THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Ohio State 84,
Belmont 56
@Miami (Ohio) 75,
Austin Peay 60
@Tennessee Tech 72, Georgia State 65
@Jacksonville State 61, Kennesaw State 52
@Indiana State 60,
Eastern Illinois 42
INDIANA STATE 60, EASTERN ILLINOIS 42
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Cold fourth quarter shooting sinks Panthers as EIU falls at Indiana State 60-42. With the Loss the Panthers fall to 1-2 on the season while Indiana State improves to 1-2.
EIU kept it close throughout the entire match battling to keep the match within four headed into the fourth quarter trailing 40-36. The Panthers only shot 14.3% in the fourth quarter going nearly eight minutes without a point until a Shakita Cox free throw with 46 seconds left in the match. Cox finished the game leading the Panthers with 11 points while pulling in a career high seven rebounds.
The Panthers trailed by seven points with 4:52 left in the second quarter before Alece Shumpert found her groove. Shumpert scored seven of her nine points in the last half of the second quarter to cut Indiana State's lead down to three. Shumpert finished the match with a career high four steals. The Sycamores Rhagen Smith hit a last second layup to give ISU a 34-29 lead going into halftime.
EIU started the second half on a 7-1 run as Halle Stull drained a three pointer to give the Panthers their first lead of the game 36-35 with 5:34 left in the third quarter. Stull finished with a career high nine points and five rebounds. EIU outscored the Sycamores 7-6 in a very defensive third period, but headed into the fourth quarter trailing 40-36. The Panthers held Indiana State to 8.3% shooting in the third quarter.
Phylicia Johnson finished the match with six points and four rebounds.
The Panthers have a break following the hectic opening to the season as they head to Dekalb to take on Northern Illinois next Tuesday [Nov. 24] at 11 a.m.
MIAMI (OHIO) 75, AUSTIN PEAY 60
OXFORD, Ohio - For 25 minutes Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team had trouble finding the net and it could not recover in a 75-60 nonconference loss to Miami University, Thursday night at Millet Hall.
Austin Peay (2-2) opened the game with a flourish, or rather sophomore center Brianne Alexander did as she had a steal on the game’s opening possession and converted a layup at the other end. She hit a pair of free throws on the Govs next possession to give APSU a 4-0 lead.
Miami (2-1) got on track soon after that open flurry, making 11 of 12 shots to end the first quarter and start the second as it pushed the lead to 18 points, 28-10, with 7:45 left in the half. Baleigh Reid had 10 points during that game-changing run.
The Govs would have an opportunity to climb back into the contest as Miami suddenly went cold after pushing the lead to 18 points. The RedHawks would miss their final five shots of the second quarter and their first seven of the third quarter. But Austin Peay stil could find its shot, missing five shots and committing four turnovers during the same span and trailed 44-22 with 6:24 left in the third.
Austin Peay finally hit its offensive stride 25 minutes into the contest. Banks hit a field goal at the 4:34 mark and the Govs were off to the races. Austin Peay made its next six shots, including a pair of three pointers, to slash the lead to nine points at the end of the third quarter.
Miami recovered in the fourth quarter, scoring the frame’s first five points to push its lead back into double digits. Austin Peay made back-to-back shots after that burst to get back within 10 points, 55-44, but would not get any closer.
After shooting just 20.6 percent (7-of-34) in the first half, Austin Peay bounced back to shoot 43.3 percent (13-of-30) in the second half, finishing the game with a season-low 31.3 percent field-goal percentage.
The poor shooting night prevented the Govs from taking advantage of a 26 turnover night by the RedHawks. Austin Peay were credited with 16 steals in the game but could only score 27 points off turnovers.
Senior guard Tiasha Gray had a rough night offensively, scoring a team-best 18 points on 8-of-24 shooting. However, she had three steals and became Austin Peay’s career steals leader (244), breaking the 25-year old record held by Tracie Mason-Blair.
Junior center Tearra Banks added 11 points while sophomore guard Madison Rich chipped in 13 points. Both Banks and Rich scored all their points in the second half.
Reid led all scorers with 20 points. Miami’s Leah Purvis added 19 points.
Austin Peay continues its three-game road trip with a 1 p.m. (CT), Saturday contest at Wright State.
OHIO STATE 84, BELMONT 56
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Taking on one of the nation's elite in the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes, the Belmont University women's basketball team (2-1) dropped a 84-56 decision Thursday evening in Columbus, Ohio.
Sophomore Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) led BU with 14 and eight rebounds and freshman guard Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) chipped in with 10.
BU hung tough with the nation's seventh ranked team, as they were outscored by just one, 40-39, in the second half. Belmont outrebounded Ohio State 53-34. The Buckeyes featured four players over 6'2 including two 6'6 players. Smith's eight rebounds paced the Bruins while Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) collected six caroms.
OSU's star guard Chelsea Mitchell led the Buckeyes with 26 points and teammate Ameryst Alston posted a 22 point game.
At the half, the Bruins faced a 44-17 deficit, as the Buckeyes knocked down 10-of-21 3-pointers and forced 15 turnovers in the game's first 20 minutes. Belmont saw Smith turn in a nice performance heading into the break as she led team with nine first half points and six first half boards.
Smith scored Belmont's first six points of the game.
OSU jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead as they came out of the gates in a rhythm offensively, hitting eight of their first 12 attempts from the field.
Belmont trailed after the first 10 minutes 21-8, but put together a nice run of play as they opened the second frame with four straight points, forcing OSU to call a timeout.
Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wis.) appeared off the bench and registered nine points and five boards. Paris Lawson (Old Hickory, Tenn.) had a nice all around game, also off the bench, with five points, four rebounds and five assists.
For the third straight game, Newbauer featured the starting five of Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala., Lauren Thompson (Franklin, Tenn.), Smith, Maggard and McCabe.
The No. 7 Buckeyes improve to 1-2 on the season.
Thursday marked BU's first matchup against a Big Ten foe since the Bruins traveled to Purdue during the 2013-14 season.
Freshman forward Sam Ross saw action in her home state, as she hails from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Belmont returns to action Sunday, Nov. 22, as it hosts Cleveland State for a 4 p.m. CT tip at the Curb Event Center.
TENNESSEE TECH 72, GEORGIA STATE 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech picked up the pace and picked up the win Thursday night, racing out to a big lead then hanging on down the stretch to claim a 72-65 non-conference victory over Georgia State in Eblen Center action.
Hoping to dictate a faster, up-tempo style of play the Golden Eagles used that pace to their advantage, putting together a tremendous team-effort throughout the first half that left coach Jim Davis' team out front, 42-28 at the break.
Tech (1-2) was led by senior Samaria Howard with 21 points and seven rebounds, two assists and to steals. Hannah Goolsby added 13 points, the only other Golden Eagle in double figures.
But it was the support provided by six other scorers that proved the difference. Alliyah Smith added seven points and a game-high nine rebounds, Treyvonna Brooks had seven points, seven rebounds, Yaktavia Hickson finished with seven points and six boards, and Asia Harper netted eight points and grabbed six rebounds.
Point guard Takisha Jordan's five assists was tops in the contest.
Georgia State also had two players in double figures, led by Astaja Tygher with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Tatianna Jackson chipped in 11 points. The Panthers also saw tremendous support, with four players adding between six and eight points.
Georgia State never led in the contest, tying it twice in the opening minutes. Tech broke a 5-5 tie with a 15-2 run to build a 20-7 lead as five different players contributed to the string. Tech closed the first quarter with a 21-12 lead.
Tech's lead ballooned to as many as 18 points late in the first half, 42-24, before Georgia State scored the final four to trail at halftime, 42-28.
Tech's lead never left double digits in the third quarter, although the Panthers pulled within 10 points, 50-40. A three-point play by Jordan was a huge play, allowing Tech to regain momentum and head to the final period up by 14 points, 59-45.
The frenetic pace almost came back to spoil Tech's night in the final period as Georgia State's pressure and a 9-2 run closed the Golden Eagle lead down to four points, 64-60, with nearly six minutes remaining.
Goolsby hit a layup and Howard netted two free throws to regain an eight-point edge.
Clinging to a six-point lead with the 30-second clock winding down, Howard then snared the biggest basket of the night, an off-balance, weaving jumper in the lane with one second left on the shot clock to make it 70-62 with 54 seconds to play.
A 3-pointer by Makeba Ponder was the final basket of the night for the Panther, before Harper made two free throws with four seconds left for the final margin.
Tech shot 45.8 percent from the field (27-of-59) and had 14 assists, helping to overcome 24 turnovers and 11 Panthers steals. The Golden Eagles also owned a 48-40 edge in rebounds. Georgia State was limited to 41.9 percent shooting.
Three quarters of the way through their four-game, season-opening homestand, the Golden Eagles turn their sights on a Sunday afternoon clash with Lipscomb. The game in Eblen Center tips off at 2 p.m., and it will be Church Bulletin Day. Fans bringing a church bulletin from earlier that day can purchase a ticket for just one dollar.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 61, KENNESAW STATE 52
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Briana Benson and Tyler Phelion each scored 14 points to lead the Jacksonville State women's basketball team to its first victory of the season with a 61-52 win over Kennesaw State on Thursday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
After two tough match ups against Memphis and Purdue, the Gamecocks won on their home floor in non-conference action for the seventh consecutive time, dating back to the last non-conference outing of the 2013-14 season versus South Carolina State. The nine point win avenged an overtime loss to the Owls last season in Kennesaw, Georgia and notched the 11th win all time against KSU and eighth in games played on the JSU campus.
It was a battle of the post as the two clubs combined for 51 points in the paint with KSU holding a 28-23 advantage. JSU's Phelion and Jasmine McAllister went toe-to-toe for most of the night as McAllister registered a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Phelion, a sophomore from Mobile, Alabama, nearly had her first career double-double with eight rebounds to go along with her 14 points. She filled up the stat line in the box score as she had a pair of steals, an assist and a block in her 26 minutes of action.
JSU held a four-point lead early and led for most of the first 10-minute session until KSU took its only lead of 9-8 at the 3:29 mark of the period after a McAllister bucket. She equalized the score at 13-all with just under a minute left in the period. Phelion scored six of her 14 points in the first quarter.
Jax State raced out to a six point lead at 22-16 at the 6:53 mark of the period after a Benson lay up. JSU held its second six-point advantage of the half after a Phelion basket with just under four minutes to play in the half. The Owls quickly erased the deficit with a 9-1 over the final 3:59 to take a 27-25 lead at halftime.
With the game deadlocked at 31-all at the 4:16 mark of the third period, JSU took a 34-31 lead after senior Courtney Strain hit a three pointer. The trey ignited the Gamecock offense as they would go on a 10-2 scoring run over three minute span to take an eight point, 41-33 lead before the end of the period. Jax State outscored KSU 16-8 in the third period.
JSU would not relinquish the lead, but the Owls threatened a few times in the final period. After trailing 41-36 through three periods, KSU trimmed the deficit down to one trip down the floor on two occasions before JSU pushed the lead out to as many as 10 points at 54-44 on a Benson jumper before the final minute of the game.
Benson's double figure scoring contestst is her third consecutive game of the young season after 17 points at Memphis and 13 points at Purdue. Strain turned in seven points and a season-high six rebounds. For the second straight game, junior Kelly Naughton gave JSU a lift off the bench with eight points and four assists in 23 minutes on the floor. On Monday, she led JSU in scoring against the Boilermakers with a career high 16 points. All eight Gamecocks etched their names in the scoring column as Gretchen Morrison and Chloe Long pitched in five points each. Freshman Rayven Pearson scored her first points on the collegiate level with a basket in the second half.
JSU returns to road activity on Saturday with a trip to the Magnolia State to take on the Lady Tigers of Jackson State. Tip off between the two JSU squads is set for 3 p.m.