THURSDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 76, Eastern Kentucky 63
Morehead State 64, @Southeast Missouri 59
Austin Peay 57, @Jacksonville State 54
@Tennessee Tech 74, Murray State 69
MOREHEAD STATE 64, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 59
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Morehead State women's basketball team hit 82 percent from the free throw line and used a 10-0 second-half run to knock off Southeast Missouri 64-59 Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
The Eagles (6-9, 2-0 Ohio Valley Conference) won for the 10th consecutive time over SEMO (7-9, 0-3 OVC) and for the fifth straight time at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks still leads the all-time series 21-17. Morehead State is 2-0 in the league for the second straight season.
The Eagles shot 47 percent (14-of-30) in the final half and nailed 22-of-27 from the free throw line for the game, including 10-of-11 in the final half. MSU held SEMO to just 30 percent (21-of-70) accuracy from the field on the night. MSU led the entire first half until the final minute.
Senior guard Almesha Jones scored a team-best 17 points and grabbed a season-best nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Shay Steele produced her second double-double in the previous three outings with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Natalie Greenwell connected on 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, scoring 11 points, and senior guard Maiki Viela netted eight points, all in the second half.
The teams were tied at 26 at the half, and the hosts proceeded to build a 47-42 lead with 11:47 left. Steele started and finished the 10-0 run with layups, and MSU led 52-47 at the 9:19 mark. Southeast Missouri missed nine consecutive field goals during the MSU scoring flurry.
The Eagles pushed their largest cushion to seven on two occasions. The Redhawks cut the MSU advantage to 62-59 with 21 ticks remaining, but senior forward Casey Ryans drilled her lone pair of free throws with eight seconds left.
The Eagles finished at 39 percent (21-of-54) from the field. MSU was 0-of-13 from three-point range, marking the second game this season the Eagles have been held without a trey.
Olivia Hackmann scored 18 points off the bench to lead Southeast while Connor King added a double-double with a season-high 12 points and 12 rebounds.
UT MARITN 76, EASTERN KENTUCKY 63
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team had to look no further than All-Ohio Valley Conference performer Ashia Jones to knock off Eastern Kentucky 76-63 in the Skyhawks OVC home opener on Thursday night.
The Skyhawks (6-9, 2-0 OVC) picked up their second consecutive win to open conference play after spending six of the last seven games on the road. Jones performance was bright for the Skyhawks, posting a new career high with 36 points in addition to six rebounds on the night. The night marked just the second 30 point performance for the young sophomore.
Along with the hot play of Jones it was the surge of rising forward Chelsea Roberts who helped to seal the Skyhawk victory. Roberts built upon her previous career high of 13 points which was set the last time out against Belmont with 14 points, including the program’s first four-point play in the modern era. Sophomore Tiara Caldwell helped the Skyhawks win the battle of the boards with six points and nine rebounds.
Eastern Kentucky (5-7, 0-2 OVC) shot an even 40 percent from the field while being led by the play of Shameekia Murray with 15 points. Murray was joined in double figures by Shelly Harper who tallied 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds.
Neither team would get much going out of the gates with the biggest shot of the span being a three-pointer by Jessy Ward to give the Skyhawks a 7-4 lead at the first timeout. The trio of Ward, Caldwell and Jones would all get on the board in the opening minutes of the game.
The Skyhawks would come out of the first media on a brief 5-0 run, pushing their lead out to 12-4 as EKU would call their first timeout with 14:15 to play in the opening half. The home squad would take a 12-4 run into the media timeout as Karisma Tyson led the Skyhawks with six quick points off the bench to propel the run and post a 19-8 advantage.
UT Martin would continue the defensive pressure forcing seven turnovers in the game while Jones tallied four of the team’s six points as the Skyhawks would build upon their lead. A three-pointer by Ward would give the Skyhawks a 30-12 advantage with just under seven minutes to play in the first.
Eastern Kentucky would begin to make a push of their own to rebound from a couple of Skyhawk runs over the following four minute stretch. The Colonels would outscore the Skyhawks 12-9 during the stretch while finding a pair of field goals from beyond the arc. Despite the run, the Skyhawks would hold a 34-22 lead heading into the final media timeout of the first.
Both teams would close out the first half with eight points each while Jones scored eight of the Skyhawks points during the span. Jones would lead all scorers with 22 points at the half while Caldwell led all players with eight rebounds. Meanwhile it was Murray who stole the show for the Colonels scoring eight of her team-high 11 points in the final three minutes of the first half.
UT Martin would narrowly outscore Eastern Kentucky 9-7 coming out of the half. The Skyhawks would not only hold a 49-37 lead going into the first media of the second half but would draw six fouls in the opening four minutes of play as well.
The Skyhawks would hold a slim advantage through the next four minutes, outscoring EKU 10-7 during the span while building their lead to 15. Jones would score another five points during the span to give her 31 points, ranking as just her second career game with 30 points or more.
Both teams would remain evenly matched over the following four minutes, both scoring six points. Roberts tallied six points during the span to move into double figures for the Skyhawks while the duo of Michaela Hunter and Murray both scored for the Colonels.
The Skyhawks would put together a 7-3 run over the next few minutes, punctuated by a four-point play from Roberts on the right wing. After knocking down a three-pointer which would send both squads into the final media timeout, Roberts would cap off the four-point play with a successful free throw attempt.
The Colonels would close out the game on 10-5 run with Miranda Maples scoring five points down the stretch but the whole would be too big as the Skyhawks cruised to the 76-63 victory.
AUSTIN PEAY 67, JACKSONVILLE STATE 54
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team led by as much as 18 points in the second half but ultimately had to hang on late for a 57-54 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Jacksonville State, Thursday night, at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Austin Peay (5-10, 2-0 OVC) had a nearly flawless first half performance. The Lady Govs led the entire half but a 12-2 burst just after the midway point pushed its lead to 17 points, 36-19, with 4:47 left. Four different APSU players scored in the run, junior Tiasha Gray and freshman Brianne Alexander each scoring four points.
However, the Lady Govs would not score over the final 3:21 of the first half. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks could only score four points in that final span, leading APSU an 11-point, 39-28 halftime lead.
The Lady Govs shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the floor in the period, including 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from three-point range.
Austin Peay also won both the rebounding and defensive battles in the first half. APSU outrebounded JSU 27-11, which helped hold the homestanding Gamecocks to 38.2 percent (13-of-34) shooting in the frame.
The second half got off to a slow start with neither team scoring until Gray hit a layup 3:48 into the half. Jacksonville State wouldn’t break through until Miranda Cantrell’s jumper with 5:40 elapsed. Those opening droughts were simply foreshadowing for the half’s remainder.
Gray’s layup was the start of a 9-2 run over nearly three minutes that helped extend its lead to a game-high 18 points, 48-30, 6:29 into the half. But over the final 13:31 Austin Peay went ice cold, converting on just two of its final 18 field-goal attempts. The cold shooting extended to the free-throw line where Austin Peay missed eight consecutive free throws before sophomore Jacey Scott connected on her second shot with 30 seconds left.
Despite all of Austin Peay’s shooting woes, Jacksonville State could not do much better. The Gamecocks needed nearly 10 minutes of clock time to cut the deficit to single digits on Destany McLin’s jumper with 3:40 left. Austin Peay’s lead was still seven points, 54-50, after Scott’s free throw at the 30-second mark.
JSU’s Candace Morton then converted a traditional three-point play, cutting the APSU lead to four points. The teams then traded free-throw line conversions, Gray hitting two for Austin peay while Destiny James’ two shots at the other end.
Jacksonville State finally made it a one possession game when Gray was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing APSU possession and it converted on the in-bounds play, making it a 56-54 APSU lead with six seconds left.
Senior Kristen Stainback was fouled on the next in-bounds play and made the first free throw but not the second, leaving APSU ahead just three points. However, Jacksonville State could not get a clean rebound on the Stainback miss and the Hail Mary attempt hit the front of the rim and away from danger as the horn sounded.
Austin Peay won despite its worst half of any contest this season, scoring just 18 second-half points and making only 18.5 percent (5-of-27) of its shots. Jacksonville State made just 21.1 percent (8-of-38) of its shots in the half, scoring 26 points.
Gray finished with her second-straight double-double, posting 18 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Alexander added her first collegiate double-double – a 13-point, 10-rebound performance.
McLin and Morton paced Jacksonville State with 12 points each. Miranda Cantrell added 10 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 74, MURRAY STATE 69
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Four of Tennessee Tech's five starters were on the floor when the final horn sounded Thursday night, giving the Golden Eagles a 74-69 victory over Murray State in Eblen Center.
But the starters will be the first to admit that it was major support from the Golden Eagle bench that provided the difference in securing the team's first Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season. Tech (4-12/1-2 OVC) got 25 points from its bench players (25-11 edge) and scored 26 points (26-10 edge) off 17 turnovers by Murray State (5-10/0-2 OVC).
Samaria Howard led Tech with 18 points while Hannah Goolsby added 13 points, five rebounds and a game-high six assists. Yaktavia Hickson chipped in with nine points in reserve, while Catherine Taylor and Mariah Dean also came off the bench to notch six apiece. Tionne Herron was another key player off the bench, seeing 28 minutes of action at point guard, and providing seven points and six assists. She tied with T'Keyah Williams for top rebounder in the contest.
Freshman Olivia Cunningham topped MSU with 24 points, while Ke'Shunan James added 14 points and six rebounds and Keiona Kirby finished with 11 points. Kyra Gulledge had nine points and five rebounds.
Goolsby's layup with 2:48 to play put Tech ahead, 68-67, capping a 11-2 Golden Eagle run after Murray State had gone up 6-557 with 7:27 remaining on a 3-pointer by James. Howard scored six in the run and Herron dropped in a critical 3-pointer.
Howard's jumper with 1:54 left made it 70-67, and Cunningham followed with a layup at the 46 second mark to make it a one-point game.
Dean grabbed an offensive rebound with 33 seconds to play and was fouled, and drained both free throws for a 72-69 advantage. Tech forced a turnover with 24 seconds to play and Howard hit two more free throws with 20 seconds left.
Like they did to close out the first half, the Tech defense slammed the door down the stretch, forcing an errant 3-pointer before the final horn sounded.
Murray State led much of the first half, and used an 8-0 run to build a 34-27 lead following a three-point play by Kirby.
Tech countered with a 10-0 run, including 3-pointers by Goolsby and Hickson, to regain the lead at 37-34 with 3:11 remaining. A layup by Herron with 34 seconds left was the final score of the first half, knotting the game at 39-all as the Golden Eagle defense stonewalled the Racers down the stretch and didn't allow a shot.
Tech's bench provided the spark in the first half, with four different reserves checking in and lighting the scoreboard. The Tech bench outscored the Racer reserves in the opening half, 19-5, paced by Hickson's nine points and six from Taylor.
With the win, Tech improved to 59-16 all-time against Murray State including an impressive 36 wins in 40 games against the Racers in Eblen Center.