SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 84, Grand Canyon 77
@Jacksonville State 65, New Orleans 51
Tennessee State 73, @Lipscomb 55
Pepperdine 59,
UT Martin 58
@Mercer 69,
Eastern Kentucky 64
@Valparaiso 79,
Tennessee Tech 61
AUSITN PEAY 84, GRAND CANYON 77
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore center Tearra Banks scored a career-high 22 points to usher Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team past Grand Canyon, 84-77, in nonconference action at the Dunn Center, Saturday afternoon.
Leading by as much as 15 points in the second half, Austin Peay (1-2) had to withstand Grand Canyon’s full-court press over the last 5:48. The Antelopes closed to within four points, 75-71 with 3:05 left, thanks to its press which forced turnovers on three consecutive Lady Govs possessions.
Junior guard Tiasha Gray hit a pair of free throws to end the Grand Canyon run and her free throws at the 1:06 mark pushed the lead back to nine points. Freshman Madison Rich went 2-of-4 at the free throw line to secure the win.
Austin Peay got out to a quick start, making five of its first eight shots and racing out to a nine-point, 13-4, lead just four minutes into the contest. Grand Canyon countered with an 18-5 run thanks to a rain of four three pointers – three by guard August Touchard – to build its largest lead, 22-18, with 10:58 left.
Grand Canyon (1-2) could not extend its lead as Banks converted a traditional three-point play to cut the advantage to one point. The tide turned late in the half as Grand Canyon made just two field goals in a six minute span, which Austin Peay turned into a 15-5 run to build a 44-32 lead with 1:48 left. The Antelopes closed the half with seven straight points but trailed 44-39 at the break.
The teams traded baskets for the first eight minutes of the second half. Austin Peay took control of the frame thanks to a 9-0 run, with Rich supplying five points, to build a 15-point, 67-52 lead with 10:32 remaining. The Lady Govs would maintain that double-digit advantage until the Antelopes press-aided burst.
Banks powered Austin Peay in the second half, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the frame. Her 22 points came on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and a sub-par 4-of-11 effort at the free-throw line. She also had nine rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal.
Banks led a group of five Austin Peay players to score 10 or more points. Gray nearly had a triple-double, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Senior guard Kristen Stainback chipped in 16 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting. Rich added 12 points and sophomore forward Beth Rates had 10 points.
Touchard led Grand Canyon with 18 points. Courtney Hayes had 16 points and Astrea Reed chipped in 13 points off the bench.
Austin Peay begins a four-game road trip with a 5 p.m. (CT), Monday contest at Chattanooga.
TENNESSEE STATE 73, LIPSCOMB 55
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team picked up its first win of the season after defeating Lipscomb University, 73-55, Saturday afternoon in Allen Arena.
Chelsea Hudson led TSU (1-2) and picked up her first double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Rachel Allen finished the game with 10 points.
Lipscomb (1-3) was led in scoring by Danay Fothergill’s 13 points.
Tennessee State grabbed the momentum in the first half and controlled the pace throughout the contest. TSU forced LU into 28 turnovers and scored 26 points off of the miscues.
Early in the game, TSU was leading 9-8 when the Lady Tigers went on a 10-0 run to go ahead, 19-8. Lipscomb responded with a rally to cut the deficit down to four points before TSU went into the halftime break with a, 28-23, lead.
The Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Bisons 11-2 to start the second stanza and extended the advantage to, 39-25, at the 11:51 mark.
Lipscomb called a timeout in an attempt to halt the TSU spurt but Chelsea Hudson found Diamond Beatty in the paint to make the score, 41-25, in favor of the visiting team.
A couple of buckets by the Lady Bisons pulled them within 11 but four consecutive points from Briana Morrow, put TSU on top, 46-31.
TSU maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
TSU shot an improved 73.5 percent (25-of-34) from the free-throw line and outrebounded LU, 46-32. The Lady Tigers also held the advantage in second chance points (20-5) and points in the paint (38-18).
The Lady Tigers will play their second game in three days when they return to action against #4 Tennessee on Monday, Nov. 24. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. (ET) at Thompson-Boling Arena.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 73, LIPSCOMB 58
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Following the victory over Alabama early this week, Jacksonville State opened its 13-game home schedule with a 65-51 victory over the University of New Orleans Privateers Saturday afternoon.
The win was fueled by the overall play of combo-guards Candace Morton and Destany McLin. The two each finished with a game-high 15 points, while Miranda Cantrell added 10 points and nine rebounds, and Courtney Strain chipped in with 10 points.
It's the first time four Jacksonville State players have finished in double figures since Feb. 15, 2014 against Eastern Kentucky.
Morton was nearly perfect from the charity stripe as the senior went 9-for-10, falling one shy of being the first Gamecock to make 10 free throws since she accomplished the feat Jan. 4, 2014 at Tennessee State. She has now scored in double figures in 32 of her last 34 games. As a team, the Gamecocks went 19-of-29 from the line.
JSU fended off several UNO attempts to take the lead during the first half, before Kayla Mundy sank a three with 4:14 remaining in the first half to give the Privateers their first lead of the game. Morton answered with two free throws on the other end to tie the game before Strain sank a jumper to give the Gamecocks the lead again, one they wouldn't give back for the rest of the game.
JSU went on a 14-2 run over the last 3:59 of the half while holding New Orleans to 2-of-8 shooting and forcing three of the Privateers 12 first half turnovers. During the second half, the Gamecock defense forced seven more turnovers, and finished the game with 18 points off turnovers.
Despite being undersized in the paint, JSU finished the game with 30 points in the paint, led by Cantrell's performance as well as freshman Tyler Phelion, who finished with seven points and eight rebounds.
The Gamecocks took a 36-26 lead into the locker room, and finished the game being outrebounded 44-42 by New Orleans.
For UNO, Raven Coleman finished with eight points and nine rebounds while Danielle Davis added eight points as well.
The JSU defense held the Privateers to a 33.3 shooting percentage throughout the game, 28.6 percent during the second half. The defense also only allowed five three-point baskets on 20 attempts.
With the win in the season debut at home, JSU is now 14-6 in home season lid lifters and has won 12 of the last 15 home debuts. The 14-point win is also the 12th in the last 20 games during the 2014 calendar year.
JSU will continue the home-stand by welcoming in Wofford University to Pete Mathews Coliseum Tuesday evening with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
PEPPERDINE 59, UT MARTIN 58
IOWA CITY, Iowa - – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team fell just short against Pepperdine in the consolation round of the Iowa Hawkeye Challenge on Saturday night as the final buzzer sounded before the Skyhawks could attempt the game-winning shot, dropping the contest 59-58.
The Skyhawks (1-4) battled to the end in a contest which saw the game tied nine times and the lead switch hands on 12 occasions. In a game which was nearly identical on both sides of the ball, both teams tallied 42 rebounds along with narrow margins in nearly every statistical categories – including the final score.
UT Martin was led in scoring by all-tournament honoree Jessy Ward with a career-high 23 points in the contest. Ashia Jones joined Ward in double figures with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Pepperdine (2-2) placed three players in double figures and were led by Keitra Wallace with 18 points and seven rebounds. Bria Richardson tallied 14 points while Allie Green tossed in 11 points in the contest.
Pepperdine would hold a slim 6-3 advantage coming out of the first media break. Both teams would battle for the next eight minutes with the Waves holding a narrow 12-11 advantage during the span to post an 18-14 lead with seven minutes to play in the first.
The Skyhawks would respond with a 5-2 run over their own to take a 20-19 deficit into the final media timeout of the first half. During the run, Ward was able to knock down a trifecta to trim the margin. The Skyhawks would finally get over the hump at the 3:29 mark as Ward hit her third three-pointer of the game along the right wing to give the squad the 22-21 lead, its first of the game.
UT Martin would take a 9-5 run into the break to hold a 28-25 advantage at halftime. Jones scored three points while Ward tossed in six during the run. Ward led all scorers at the break with 12 points while Jones and Pepperdine’s Wallace tallied eight points apiece.
Pepperdine came out of the break on a 13-9 run, taking a 38-37 lead into the first media of the second half. Ea Shoushtari took the game over for the Waves, scoring eight points in the opening four minutes of the second half while four Skyhawks combined for the team’s nine points.
Both teams would seesaw back and forth seeing the lead change hands three times before a jumper by Ward gave the Skyhawks the lead with 33 seconds to play and a two point advantage. Pepperdine would tie the game before taking the lead with 25.9 second remaining on an and-one by Wallace.
Trailing by one with 25.9 seconds to play in the contest, the Skyhawks would call a timeout and set up their final play of the contest with 13.4 seconds remaining. The ball would be inbounded to Jones with just over two second remaining but the final shot would be stolen as the horn blew to end the game, with the Skyhawks dropping the contest 59-58.
UT Martin will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 26 when taking on former OVC foe Samford.
MERCER 69, EASTERN KENTUCKY 64
MACON, Ga. - Sophomore guard Michaela Hunter recorded a double-double with career highs in points (27) and rebounds (12) during the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team’s 69-64 loss to host Mercer on Saturday night at Hawkins Arena in the consolation bracket of the Preseason WNIT.
EKU (1-2) trailed by double digits, 57-47, with 6:30 to play in the game, but the Colonels staged a furious rally and tied the Bears, 60-60, on a three-pointer by Hunter with 2:17 on the clock.
Mercer stretched its lead back to five, 66-61, before Hunter hit another desperation three-pointer – her fifth of the game – to make it a one-possession game with 20 ticks showing.
The Bears converted two free throws on their next possession, though, and the Colonels missed their ensuing three-point attempt, and the game was over.
Hunter finished 10-of-20 from the field and 5-of-7 from behind the arc. She also collected a team-best 12 boards, dished out three assists, blocked a shot and came up with a steal.
Junior guard Shameekia Murray added 16 points and two assists. Junior forward Shelly Harper scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Precious Bridges scored 21 points to lead Mercer.
EKU will travel to Wilmington, N.C. next week to play in the UNCW Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic. The Colonels will play Western Carolina on Friday at 12:00 p.m. and North Florida on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
VALPARAISO 79, TENNESSEE TECH 61
VALPARAISO, Ind. - Tennessee Tech knew going in that all five of Valparaiso's starters could score. What the Golden Eagles didn't count on was that several players off the bench also knew how to light up the scoreboard.
The Crusaders (3-1) poured in 3-pointers from all around the arc, hitting 10 in the first half on the way to a huge lead that eventually finished with a 79-61 victory for the home team. The Golden Eagles saw their record dip to 1-2, all on the road.
Tech's season-opening, four-game road swing wraps up Tuesday night with a 7 p.m. game at Mercer. The Golden Eagles will finally get back to Eblen Center for their first regular season home game next Saturday (Nov. 29) when Georgia visits for a 6 p.m. contest.
At Valpo, three players came off the bench to go 6-for-9 from long range in the opening half after the Crusaders opened an 11-point lead just five minutes into the contest.
Tech's last best hope came with 11 minutes to play in the opening half when Mariah Dean scored a layup and Tionne Herron dropped in a 3-pointer to bring the Golden Eagles within five, 17-12.
Enter Jessi Wiedemann, who knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and the Valpo lead was back to a dozen. Another non-starter, Dani Franklin made back-to-back 3-pointers and the home team was up 13, and the difference grew to 16 on a trey by Jessica Carr.
Valpo was 10-for-18 from downtown in the first half to build a 48-34 lead at the intermission.
After the break, Valpo worked the ball inside and used a quick first step to beat defenders to the glass in expanding the margin to as many as 21 points midway in the half.
Then, when Tech sliced the difference down to 13 with about eight minutes to play, the Golden Eagles had a series of mistakes that prevented them from closing the gap any further.
In addition to shooting so well (53.7 percent overall for the contest and 54.5 percent from long range), the Crusaders also owned a decisive 44-26 advantage in rebounds. It was more than enough to overcome 21 turnovers.
Tech shot 38.5 percent for the game including 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from long range. Tech had only 11 turnovers, but it was those shooting numbers that halted Tech's chances.
Jessica Carr led all scorers with 16 points, going 4-for-5 from long range, and also had a game-best six assists. Abby Dean added 15 points while Franklin finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Jasmyn Walker had eight points and 10 rebounds, while Wiedemann finished with nine points on 3-for-4 trey. Annemarie Hamlet was the third bench player to do damage, adding eight points and seven rebounds.
Tech was led by Candace Parson with 12 points and Samaria Howard with 12 points and five rebounds. Mariah Dean, who was effective inside, finished with 11 points while Tia Nicholson topped Tech's rebounding effort with seven.