MONDAY'S SCORES
@Purdue 67,
Jacksonville State 48
Mercer 63,
@Tennessee Tech 47
@Southeast Misssouri 78, Harris Stowe 66
@Austin Peay 97, Trevecca 75
PURDUE 67, JACKSONVILLE STATE 48
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Junior guard Kelly Naughton recorded a career-high 16 points in Jacksonville State's 67-48 road setback to Purdue in Mackey Arena on Monday night.
Playing just over two hours from her hometown of Elk Grove, Illinois, Naughton paced the Gamecocks offensively. Naughton, who came off the bench to spark JSU, drilled a pair of three-point baskets and combined to knock down 6-of-7 from the field along with a pair of free throws. She also had a pair of assists in her 26 minutes of action.
Jax State scored the first points of the contest for its first lead before the Boilermakers raced out to a 10-2 lead. JSU answered with a run of its own that was keyed by junior Briana Benson. Benson gave the Gamecocks a 13-12 lead at the 3:29 mark of the opening quarter. Benson, had 17 points at Memphis in the season opener, registered 13 points. Purdue's Bridget Perry answered with a layup on the other end as the Boilermakers would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Purdue held a 19-13 lead after the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Boilermakers would take control of the game in the second quarter after a 17-7 scoring run to end the first half. The run covered the final 6:50 of the half and was engineered by Purdue's April Wilson. Wilson, who finished with 13 points, scored nine of her final total in the scoring run. JSU trimmed the lead down to 27-23 before Wilson's pushed the lead out to double figures and eventually 12 points at the halftime break.
Purdue would hold its double figure margin throughout the second half as it posted 14 and 15 points in the third and fourth quarters respectively and limited JSU to just 11 points in each half. Naughton scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half.
Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field, but the Boilermakers had a sizable margin in rebounds, 42-31. Purdue had over half of its points in the paint and turned 19 JSU turnovers in to 19 points on the offensive end of the floor.
Andreona Keys led a trio of Boilermakers who scored in double figures as she turned in 16 points. Perry carded a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Wilson added 13 points.
JSU sophomore Tyler Phelion added seven points and eight rebounds, followed by six points from senior Courtney Strain.
After a pair of road games to start the 2015-16 campaign, the Gamecocks will open their 13-game home schedule in the newly-renovated Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday, Nov. 19, hosting the Owls of Kennesaw State. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m.
MERCER 63, TENNESSEE TECH 47
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Kahlia Lawrence scored 27 points and added six rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead the Mercer Bears (2-0) to a 63-47 non-conference women's basketball victory Monday night over Tennessee Tech (0-2) in Eblen Center.
Lawrence was one of just two Bears to score in double figures, with Rachel Selph adding 12 points, but seven other Mercer players joined in the scoring as the visitors dished the ball to the tune of 23 assists.
Tech also put two players in double figures in the scoring column, with senior Samaria Howard netting 15 points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Hannah Goolsby scored 14.
With just rebound difference (Tech led 38-37), the biggest factor was Mercer's 46.7 percent shooting from the field (28-for-60). Tech shot 30.4 percent (17-for-56) and lost the turnover battle, 18-16.
Mercer took a slim lead early, and got 10 points from Lawrence in the opening 10 minutes before finishing the first quarter with a 14-9 lead. Lawrence hit 5-for-7 from the field in the period.
Goolsby and Howard entered the contest to start the second quarter and gave the Golden Eagles an instant boost. Goolsby hit the team's first 3-pointer in the first 30 seconds and a minute later Howard dropped a 17-footer to tie the score at 14-14.
The Golden Eagles played even with the Bears through the second quarter, each scoring 17 points, to send Mercer into halftime with the same five-point lead, 31-26. Lawrence was held to two points in the period, but Selph stepped up with eight after netting just two in the first, putting both in double figures at the break.
Goolsby and Howard each scored seven in the second period, hitting all but one of the team's baskets during the second session.
Coming out of halftime, Mercer scored the first six points and opened an 11-point lead. A 9-4 run pushed the Bears' lead to 16 points, 46-30, with 5:12 to play on a jumper by Ciarra Edwards. The lead was 15 after three quarters.
The largest lead of the night came with 7:01 to play as a 3-pointer by KeKe Calloway and a layup from Lawrence made it 58-36 for a 22-point difference.
Goolsby and Trey'Vonna Brooks hit back-to-back layups to ignite an 11-1 Tech run as the Golden Eagles battled to get back into the contest. Goolsby added a pair of free throws and ended the run with a 3-pointer, her third of the game, to make it a 12-point Mercer lead, 59-47 with 44 seconds to play.
Tech's four-game, season-opening homestand continues Thursday night when the Golden Eagles welcome Georgia State into Eblen Center for a 6 p.m. contest.
AUSTIN PEAY 97, TREVECCA 75
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A sextet of Austin Peay State University women’s basketball players reached double-digit scoring territory in a 97-75 nonconference victory against Trevecca, Monday night at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (2-1) started quickly, scoring the game’s first nine points in just under four minutes time.
The Governors lead reached double-digits for the first time, 20-9, on sophomore Brianne Alexander’s layup with 2:10 left in the first. Austin Peay took a 24-9 lead into the first break after shooting 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the floor while holding Trevecca to 11.7 percent (2-of-17) shooting.
The Govs kept the pressure on for the rest of the half, extend the lead to 20 points just 1:07 into the second quarter on junior Tearra Banks’ layup. Austin Peay would carry that 20-point advantage into halftime, leading 47-27.
Trevecca (1-1) did not allow the Austin Peay lead to grow any larger than 21 points during the third quarter and closed to within 13 points, 76-63, thanks to six straight points capped by a Helen Mitchner three-pointer with five minutes left.
Austin Peay head coach David Midlick was forced to put the Govs starters back into the game at that point. That group stemmed the tide finally with a 12-5 run over a two minute span that pushed the lead back to 21 points, 90-69, with 2:27 left. Alexander converted two traditional three-point plays during the run while senior Tiasha Gray added a pair of baskets.
Alexander led the group of six scorers with a career-high 22 points thanks to 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. Gray finished with a 16-point, nine-assist effort. Redshirt freshman Falon Baker added a career-high 16 points. Also reaching double-digit scoring territory were Banks (13), sophomore Madison Rich (12) and junior Beth Rates (10).
Austin Peay dominated the paint by a 46-26 margin over the smaller Trevecca squad. However, they surrendered a 23-16 edge on the offensive glass, resulting in a narrower 22-20 APSU edge in second-chance points.
Mitchner led Trevecca with 17 points. Briana McDonald added 14 points while Trojans leading scorer Sarah Raby was held to 10 points.
Austin Peay gets a two-day break before starting a three-game, five-day road trip with a 6 p.m. (CT), Thursday contest at Miami (Ohio).
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 78, HARRIS STOWE 66
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri defeated Harris Stowe, 78-66, in its home opener on Monday night.
Four Redhawks reached double-figures in points led by Olivia Hackmann with a game-high 26 points. Hannah Noe scored 12 points while Erin Bollman added 11 points and Brianna Mitchell had 10. Bollman led all players with 12 rebounds to record the double-double. Deja Jones also pulled down double-digits rebounds with 10 in the game.
Harris Stowe was led by Cierra Stanciel with 21 points.
Southeast Missouri returns to action on Wednesday as it travels to Alabama A&M.