WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 73, Eastern Kentucky 53
@Eastern Illinois 75, Murray State 59
UT Martin 64, @Jacksonville State 58
@SIUE 87, Austin Peay 67
JACKSONVILLE STATE 73, EASTERN KENTUCKY 53
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team wanted to put on a show for over 1,000 elementary school kids that were attendance on Education Day at 'The Pete' and they saw a solid shooting performance by the Gamecocks in a 73-53 win over Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon.
The 20-point win, which matches the largest margin of victory over the Colonels, equals Jax State's win total from a season ago at 14 wins. The win moved JSU to 5-4 in conference play, while the loss dropped EKU to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in the league. The atmosphere in Pete Mathews Coliseum brought energy to the contest as schools from Jacksonville's Kitty Stone Elementary and three other schools from the Calhoun County School system.
JSU didn't let an early tip off time of 11:30 a.m. affect the shooting touch as JSU knocked down eight three pointers in the first half to key the 43.8 percent scoring production in the first half. After a one possession contest between the two teams for the first 13 and half minutes, Jax State took over the game with an 18-8 scoring run over the final seven minutes to build a 10-point, 37-27 lead right before the halftime break and would take a 39-30 advantage in to the intermission. The run was fueled by the long range shooting by the Gamecocks as they connected on four of their eight treys during the run.
Senior Candace Morton, playing against one of her home state schools, also started strong with all 11 of her points coming in the first 20 minutes. Morton, from Lexington, Kentucky, finished 3-for-6 from the field, including a pair of three pointers. She also had a pair of assists in her 17 minutes of action.
Jax State limited the Colonels to 12-of-32 from the field in the opening half as Shameekia Murray paced the Maroon and White with 11 of her team-high 19 points in the first half. EKU entered the midweek contest on a roll by winning the previous two road games; including a 97-97 double overtime match at Tennessee Tech last Saturday. The Gamecocks limited EKU's leading scorer, Michaela Hunter to just 11 points. Hunter, the OVC's Player of the Week, turned in 40 points at TTU on Saturday. EKU was held to just 2-of-16 from three-point range and o-for-8 in the final 20 minutes.
JSU pushed its nine-point lead out to double figures for the rest of the way after a Destany McLin jumper with 17:19 left in the game. The lead was extended to 19 points at the 8:51 mark by Briana Benson's trey to give the Gamecocks a 59-40 margin. EKU would trim the deficit down to 14 points at 61-47 after a short 7-2 scoring run. JSU's lead went back out to 19 points on two occasions before the final tally of 20 points right before the final horn sounded. JSU finished the game shooting over 44 percent from the field, including a 45 percent second half from the field. The Gamecocks were also 13-of-20 from the free throw line.
Benson has become one of the OVC's top three-point threat over the last three games as she has connected on 12-of-26 from long range. After draining a career-high five three pointers on Saturday, the Jonesboro, Georgia-native connected on four on Wednesday. She finished with 14 points in 29 minutes of floor action.
Freshman Tyler Phelion continues to contribute on the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds. In the last seven games, the Mobile, Alabama-native is averaging 9.0 rebounds per game. JSU had 21 points come from its bench on Wednesday, led by freshman Gretchen Morrison. Morrison connected on a three pointer and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Senior Courtney Strain added six points, while senior Miranda Cantrell collected 10 boards and chipped in five points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 75, MURRAY STATE 59
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Grace Lennox scored a career high 17 points as four Eastern Illinois players finished in double figures during a 75-59 win over Murray State on Wednesday night in Lantz Arena.
Eastern Illinois snapped a three-game Ohio Valley Conference losing skid as they improved to 8-14 overall, 5-4 in the OVC. The Panthers host SIU Edwardsville at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Murray State fell to 5-16 overall, 0-8 in the OVC.
The Panthers built an early five point lead as Lennox converted a pair of free throws with 13:56 to play giving EIU a 13-8 lead. Murray State would answer taking the lead 19-18 on a Jashae Lee 3-pointer with 7:10 to play.
EIU went on an 8-0 run with 3-pointers by Sabina Oroszova and Shakita Cox as they led 28-21 with 4:01 left in the half. EIU led 33-31 at the half after shooting 52 percent in the first half.
The hot shooting continued in the second half as the Panthers connected for 55 percent in the second half and 54 percent for the game. EIU held Murray State to 30 percent shooting in the second half and 36 percent for the game.
The Racers made adjustments at the half as they opened with a 9-2 run to take a 40-35 lead. Ke’Shunan James scored four points during the run as she led Murray State with 16 points on the night.
LeAsia Wright’s free throws with 16:10 to play gave MSU its biggest lead of six points. EIU responded with a 12-2 run as they led by four points on a Lennox jumper with 12:30 to play.
Arnisha Thomas would give the Panthers their first double digit lead at the 6:41 mark as they pulled out to a 63-52 advantage. Thomas was 7-of-11 from the floor with 15 points.
James trimmed the lead to single digits at 4:26 before EIU closed the game on a 10-2 run. Lennox, Oroszova and Griffin all made free throws in the final minute and a half.
Oroszova and Erica Brown both had double-doubles for EIU. Oroszova finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Brown had 10 points, 10 rebounds. In addition to her 17 points, Lennox added seven assists and four steals.
Olivia Cunningham was the other Racers player in double figures with 13 points.
UT MARTIN 64, TENNESSEE STATE 58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team pushed its unbeaten streak to eight games after escaping the Gentry Center with a 64-58 victory at Tennessee State on Wednesday night.
The Skyhawks (12-9, 8-0 OVC) remained perfect in conference play, stretching their unbeaten streak against conference opponents to 15 consecutive games. The Skyhawks saw a rough second half nearly detour their perfect mark after shooting 31 percent from the floor in the second while committing 22 turnovers in the contest.
Ashia Jones once again led all scorers with 21 points while notching five rebounds and five assists. Jessy Ward tallied 12 points in the game – with all points coming in the opening half. Tiara Caldwell was the third player to score in double figures for the Skyhawks, tallying her second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Tennessee State (8-11, 5-3 OVC) struggled from the field, shooting just 25.4 percent from the floor for the game. The Lady Tigers saw three players score in double figures, led by Jayda Johnson with 14 points off the bench. Senior Chelsea Hudson notched her fifth consecutive double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds while Imani Davis tallied 11 points on the night.
The Skyhawks would jump out to a quick 7-0 lead before the Lady Tigers would notch their first field goal of the game. The visitors would take a 13-6 lead into the first media timeout behind balanced scoring from four starters as Caldwell, Jones, Katie Schubert and Ward all scored in the opening minutes of play.
Both teams would go through a tough stretch, seeing five combined turnovers during the span. Despite the turnovers, TSU would cut into the lead by outscoring the visitors 6-4 during the stretch. During the span the Lady Tigers found scoring from a trio of players while a pair of Skyhawks each got on the board.
The pace would pick up following the turnover barrage, seeing the Skyhawks hold an 11-9 advantage over the following five minutes of play. The duo of Ward and Jones would take over the game for the Skyhawks with Ward knocking down a pair of three-pointers while Jones would tally four points during the span.
The Skyhawks would push their lead out to 10 points going into the four-minute media timeout, leading 34-24. The duo of Danielle Woolfolk and Karisma Tyson would both score three-points each during a quick 6-3 run.
With six points apiece in the final four minutes of play, the Skyhawks would take a 40-30 lead into the halftime break. Both Jones and Ward would lead UT Martin with 12 points at the break while Tennessee State was led by Hudson and Johnson with seven points each.
UT Martin would come out of the half on a quick 6-2 lead, seeing contributions from the post duo of Caldwell and Jones who would score six combined points. Tennessee State would respond with a 5-2 run of their own, cutting the Skyhawk lead down to 11 points with 11:58 to play.
The Skyhawks would push their lead to as much as 17 during the following few minutes due in large part to an 8-0 run over the course of 3:29 minutes. Haley Howard would lead the team with four points during the span while Caldwell, Jones and Schubert would each notch a field goal during the run. Much of the Skyhawks run came off a poor shooting stretch for the Lady Tigers which shot just 1-of-7 during the span while converting just 2-of-6 free throw attempts.
Tennessee State would put together a 12-6 run over the following five minutes which would cut the Skyhawks lead from 16 to just 10. The quartet of Hudson, Briana Morrow, Brianna Lawrence and Johnson would score during the run, tallying four offensive rebounds which led to six second chance points during the stretch.
The Lady Tigers would continue their offensive stretch in the game’s final three minutes. TSU would hold the Skyhawks scoreless over the game’s final 3:12 minutes while stringing together a 6-0 run during the span, cutting the lead to as close as six points. Despite the powerful run for the Lady Tigers, the push would not be enough as the Skyhawks held onto a six points lead as the final buzzer sounded, winning 64-58.
SIUE 87, AUSTIN PEAY 67
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE women's basketball turned up the tempo on Austin Peay Wednesday and collected an 87-67 victory at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars improved their Ohio Valley Conference record to 8-1 with their eighth straight triumph. SIUE is now 13-9 overall and heads to the road for its next four contests beginning with a 1 p.m. Saturday matchup at Eastern Illinois.
SIUE led from start to finish against Austin Peay beginning with a 14-2 run to start the game.
The offense shot 57.1 percent in the first half (20-35) to take a 49-30 lead at halftime. The Cougars would finish the game with a season-high 33 field goals.
Shronda Butts led four SIUE players in double figures with 19 points. Sidney Smith came off the bench for 17 points, one shy of her season best. Tierny Austin collected 15 points, five rebounds, and team-high five assists. Micah Jones added 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
Raven Warford also provided help on both ends of the floor, scoring four points and adding five blocks.
SIUE's defense held Austin Peay to 41.5 percent shooting (27-65).
SIUE took advantage of Austin Peay's 18 turnovers and turned them into 31 points. The Cougars also had a season-high 20 points on the fast break.
Austin Peay, 7-14 overall and 4-4 in the OVC, finished with four players in double figures. Kristen Stainback led the Lady Govs with 15 points while Tiasha Gray, the OVC's No. 2 scorer coming into the game, was held to 12 points. Gray added six steals and 10 assists.