SUNDAY'S SCORES
Cleveland State 80,
@Morehead State 74
Richmond 70,
@Eastern Kentucky 56
Lehigh 72,
Eastern Illinois 69
@Southeast Missouri 73, Illinois-Springfield 56
Tennessee Tech 62, Morgan State 56
CLEVELAND STATE 80, MOREHEAD STATE 74
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Cleveland State women's basketball team entered Sunday's game shooting 56 percent at the free throw line. The Vikings nailed 23-of-25, however, at the line and rallied in the second half to defeat Morehead State 80-72 at Johnson Arena.
CSU improved to 7-4 overall, while Morehead State fell to 4-8.
Imani Gordon was just 3-of-17 from the floor for the visitors but hit all nine free throws and registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kiersten Green led the Vikings with 22 points. Cori Coleman added 15 points and seven of CSU's 45 rebounds.
Cleveland State led 42-34 at the half and scored the first bucket of the second period. Morehead State then constructed a 17-0 run, capped by a layup from sophomore forward Shay Steele, to lead 51-44 with 14:37 left in the contest. A 13-3 CSU run gave the visitors a 57-54 lead, and the Vikings only trailed once more (64-63 with 6:25 remaining).
CSU was 6-of-6 at the charity stripe in the final 1:35 to fend off an MSU rally attempt.
Steele scored a career-high 24 points in 27 minutes before fouling out with 3:12 left. Senior guard Almesha Jones registered 20 points and a team-best nine assists. Jones leads the nation in total assists.
Freshman forward Eriel McKee produced her second straight double-double and fourth of her collegiate career with 14 points and 11 rebounds. She has scored in double figures in all nine contests she's appeared in.
Morehead State shot 44 percent (14-of-32) in the first but cooled down to only 33 percent (13-of-40) after halftime for 38 percent efficiency overall. Cleveland State finished at 41 percent (25-of-61) for the day. Morehead State had 40 rebounds.
Morehead State takes a few days off for Christmas break and then returns to host Southern Illinois at 6 p.m. ET on Dec. 30.
RICHMOND 70, EASTERN KENTUCKY 56
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team dropped its non-conference finale to Richmond, 70-56, on Sunday afternoon at McBrayer Arena.
EKU (5-5) outscored (30-28) and outrebounded (25-16) Richmond (6-4) in the second half; however, the Colonels’ first-half deficit was too much to overcome and the Spiders held on for the win.
Shameekia Murray led EKU in scoring for the second consecutive game, dropping 16 points, grabbing three boards and dishing out two assists. Sophomore Michaela Hunter added 12 points six rebounds and three steals.
Janelle Hubbard paced Richmond with 20 points.
The Spiders shot 51 percent (25-of-49) from the floor in the win. They also connected on 14-of-18 (78 percent) free throws.
EKU trailed by only nine, 25-16, at the halfway point of the first half, but a three-pointer by Hubbard sparked a 14-4 Richmond run that gave the Spiders a 39-20 advantage with 4:22 showing on the clock. A bucket in the paint by Junior Jasmine Henshaw with just over a minute to play helped cut the deficit to 16, 42-26, at halftime.
Richmond, however, went on a 10-2 run to open the second half and took its largest lead of the day, 52-28, on a jumper by Hubbard with 16:16 on the clock.
The Colonels ratcheted up the defensive pressure following the early-second half run and slowly began to crawl back into the game, but it was too late.
EKU will open Ohio Valley Conference play versus Austin Peay on Jan. 3. Tip at McBrayer Arena is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 73, ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD 56
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Four players scored in double figures for Southeast Missouri (6-6) as the Redhawks earned a 73-56 victory over Illinois-Springfield (4-4) Sunday at the Show Me Center. Olivia Hackmann led the way with a game-high 15 points.
Southeast shot 43.6% (24-for-55) from the floor, made five 3-pointers and drained 20 free throws. The Redhawks held a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers and the defense held its opponent under 60 points for the 31st time during head coach Ty Margenthaler's tenure.
Early on, the Redhawks went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 15-12, capped by a layup by Erin Bollmann with 12:18 remaining in the opening half.
Southeast added a 9-0 run to go up 28-19, highlighted by 3-pointers from Hackmann and Allyson Bradshaw. The duo scored 18 of the Redhawks' last 20 points to close the first half.
At halftime, Southeast led 42-32 behind 13 first-half points from Hackmann. She shot 5-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-3 from 3-point range during the first 20 minutes. Bradshaw added eight points, including two triples while Yelena Rosado had seven points at intermission.
In the second half, Southeast outscored UIS 31-24 and held the Prairie Stars scoreless for nearly a five-minute stretch.
The Redhawks shot 51.7% (15-for-29) from the field, 50.0% (4-for-8) from beyond the arc and 88.9% (8-for-9) from the free throw line in the opening half.
Illinois-Springfield stayed within 10 at half by shooting 48.3% (14-for-29) and 40.0% (2-for-5) from 3-point range in the first half. Shelby Patterson had seven points for the Prairie Stars at halftime.
Jasmine Robinson finished with 12 points while Bradshaw added 11 and Bollmann scored 10 to round out the double-digit performances. Hillary Lively set a career-high with eight rebounds. Rosado notched a game-best three assists.
Patterson led UIS with 11 points while Courtney Knuckles contributed 10 points. Jessica Warren had a team-best seven rebounds.
The Redhawks will be off next week for the holiday break. Southeast will return to action vs. William Woods on Dec. 30 at 11 a.m. from the Show Me Center.
TENNESSEE TECH 62, MORGAN STATE 56
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Defensive effort and great ball movement were the keys to the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team's success Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles topped Morgan State, 62-56, in the final game of the Chattanooga Christmas Classic on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Heading into the intermission, Tech was tied with the MSU Bears at 28-28 on a last second layup by MSU's Braennan Farrer, who converted off a steal on a Tech turnover.
The Bears came out of the intermission with high pressure, and started the second half with a 9-0 run to pull away from the Golden Eagles.
Tech slowly whittled the score down, and tied the game up on a fast break layup from Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson, who received the ball off a Samaria Howard steal. Three straight defensive possessions resulted in fast break layups for the Golden Eagles.
Morgan State kept themselves in the game as they hit their shots from the charity stripe, and took a one-point advantage with 5:53 left to play on a Farrer layup.
A jumper by Samaria Howard, and a clutch three from Hannah Goolsby brought the Tech lead back to four and sealed the game. The Bears continued to pressure the Golden Eagles, running a zone press, but Tech handled the ball with care and was able to close out the game.
Tech finished the game with a season-high 15 assists, and saw eight different players score. The Golden Eagles also outrebounded the Bears, 40-29, including 13 offensive boards, which Tech converted into 13 second-chance points.
Three different Golden Eagles scored 12 points. Senior Candace Parson stuffed the stat sheet, adding six rebounds, a career-high four assists, a career-high three blocks, and career-high three steals to her 12 points. Hickson, a freshman from Stone Mountain, Ga., grabbed a career-high six rebounds and added three assists, along with 12 points. Sophomore Cat Taylor added three rebounds and an assist to her 12 points. Taylor has now scored in double-figures each of the last three games.
Junior Mariah Dean provided a spark in the first half, coming off the bench to grab seven points and six boards before the break. She finished with a team-high seven boards and eight points.
The Bears were led by Farrer who scored a game-high 20 points, adding five assists and four steals. Dinah Jones added 10 points, four boards, and four assists, while Zuri White matched with 10 points, adding seven rebounds. Danielle Robinson rounded out the double-digit scored for MSU, adding 11 points, two blocks, and two rebounds.
Tech in now 2-2 in its last four games after opening the season 1-7.
The Golden Eagles will return home following the Christmas break on Sunday, Dec. 28, to take on the Blue Raiders from Middle Tennessee State at 2 p.m. CT.
LEHIGH 72, EASTERN ILLINOIS 69
TEMPE, Ariz. - Lehigh had a steal and converted two free throws in the final 22 seconds on Sunday to beat Eastern Illinois, 72-69, in the consolation game of the Arizona State Tournament.
EIU dropped to 3-9 on the year and will host Saint Louis next Sunday at 2 p.m. in Lantz Arena. Lehigh improved to 8-1.
EIU shot the ball well for the entire game as they finished with 55 percent shooting from the floor hitting 28-of-51. It was second half free throw shooting that hurt the Panthers as they were 6-of-14.
Trailing 41-37 at the half EIU raced out with a 16-4 run to lead by nine points. Sabina Oroszova and Arnisha Thomas both had four points in the run as both seniors finished with more than 20 points in the game. Oroszova had 24 points, Thomas finished with 23.
Lehigh used a five point swing on a made 3-ponter by Sarah Williams and offensive put back by Kerry Kinek as they started a 17-2 run over their own. Bernadette Devaney dropped in a pair of 3-pointers off the bench to give the Mountain Hawks a six point lead.
EIU closed the gap to 64-63 with 4:05 to play on a Thomas jumper. EIU would keep it within four points until the final 22 seconds. The Panthers had the ball trailing by one point. Lexi Martins had a steal and then converted on both free throws as she finished with 17 points. EIU missed a final shot as time expired.
EIU shot 57 percent in the first half as Thomas had 14 points and Oroszova had 11. Lehigh built the lead with four 3-pointers off the bench by Elizabeth Jordan, one of four players in double figures for Lehigh. Kinek had ten and Williams ten.