THURSDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 68, Eastern Kentucky 42
SIUE 62, @Morehead State 61
Tennessee State 76, @Murray State 72
@Austin Peay 72, Belmont 59
UT Martin 79, @Tennessee Tech 59
EASTERN ILLINOIS 68, EASTERN KENTUCKY 42
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Illinois closed out the first half with an 11-2 run as the Panther women won their first conference road game of the season with a 68-42 win at Eastern Kentucky on Thursday night.
EIU improved to 7-11 overall, 4-1 in the OVC. The Panthers will play at Morehead State on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. EKU dropped to 6-8 overall, 1-3 in the OVC.
With the scored tied 16-16 with 4:45 to play the Panthers closed the first half with an 11-2 run. Bh’rea Griffin started the run with a 3-pointer as she was 4-of-4 from 3-point range finishing with 19 points.
Griffin had five points while Arnisha Thomas added eight in the first half run to give EIU a 27-18 lead at the half. EKU scored its final two points of the half on free throws as the Colonels did not score a field goal in the final 9:03 of the first half.
Grace Lennox opened the second half with a three point play while Thomas added a lay-up to quickly extend the Panthers lead to 31-18. Thomas led all players with 21 points adding five assists.
Sabina Oroszova’s jumper with 14:41 to play pushed the Panthers lead to 20 points as EIU held that margin for most of the remainder of the game. EKU was able to cut the lead to 18 points with 6:36 to play on a jumper by Shameekia Murray. Murray led the Colonels with 18 points.
Oroszova pushed the lead back to 20 points on the next possession as she scored 14 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
EIU held EKU to 27 percent shooting from the floor while forcing 21 turnovers which the Panthers converted into 30 points. EIU shot 51 percent for the game.
SIUE 62, MOREHEAD STATE 61
MOREHEAD, Ky. - SIUE erased a 14-point, second-half deficit Thursday to defeat Morehead State 62-61 at Johnson Arena.
SIUE's Donshel Beck hit the back end of a two-shot foul with 29 seconds left in the game to provide the winning margin.
The Cougars improved to 4-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference with their fourth straight victory. SIUE evened its overall record at 9-9. Morehead State fell to 6-11 overall and 2-2 in the OVC.
Shronda Butts scored 15 of her game-high 22 points in the second half to lead SIUE's come-from-behind win. Butts hit a career-best four three-pointers.
Morehead State got off to a great start against the Cougars, scoring the first nine points of the game. Butts' first three-pointer of the game put SIUE on the scoreboard with 17:07 to play in the first half.
Eriel McKee, who led the Eagles with 17 points and 13 rebounds, gave Morehead State a 37-28 lead at halftime on a layup with 20 seconds to play.
The second half start for the Cougars wasn't much better than the first half. Casey Ryans hit a three-pointer for the Eagles on the opening possession of the second half. Maiki Viela gave Morehead State a 42-28 lead with 17:39 to play on two of her 11 points for the game.
The pace of the game was different than SIUE's last outing in which the Cougars scored a Division I-era best 91 points at home against Tennessee State.
SIUE recovered midway through the second half when Butts made a run of seven straight points to pull the Cougars within five at 52-47 with 9:12 to play.
The Cougar defense took over late as Morehead State would not score a point in the final 4:37 of the game. Down 61-54, SIUE scored the final eight points of the game on a three-pointer by Butts, a free throw by Gwen Adams, a free throw by Tierny Austin, a jumper from Austin, and finally the free throw by Beck. Morehead State missed a free throw and its final five shots from the field.
TENNESSEE STATE 76, MURRAY STATE 72
MURRAY, Ky. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team held off Murray State, 76-72, Thursday night in the CFSB Center.
Tennessee State (6-9, 3-1 OVC) led by as many as 15-points in the first half but had to fight Murray State (5-12, 0-4 OVC) off down the stretch.
The Lady Tigers had five players score in double-figures and three post double-doubles. Chelsea Hudson led TSU with 15 points and 11 rebounds while I’mani Davis registered 14 points and 10 boards. Briana Morrow finished the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Jayda Johnson came off the bench to score 13. LaTeasha Hill recorded a career-high 10 points off the bench.
Ke’Shunan James led MSU with 19 points while Olivia Cunningham (18) and Keiona Kirby (16) also notched double-digits.
TSU jumped out to a 7-0 advantage and led 14-6 at the first media timeout. Out of the break, a layup by Jayda Johnson sparked a 7-0 run that put the Lady Tigers on top, 21-6.
TSU maintained a double-digit lead for most of the first half until MSU used a 10-0 run to chop the deficit down to two points, 36-34, just before the half. During the drought, the Lady Tigers went 0-of-7 from the field.
The second half was a battle that saw both teams trade buckets and the lead. TSU managed to build a four-point lead following buckets from LaTeasha Hill and Jemilah Leonard but MSU pulled even once again.
At the final media timeout, the teams had played to a 65-65 deadlock. With 2:55 on the clock, I’mani Davis scored on a putback to make the score, 68-67, in favor of TSU. Briana Morrow knocked down a couple of free-throws to increase TSU’s lead to three points but the Racers buried a triple on their next possession to knot the score at 70-all.
A few moments later, Chelsea Hudson knocked down a free-throw to make TSU’s lead, 73-72, before I’mani Davis hit another freebie to put TSU on top, 74-72, with 15 seconds remaining.
The Racers drove the length of the floor but missed their shot attempt. TSU came away with the rebound and the MSU was forced to foul.
Senior Briana Morrow stepped up to the line and buried two free-throws to give the Lady Tigers a 76-72 cushion with 1.3 seconds remaining.
Murray State’s final shot attempt was off the mark.
AUSTIN PEAY 72, BELMONT 59
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team rode a strong first-half performance at both ends of the court to a 72-59 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Belmont, Thursday night at the Dunn Center.
The game’s opening moments were a see-saw affair with four lead changes in the opening six minutes. After Austin Peay (6-11, 3-1 OVC) built a four-point lead, 13-9, on back-to-back baskets, Belmont (4-14, 1-4 OVC) halved that deficit when Sally McCabe hit a jumper with 13:34 left.
Austin Peay then ratcheted up the defensive pressure and Belmont would miss its next 16 shots from the floor. The Lady Govs offense scored on 10 of its 15 possessions during that span to piece together a 15-4 run and build a 28-15 lead with 5:50 left.
The Lady Govs lead would reach 19 points, 36-17, thanks to another 8-0 run later in the half. Belmont would close to within 14 points with 11 seconds left before APSU junior Tiasha Gray hit a pair of free throws to set the 40-24 halftime score.
Austin Peay opened the second half with a 7-2 run and its lead reached 20 points less than four minutes into the period. Midway through the period sophomore Beth Rates pushed the advantage to 21 points, 59-38, with a jumper at the 8:41 mark and Austin Peay would not look back.
Sophomore Tearra Banks led Austin Peay with a 16-point, nine-rebound performance that saw her score 10 second-half points. Gray added 15 points and six assists despite missing more than 13 minutes in the second half due to foul trouble. Stainback chipped in a 13-point, six-rebound effort.
Austin Peay converted on 45.2 percent (28-of-62) of its shots, including 50 percent (6-of-12) of its three pointers. The Lady Govs also eked out a 45-44 victory in rebounds to help hold Belmont to 31.3 percent (21-of-67) shooting for the game.
Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield led Belmont with 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting. No other Belmont player reached double-digit scoring territory.
UT MARTIN 79,TENNESSEE TECH 59
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team cemented his place in history by picking up his 106th career victory to break the program’s long time record for coaching victories with a 79-59 win over Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech.
The Skyhawks (8-9, 4-0 OVC) remained unbeaten in OVC play behind a pair of stellar performances from sophomores Ashia Jones and Jessy Ward. The duo combined to score 55 of the team’s 79 points while ranking as the first pair to each score 20 points or more this season.
Jones, the reigning OVC Player of the Week, finished just shy of her third consecutive game with 30 points or more after finishing with 29 points and eight rebounds. Ward joined in the action with a career-high after tallying eight field goals – including seven three-pointers – to tallying 26 points on the night. Tiara Caldwell also tallied 12 points to cap off the team’s double figure scorers.
Tennessee Tech (5-13, 2-3 OVC) saw two players score in double figures, led by the play of Candace Parson who tallied 17 points and nine rebounds in the contest. Parson was joined in double figures by Shunice Herron who tallied 11 points off the bench.
Neither team could get much going in the opening minutes of the game, combining to go scoreless in the game’s opening five possessions. A basket by Tiara Caldwell would finally move the Skyhawks into the scoring column at the 18:21 mark. Caldwell would notch another field goal before the break to tally her fourth point but Parson would pace Tech with five points of her own to give the Golden Eagles a 5-4 advantage heading into the opening media timeout.
The offense would begin to pickup in the following minutes with the Skyhawks posting a 15-8 advantage during the span, including a 9-0 run which saw Ward and Karisma Tyson combine for a trio of three-pointers. Along with the shooting from beyond the arc, Jones notched her first four points during the span as UT Martin held a 19-13 lead with 11 minutes to play in the first.
After the Skyhawks led by eight points through the next few minutes, Tennessee Tech would put together a run which would cut the advantage to just four points with less than four minutes to play. Much of the Golden Eagles 7-3 run was due in large part to the play of Parson, Hannah Goolsby and Catherine Taylor who each tallied field goals during the run.
With the game cut to a four point margin at the final break, it was the Skyhawks who would closed out the first half on a substantial run. As the final buzzer sounded going into the half, it was Ward who knocked down her second consecutive three-pointer and tallied eight points as the Skyhawks finished the half on a 14-5 run and took a 43-30 lead into the break.
Ward would lead all players with 17 points at the break, including going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Jones joined Ward in double figures with 13 points while Parson’s 11 points ranked as a team-high for the Golden Eagles.
UT Martin would open the second half by outscoring Tennessee Tech 16-12, taking a 59-42 lead into the 12-minute media break. The Skyhawks were led during the span by the duo of Ward and Jones who each tallied six points during. For the Golden Eagles it was Parson, Goolsby, Herron and Taylor who notched three points during the span.
After the Skyhawks narrowly outscored the Golden Eagles 10-8 over the next four minutes, a run by Tech would trim the margin down the stretch. Outscoring the Skyhawks 9-5 over the course of several minutes, Tech would trim the deficit to as close as 13.
Despite the slim run by the Golden Eagles, the Skyhawks would hold their OVC rival scoreless over the final four minutes of play to seal the 79-59 victory.