2014 OVC Women's Basketball Championship - Quarterfinals

3/6/2014 7:50:08 AM

#5 EASTERN KENTUCKY 79, #4 TENNESSEE STATE 75
NASHVILLE - Senior Marie Carpenter hit a jumper with 34 seconds left to break the 18th tie of the game, and then made two free throws with nine seconds remaining to send No. 5 Eastern Kentucky University past No. 4 Tennessee State, 79-75, in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday at Municipal Auditorium.

The Lady Colonels (17-12, 9-7 OVC) advance to the OVC semifinals for the first time since winning the tournament in 2005. Eastern will play No. 1 UT Martin (22-7, 15-1 OVC) on Friday at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Carpenter scored a game-best 24 points for Eastern Kentucky. Sophomore Shelly Harper finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while fellow sophomore Miranda Maples nearly posted a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Senior Pilar Walker had seven points, six assists and no turnovers.

EKU trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and was down by seven at the break, but opened the second half with a 12-4 run to climb back into the game. After spending most of the first half on the bench with two fouls, Carpenter scored the first six points of the second half. Two free throws by Harper finished off the run and gave the Lady Colonels a 44-43 lead with 16:06 to play in the game.

The Tigers went back in front by four, 50-46, on three-pointer from Brianna Lawrence with 14:42 on the clock; however Tennessee State did not score again until the 11:16 mark. Meanwhile, Eastern rolled off 10 unanswered to take a 56-50 lead. Carpenter's two free throws polished off the run.

EKU was in front 60-54 when TSU scored eight unanswered of its own to take back the lead, 62-60, with 8:05 left to play. From that point the game was tied seven times and the lead changed hands 10 times.

The Lady Colonels shot 52 percent in the second half and 47 percent for the game. EKU committed four fewer turnovers but allowed 15 offensive rebounds. TSU scored 20 second-chance points.

Tennessee State used a 15-5 first half run build its 12-point lead. Two free throws by Chelsea Hudson capped the run and gave the Tigers a 36-24 lead with 4:38 remaining in the first half. Eastern Kentucky scored seven of the next nine to get within six, 38-32, on back-to-back baskets by freshman Amadi Brooks. The Lady Colonels trailed by seven, 39-32, at the break.

Rachel Allen had a team-best 17 points for TSU. Hudson scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds before fouling out in the closing minutes.

#6 JACKSONVILLE STATE 57, #3 TENNESSEE TECH 56
NASHVILLE - - Freshman Briana Benson's put back with less than a second left on the clock lifted Jacksonville State in to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament after knocking off Tennessee Tech, 57-56, on Thursday at Municipal Auditorium.

The Gamecocks, who will be making their second appearance in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament and the first since 2005, notched their 14th win of the season and will face No. 2 seed Belmont on Friday at 2 p.m. Jax State knocked off the OVC East Champions last Saturday to close out the regular season. Tech, the No. 3 seed in the eight-team tournament, ended the season with a 12-18 overall mark. The win over Tech is JSU's first in the postseason.

In a tightly contested contest throughout as neither team led by more than seven points and five in the second half - both by TTU, the game came down to missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 12 seconds left with her squad up 56-55. JSU's Destany McLin grabbed the rebound looking for the winning basket on a driving lay up, but Henderson poked the ball out from behind, setting up an in-bounds play under the JSU basket. The Gamecocks went to McLin for the game-winner, but her attempt rattled off the rim, but in to the hands of Benson for the putback with no time left on the clock. The officials looked at the replay for any evidence of time remaining on the clock, but time had expired and the JSU following erupted in Municipal Auditorium.

After a solid shooting performance in Wednesday's opening round win over SIU Edwardsville, JSU struggled in the first half from the field. The Gamecocks hit just 7-of-25 from the field, but picked it up on the defensive end of the floor and managed to be down five at the halftime break, 23-18. Tech playing in its first game of the tournament didn't fare much better as it shot 38.5 percent from the field.

As most top players in a league do, they step up in key situations throughout the contest. That can be said for TTU's Henderson - when her team needed a basket, they found her. She scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. JSU made several runs at the Golden Eagles and took its first lead of the game at 36-35 with 13:23 left. The Red and White took its final lead before the game-winner at 38-37 at the 12:52 mark after a Destiny James basket, but Henderson countered on TTU's next possession to regain the lead. TTU would take its first of two five-point leads at 10:55 with a 43-38 advantage after a Mariah Dean lay up. Jax State fought back to tie the game for the third time on Candace Morton's fast break trey with 7:19 left to play. After the fifth tie of the contest, Tech looked to take control of the final four minutes and stretched a lead back out to five at 54-49 after a Catherine Taylor three-point in the corner.

McLin got the Gamecocks within a point on two occasions in the final 1:44on a pair of free throws. James had a driving lay up with 1:07 left to play which would have given JSU the lead, but the shot was long.

Benson, who has been one of JSU's top scorers during the recent success by the Gamecocks, was 1-for-10 from the field before the putback and was hampered with foul trouble all day. She finished with four points - her second lowest scoring output against an OVC team. She was held scoreless in JSU's game with Tech back on Dec. 28.

McLin's final point tally was 18 points and again had a marvelous second half performance with 13 points in the final 20 minutes. The Athens, Ala.-native was 5-of-13 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

Morton, reached her scoring average of 16 total points and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. After making just eight free throws against SIUE, JSU was much better as a team at the free throw line, connecting on 16-of-20, while Tech was at the line just eight times all game. James turned in another solid performance as a floor general and contributed seven points after a 10-point game on Wednesday.

For the second straight game, JSU won the rebounding edge as it out-rebounded the lengthy Golden Eagles, 32-28. JSU also capitalized on TTU's 14 turnovers and turned them in to 16 points on the other end.

Candace Parson of TTU added 12 points in the setback, including ten of the 12 in the opening half.
The Gamecocks and Bruins will get underway around 2 p.m. on Friday at Municipal Auditorium in the second semifinal contest. Eastern Kentucky, the No. 5 seed knocked off No. 4 seed Tennessee State in the other quarterfinal contest. EKU will face top-seeded UT Martin at Noon.