to the win.
Tennessee State knocked down seven three-pointers in the contest and shot nearly 40 percent (38.9%) from long range. TSU held the advantage in rebounds, 47-44, points in the paint, 32-20 and steals, 16-5.
TENNESSEE TECH 79, JACKSONVILLE STATE 52
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - – A 14-1 first-half run sparked by Lashay Davis allowed Tennessee Tech to capture control of the game and the Golden Eagles maintained ownership to the final buzzer for a convincing 79-52 Ohio Valley Conference victory Saturday night over Jacksonville State in Eblen Center.
The Golden Eagles (14-10/8-3 OVC) climbed to within one-half game of first-place Belmont in the OVC East Division. Tech is tied with Eastern Kentucky for second in the division with the third-best record in the league.
Up by two points with 8:13 remaining after the Gamecocks (0-24/0-12 OVC) had rallied to within 13-11, the Golden Eagles used four consecutive 3-pointers by Davis to move on top, 27-12, less than four minutes later.
Tech was able to build its first-half margin to 21 points by halftime and never looked over its shoulder.
Davis led Tech with a career-high 19 points, draining 5-for-7 from beyond and going 7-for-10 for the game. She also topped Tech with four steals.
Diamond Henderson scored in double digits for the seventh consecutive contest, also netting 19 in the game along with a team-high five assists and adding three steals. T’Keyah Williams added 14 points, hitting 4-for-4 from the field and all six free throws on a perfect night of shooting.
Miranda Cantrell was the top scorer for JSU with 13 points, while Danielle Vaughn had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Candace Morton also hit double figures with 11 points.
Jala Harris hit a 3-pointer to get the scoring started and Kellie Cook made back-to-back 3-pointers and Tech was off to a sudden 9-0 lead. But Jacksonville State battled back with a pair of jumpers and layups from Danielle Vaughn and Candace Morton to trim the deficit. A free throw by Sydney Brown pulled the Gamecock women as close as they would get, 13-11, before Davis’ barrage of long bombs blew the game open.
Tech hit 42. 4 percent for the game (25-for-59), including 11-for-21 from long distance. Tech was 18-for-27 from the free throw line for 66.7 percent.
JSU shot 42.9 percent (18-for-42) from the field but managed just 1-for-9 from long ragne. The Gamecocks hits 62.5 percent (15-for-24) at the charity line. JSU also owned a 36-31 edge in rebounds, but had 33 turnovers in the contest.
The Gamecocks outscored Tech in the paint, 35-14, but Tech owned a 36-11 edge in scoring points off turnovers. And, the Tech bench outscored the Gamecock bench, 44-11.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 64, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 46
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Ta’Kenya Nixon led three Panthers in double figures with a game-high 14 points as the Eastern Illinois women’s basketball team defeated Southeast Missouri, 64-46, on Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center. EIU improves to 15-8 overall and remains in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 9-2 conference record.
Tied at six early in the first half, the Panthers went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-8 advantage they would never relinquish. SEMO (9-15, 3-8 OVC) got within four (25-21) with just over an minute left in the first half before Sabina Oroszova hit the Panthers first three pointer of the afternoon with 11 seconds on the clock to give EIU a 28-21 halftime lead.
EIU carried the momentum into the second stanza and led by as much as 18 (53-35) with 5:59 left in the game. The Redhawks cut their deficit to 10 (56-46) with 1:49 left on the clock, but the Panthers closed the contest by scoring six unanswered points to win their second consecutive road OVC game.
Kelsey Wyss added 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting with three made three pointers. The senior guard is only six made three pointers away from becoming the school’s all-time leader. Mariah King chipped in 11 points while Jordyne Crunk added eight points. Nixon also had a game-high eight assists in the victory.
Defensively, the Panthers grabbed two more rebounds (40-38) than the Redhawks led by Sydney Mitchell’s game-high nine rebounds. Oroszova also added seven rebounds and a block for EIU.
The Panthers finished the game going 21-for-53 from the floor and 17-for-23 from the foul line. Crunk went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe while King went 7-for-8. SEMO went 20-for-62 from the field and 3-for-26 from behind the arc.
Jordan Hunter paced the Redhawk offense with 10 points while Kara Wright added nine points. Bailie Roberts led the team on the glass with eight rebounds.