SATURDAY'S SCORESS
@Eastern Illinois 66, Jacksonville State 63
@SIUE 83, Tennessee Tech 69
UT Martin 85, @Belmont 68
Austin Peay 81, @Eastern Kentucky 71
@Morehead State 64, Murray State 63
@Tennessee State 62, Southeast Missouri 55
EASTERN ILLINOIS 66, JACKSONVILLE STATE 63
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Sabina Oroszova hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Eastern Illinois to a 66-63 win over Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 5-10 overall, 2-0 in the OVC. The Panthers will play at Tennessee State on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. JSU dropped to 10-4 overall, 1-1 in the OVC.
Jacksonville State opened the game hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range as they jumped out a 22-12 lead with 12:17 to play. Courtney Strain had two early 3-pointers and Briana Benson pushed the lead to ten with her 3-pointer at the 12:17 mark.
EIU answered with a 12-2 run tying the game at 24-24 with a 3-pointer by Oroszova with 5:42 to play. The senior forward finished with 13 points.
Miranda Cantrell gave JSU a seven point lead with 3:35 to play as the Gamecocks post player was one of three JSU players to score in double figures with 15 points. EIU closed with a 9-1 run as Bh’rea Griffin hit a jumper in the lane with three seconds left giving EIU a 33-32 lead at the half.
Arnisha Thomas pushed EIU’s lead to eight points in the second half as she sank a pair of free throws with 4:40 to play leading 59-51. Thomas had 22 points and a team high seven rebounds.
Strain converted at the free throw line with 2:58 to play tying the game for the fifth time at 59-59. Strain led JSU with 18 points.
EIU would build a four point lead on free throws and a jumper by Erica Brown with 1:20 play. Brown scored a career high 20 points.
JSU would close to within a bucket with 1:02 to play on a lay-up by Cantrell. The Gamecocks then made only two of four free throws in the final 51 seconds on two offensive possessions. EIU turned the ball over two times in the final 50 seconds as Destany McLin tied the game with ten seconds left to play after going 1-of-2 from the line.
Oroszova would then hit the 3-pointer from 25 feet out as time expired giving EIU the dramatic win.
EIU shot 56 percent from the field in the first half and ended the game at 50 percent. The Panthers were cold at the free throw line making only 13-of-23 from the stripe.
Candace Morton rounded out the JSU double figure scorers with 11 points. JSU won the battle on the glass with a 35-30 advantage including 15 offensive rebounds which were converted into 22 second chance points.
SIUE 83, TENNESSEE TECH 69
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Shronda Butts recorded a career-high 29 points and 11 assists Saturday as SIUE women's basketball defeated Tennessee Tech 83-69 at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE improved to 6-9 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a start-to-finish victory over the visiting Golden Eagles. Tennessee Tech dropped to 3-12 overall and 0-2 in the OVC.
Butts shot 10 of 14 from the field and 9 of 11 from the free throw line. It was the first time an SIUE player has recorded 10 or more assists since Courtney Kenner dished out 10 against Murray State in 2012. Butts, a redshirt junior, capped off a strong offensive weekend in which she averaged 25 points and eight assists.
SIUE's offense was on fire against Tennessee Tech, shooting 54.7 percent from the field (29-53). Tierny Austin, who had a career-best three three-pointers, scored 14 points for SIUE. Sidney Smith came off the bench to hit three three-pointers as well and finish with 11 points.
The Cougars matched their season high in three-pointers made with seven.
CoCo Moore gave the Cougars the lead on a bucket in the paint 54 seconds into the game. SIUE controlled the paint for much of the game, outdistancing the Golden Eagles 40-24 close to the hoop.
SIUE would never trail in the contest, building its first double-digit lead on a basket by Butts with 12:42 to play leading 18-8.
The lead grew to 13 points (43-30) by halftime with the Cougars shooting 57.1 percent from the field in the first half.
Tennessee Tech looked to take advantage of SIUE's 22 turnovers for 29 points but was never able to make a sufficient run. Candace Parson led the Golden Eagles with 24 points while Samaria Howard added 12.
UT MARTIN 85, BELMONT 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team picked up its first victory of the Ohio Valley Conference season with a road victory at preseason favorite Belmont 85-68 in its quest for a second straight conference championship.
The Skyhawks (5-9, 1-0 OVC) saw four players score in double figures while every player reached the scoring column. All-OVC performer Ashia Jones tallied 18 points while notching seven rebounds to lead the Skyhawks. Junior Chelsea Roberts produced a career performance with 13 points in 28 minutes of play. The duo of Jessy Ward and Haley Howard both scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Belmont (4-11, 1-1 OVC) dropped its first conference game despite seeing four players score in double figures. Katie Carroll tallied all 14 of her points in the second half while Sally McCabe and Sierra Jones each tallied 13 points. Preseason Player of the Year honoree Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield tallied 12 points.
Both teams would come out of the gate with nine points each. Ashia Jones came out as an aggressor, tallying four points on four shot attempts while pulling down four rebounds during the opening five minutes of play. The duo of Joubran and Luffman-Hartsfield would equal the team’s scoring total with seven combined points.
Belmont would come out of the media timeout on a 13-6 run over the next 3:33. During the run it was Luffman-Hartsfield who would knock down a pair of three-pointers while Sierra Jones would notch five points off the bench to lead Bruins to a 22-15 lead.
The Skyhawks would come back with a 9-0 run of their own on the next three possessions behind the hot shooting of Jessy Ward, Karisma Tyson and Katie Schubert. The visiting squad would continue to build upon their lead over the next five minutes, holding Belmont scoreless for just under six minutes. While holding down on defense, the Skyhawks would put things together on the other end, posting a 21-0 run to stretch their lead out to 36-28.
UT Martin would close out the first half with a 43-31 lead. Six players scored six points to lead the Skyhawks as the squad shot 55.2 percent from the floor while knocking down nine three-pointers. Luffman-Hartsfield led Belmont with 12 points at the half while Sierra Jones tallied 11 points.
Belmont would outscore the Skyhawks heading out of the break 13-11. The Bruins would turn to starters McCabe and Carroll out of the second half, scoring seven and six points respectively. Ashia Jones would get it done for the Skyhawks, picking up six points in the first four minutes.
The Skyhawks would continue to get it done on both ends of the floor, putting together an 8-4 run behind basketballs by four players. The Skyhawks would hold a 68-57 lead with under eight minutes to play.
Both teams would exchange blows over the final eight minutes of the game with Belmont chipping the lead to as low as eight before the Skyhawks would land the final blow. After leading by as much as 19 with 2:22, the Skyhawks cemented the 85-68 victory as the final buzzer sounded to pick up the road victory.
AUSTIN PEAY 81, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
RICHMOND, Ky. - Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team overcame a 16-point deficit to down Eastern Kentucky, 81-71, in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams, Saturday, at McBrayer Arena.
Things looked bleak for Austin Peay (4-10, 1-0 OVC) early in the second half. Eastern Kentucky scored on each of its first six possessions and opened up a 16-point, 52-36, lead after Michaela Hunter’s jumper at the 16:58 mark.
Senior Kristen Stainback halted the run with a three-pointer on Austin Peay’s next possession. However, Eastern Kentucky still held a 12-point, 57-45, lead with 13:21 left sophomore center Tearra Banks hit a layup to spark a 14-2 game-tying run over the next eight minutes. Five different APSU players scored during the run, freshman Brianne Alexander tying the game with a free-throw with 5:40 left.
Junior Tiasha Gray followed with two more free throws, giving APSU its first lead of the half. Later, Stainback would hit three pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend the APSU lead to 10 points, 71-61, with 2:31 remaining.
Eastern Kentucky(5-6, 0-1 OVC) scored six straight points, converting on a pair of Austin Peay turnovers, to trim the Austin Peay lead to four points in just 39 seconds. The Lady Govs steadied themselves and closed the game with an 8-1 run to set the final margin.
Austin Peay scored the game’s first points and held a lead for more than nine minutes in the first half. Nwokocha pushed the APSU lead to five points, 9-4, 3:47 into the game. Eastern Kentucky took the lead on a Hunter tip-in at the 12:33 mark and used a 7-0 run to push its lead to six points three minutes later. Hunter would close the first half with back-to-back baskets by Hunter to secure an eight-point, 40-32, halftime lead.
Stainback finished with a season-best 26 points on an impressive 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) shooting effort, which included a 6-of-9 effort from three-point range. Gray added a 14-point, 11-assist, 4-steal outing.
Banks came off the bench to post a 17-point, 6-rebound performance. Nwokocha added a 14-point, 7-rebound effort.
Austin Peay tied a season high with 22 assists while making 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) of its shots.
Eastern Kentucky’s Hunter led all scorers with 26 points and Shameekia Murray added 22 points. However, no other Colonels player scored more than eight points.
MOREHEAD STATE 64, MURRAY STATE 63
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior guard Almesha Jones nailed a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to propel the Morehead State women's basketball team to a 64-63 victory over Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams Saturday at Johnson Arena.
Jones hit just the one trey all night, but it helped the Eagles improve to 5-9 overall and 1-0 in the OVC. Morehead State is now 8-2 in league openers in the last 10 seasons. The Racers fell to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Morehead State ended Murray State's three-game winning streak in the series and upped its mark to 44-37 all-time against the Racers.
Murray State led 63-56 with 3:24 left in the contest but never scored again. Freshman forward Eriel McKee hit a three-pointer with 1:59 left, sophomore forward Shay Steele converted a layup at the 1:13 mark, and Jones took a pass from senior guard Maiki Viela for the game-winning shot.
Steele finished with a game-best 20 points, while McKee and Viela registered 12 each. Jones had nine points and a game-high eight assists in 40 minutes. Steele tied McKee for team-high rebounding honors with eight.
Murray State was led by freshman Ke'Shunan James with 13 points. Bianca Babic nailed four triples for 12 points, and Keonia Kirby grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds. The Racers out-rebounded the Eagles 48-36.
The hosts trailed 17-14 with 9:11 left in the first half but used a 10-2 run to re-gain the advantage. The Eagles led 25-24 at the break.
Steele scored nine points in the first seven minutes of the final half as Morehead State built its largest lead of the half, 41-36. Murray State outscored the host squad 21-10 over the next seven minutes though to build a 57-51 cushion.
Morehead State shot 44 percent (28-of-63) on the night and held Murray State to 35 percent (23-of-66). The Racers were 7-of-27 from three-point range.
TENNESSEE STATE 62, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 55
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State women’s basketball team moved to 1-0 in conference play with a, 62-55, win over Southeast Missouri in the Gentry Center on Saturday night.
Briana Morrow paced the Tigers with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The senior also hauled in a team-high 11 rebounds.
Chelsea Hudson added 12 points for Tennessee State (4-8, 1-0 OVC).
SEMO (7-8, 0-2 OVC) was led by Jasmine Robinson’s 17 points.
The Redhawks outshot the Lady Tigers 42 to 38 percent, but TSU’s defense was impregnable, forcing 25 turnovers.
The game started off tight between the two squads, and SEMO clung to a 13-10 lead through the first 7:26 thanks to a 60 percent shooting line.
The teams went scoreless for the next 4:27 until Morrow ended the drought with a jumper and a layup to give the Lady Tigers a one-point lead with 7:23 to go before halftime.
The back-to-back-buckets ignited a 14-2 TSU run to put the home team up, 24-15. The Lady Tigers made six-of-nine shots (66.7 percent), starting with Morrow’s first hoop.
The Redhawks quickly cut the lead to five, but the TSU defense held them scoreless for the final 2:56 of the half, to go into the locker room ahead, 30-19.
The Lady Tigers forced an impressive 18 turnovers in the opening stanza, leading to 13 points.
Both teams shot above 50 percent from the field during the first eight minutes of the second period, but Southeast had another pair of miscues to extend the Tennessee State advantage to 48-33.
The Redhawks were able to shake off the turnovers and forced TSU into three-straight empty possessions, leading to a 7-0 run.
With TSU on top 55-44 later in the half, Southeast scored 11 straight to tie the game with just two minutes to go.
Hudson finally produced on the offensive end by draining a layup and drawing a foul, leading to an old-fashioned three-point play.
The Lady Tigers made 4-of-6 freebies down the stretch, and walked away with a 62-55 win.
TSU was outrebounded in the game, 42-37, but had 13 offensive boards that led to 15 second-chance points.