FRIDAY'S SCORES
Florida State 91,
Eastern Illinois 55
Dayton 78,
UT Martin 47
Eastern Kentucky 56, Central Arkansas 55
@Indiana 98,
Morehead State 57
Saint Louis 74,
@Southeast Missouri 56
EASTERN KENTUCKY 56, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 55
MACON, Ga. - Sophomore guard Michaela Hunter knocked down a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team past Central Arkansas, 56-55, on Friday at Hawkins Arena in the consolation bracket of the Preseason WNIT.
EKU (1-1) trailed by a point, 55-54, following a layup by Central Arkansas’ Terai Sadler with 1:38 showing on the clock; however, sophomore guard Alexus Cooper came up with a crucial steal with 21 seconds remaining and got the ball to Hunter, who was fouled and sent to the line. The Mt. Vernon, Ky. native calmly sank both free-throw attempts to give the Colonels the lead.
Cooper then stole the ball again on UCA’s ensuing possession to seal EKU’s first win of the 2014-15 season.
In all, the Colonels came up with 14 steals in the game, their highest total since a 16-steal performance versus Jacksonville State on Feb. 16, 2013.
EKU’s backcourt duo of Hunter and junior guard Shameekia Murray paced the Colonels on the night with 14 and 15 points, respectively. Hunter also notched team highs in rebounds (six) and steals (four).
Sophomore guard Mariah Massengill made her first-career start at point guard on Friday and contributed seven points and a career-best seven assists.
Brianna Mullins led the Sugar Bears with 21 points and eight rebounds in the contest.
The game was a tale of two halves, as UCA led by as many as 10 points in the first half following a three-pointer by Mullins with 4:58 on the clock. A jumper by Murray on Eastern’s ensuing possession, though, sparked the Colonels on a 12-2 run as a bucket by Hunter just before the buzzer made it a tie game, 29-29, at halftime.
A bucket in the paint by junior forward Shelly Harper right out of halftime gave EKU its first lead since the 11:18 mark of the first half, and the Colonels led until 2:24 remained in the game.
Eastern stifled Central Arkansas to just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) shooting from the field in a dominant second half of play.
The Colonels will now play the winner of Mercer/Jackson State on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET.
DAYTON 78, UT MARTIN 47
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team struggled on both ends of the floor before eventually falling to mid-major power Dayton, 78-47, on the opening night of the Hawkeye Challenge.
The Skyhawks (1-3) shot just 23.3 percent from the floor as opposed to the Flyers’ offense which shot a sizzling 50.9 percent from the field. Jessy Ward led the Skyhawks in scoring with 16 points while Ashia Jones was the only other player to reach double figures with 10 points and a team high five rebounds.
Dayton (1-2) saw all 11 player score in the ballgame, led by the play of Andrea Hoover who tallied 14 points on the evening, including knocking down 4-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc. Ally Malott finished the contest with 13 points while Jodie Cornelie tallied four points along with 10 rebounds and four blocks.
The Flyers held a slim 8-5 advantage at the first break before padding their lead over the following four minutes with an 8-2 run. The Skyhawks would try to respond to the run as Ward would knock down a pair of three-pointers but the Flyers would still hold a 25-13 advantage with 7:51 to play in the first.
Both teams would remain competitive for the remainder of the half with Dayton narrowly outscoring UT Martin 18-14 in the final minutes of the first. Hoover would lead all scorers at the break with 12 while Ward nipped at her tail with 11 points of her own.
Dayton would storm out of the gates in the second half, posting a 15-0 run before a free throw by Jones scored the Skyhawks first point of the second period at the 11:57 mark. The Flyers would take a 22-4 run into the under-eight media timeout, possessing a 65-31 advantage.
The Skyhawks would outscore the Flyers 16-13 for the remained of the ball game but the damage had already become insurmountable. A three-pointer by Ward with 55 seconds remaining in the contest would put a cap on the game’s final score of 78-47
INDIANA 98, MOREHEAD STATE 57
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - Six Indiana women's basketball players scored in double figures, and the Hoosiers never trailed in handing Morehead State a 98-57 defeat Friday night at Assembly Hall.
Indiana improved to 3-0, all at home. MSU slipped to 2-2, all on the road.
The Hoosiers hit 12 three-pointers and shot 49 percent (34-of-70) overall while only turning the ball over eight times in the 40-minute affair.
Morehead State, meanwhile, was limited to a season-low 32 percent (22-of-69) overall and just 10 percent (2-of-21) from three-point range. The Eagles committed 18 mistakes and were out-rebounded 50-44. MSU also hit only 11 of its 24 free throws.
Indiana opened on a 12-2 run in the first four minutes before MSU finally trimmed its deficit to just 23-18 at the 10:13 mark. Another 12-2 Hoosier flurry put the game out of reach. Indiana led 55-31 at the half and ballooned that cushion to 42 on four second-half occasions.
Jenn Anderson paced IU with 17 points, while Tyra Buss had 16 and Karlee McBride contributed 15 off the bench. Larryn Brooks added 15 markers and a team-best eight assists, and Amanda Cahill had 11 points and a game-best 14 rebounds.
Sophomore forward Shay Steele had a team-best 14 points for the Eagles. Senior forward Casey Ryans netted nine points and a season-best nine rebounds. Senior guard Almesha Jones registered 10 points.
Morehead State will host Brescia (Ky.) on Monday night for the 2014-15 home opener. Game time is slated for 6 p.m. ET.
FLORIDA STATE 91, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
DENTON, Texas - Eastern Illinois women's basketball shot 63 percent in the opening half but the Panthers were no match for Florida State as the Seminoles, ranked No. 30 in the nation, ran away for a 91-55 win in the opening round of the North Texas Tournament.
EIU fell to 0-3 on the season and will play host North Texas on Sunday at 2 p.m. Florida State improved to 3-0 having scored more than 90 points in all three wins this season.
FSU dominated play on the glass finishing with a 40-15 rebound advantage which translated into a 28-2 margin in second chance points.
EIU shot 63 percent in the opening and finished the game shooting a season best 55 percent. Sabina Oroszova had 17 points to lead EIU as three players finished in double figures. Erica Brown had 14 and Arnisha Thomas added 12.
The Seminoles shot 68 percent in the opening half and 58 percent for the game. In addition to the hot shooting from the floor, FSU was 9-of-18 from 3-point range in the game. FSU led 52-28 at the half.
Adut Bulgak scored 21 points to lead FSU while Morgan Jones and Maegan Conwright each chipped in with 15.
SAINT LOUIS 74, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 56
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (1-2) was defeated 74-56 by Saint Louis (2-1) on Friday evening at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks led by one at halftime but were unable to hold off an aggressive Billikens attack in the second half.
Saint Louis shot 49.2% (30-for-61) for the game compared to 38.8% (19-for-49) by Southeast. The Billikens were especially strong in the second half, shooting 51.7% (15-for-29).
SLU outscored Southeast 42-16 in the paint and 17-4 off of turnovers. The Redhawks held a 38-23 advantage in bench points and outrebounded the Billikens 37-32. Connor King had a game-high nine boards while Deja Jones added eight rebounds in just 10 minutes of action.
The Redhawks scored on its first three possessions of the game to take a 6-4 lead with 18:06 left in the first half following two made free throws by Hillary Lively. Southeast made six of seven field goals to open up a 20-12 lead with 12:20 left in the opening half following Allyson Bradshaw's 126th career 3-pointer.
To open the game, Southeast converted eight of its first 11 field goals, including the first two treys and first two free throws. Seven different players accounted for the first 20 points.
SLU battled back, going on a 15-7 run over the next 6:51, including a string of five straight made field goals to tie the score at 27-27.
At halftime, Southeast led 34-33, led by Bradshaw's 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Brianna Mitchell added five points in the first half. As a team, the Redhawks shot 48.3% (14-for-29) from the field in the opening half. King had eight rebounds at intermission.
SLU was led in the first half by Sadie Stipanovich and Denisha Womack, who both had 10 points at the break. Stipanovich added five rebounds. SLU shot 46.9 % (15-for-32) in the opening half.
The Billikens opened the second half on an 18-3 run over the first 6:55, including a 14-0 stretch over the final 4:33 of that stretch to open up a 51-37 lead with 14:05 remaining in regulation that they would not relinquish.
In the second half, Southeast shot just 25.0% (5-for-20) from the field and 30.0% (3-for-10) from beyond the arc.
Bradshaw and Mitchell both tied for a team-high with 11 points. Mitchell added four assists. Erin Bollmann scored six points to go along with three rebounds.
Southeast travels to Ole Miss for a 3 p.m. Tuesday tip-off at the Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Miss. The Redhawks will then play two more road games next weekend. Tip-off at Southern Illinois on Friday, Nov. 28 is at 6:05 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30 at Bradley.