SUNDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 58, North Alabama 40
@Belmont 102, Troy 93
@Miami (Ohio) 59,
Morehead State 57
TENNESSSEE STATE 58, NORTH ALABAMA 40
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State women’s basketball team closed out the Teresa Phillips Thanksgiving Classic with a 58-40 victory over North Alabama on Sunday at the Gentry Center.
The Lady Tigers (3-3) had four players score in double-digits in Sunday’s match-up. Jayda Johnson led TSU with her second double-double of the season, notching 14 points and 11 rebounds. Brianna Lawrence and Diamond Beatty followed, collecting 12 points apiece. Lawrence matched her career-high eight steals in the contest. I’mani Davis had her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
North Alabama (1-5) was led by Elise Holden, who recorded a team-high 11 points and six rebounds for the Lions.
Multiple steals in the opening minutes of the game allowed the Lady Tigers to jump out to an early 10-0 lead. Defensive pressure from TSU kept the Lions off the board until the 5:03 mark, when North Alabama sank its only shot of the quarter. The Lady Tigers would tack on four more points before the end of the first extending their lead, 14-2, before heading into the second.
An 8-2 run, triggered by TSU fouls, would give the Lions a chance to cut their 12-point deficit in half (16-10). The Lady Tigers battled back with a 6-2 run of their own, highlighted by 3-pointers from Davis and Beatty, to extend their lead to 22-12 before forcing UNA into its second timeout of the quarter. The Lady Tigers would fall victim to fouls once again, allowing the Lions to outscore them 6-3 in the remaining minutes of the second quarter, making the score 25-18 going into the break.
The teams went back and forth at the start of the third, with both teams scoring four points apiece before the media timeout. A shot beyond the arc from Beatty would give the Tigers a 10-point lead (32-22), but two back-to-back 3’s from UNA allowed the Lions to close the gap and make it a four-point game. The Lady Tigers took advantage of UNA turnovers to outscore the Lions 11-6 in the final minutes of the third quarter for a 43-34 lead heading into the fourth.
TSU kept the pressure on in the final quarter, outscoring the Lions 15-7 to secure the victory.
The Lady Tigers held a 43-31 rebounding edge and forced the Lions into 28 turnovers on the afternoon.
The Lady Tigers are back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 1, when they host Lane College at 6 p.m.
BELMONT 102, TROY 93
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Paced by career highs from Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind., the Belmont University women's basketball team (5-1) fought hard to earn a 102-93 victory over Troy Sunday evening at the Curb Event Center.
This is the first time in 20 years that the Bruins have eclipsed the 100 point mark, as the last BU team to do was the 1994-95 team that surpassed the century mark four times during that season.
"Offensively we were terrific tonight. We really did a good job of attacking and sharing the ball. I love how hard we competed tonight and fought. We had a handful of players step up when it was their number that was called," said Head Coach Cameron Newbauer after the win.
Smith finished with 24 points, while Maggard 23, both players played exceptionally well and were instrumental in BU's win over the high-octane Troy Trojans,
The Maggard/Smith duo combined for 47 points, but scoring the basketball wasn't their only focus, as Maggard added a team-high six assists while Smith notched five.
Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wis.) had a career-high 16 points off the bench. Harmeyer, as she has many times already on the young season, provided quite a spark off the BU bench. The freshman forward finished 6-of-7 from the field, and showed great poise, playing high magnitude minutes for the Bruins.
Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) put together a double double performance, as she scored 16 and added 11 rebounds. Jenny Roy (Franklin, Tenn.) scored 11 points off the bench.
The Bruins shot 47.5% from the field, and 50% from behind the arc as they connected on a season-high 11 three pointers.
Belmont carried a 48-44 lead heading into the intermission after facing a deficit as large as nine points. The Bruins jumped out to an early 11-7 lead as Troy struggled to find its rhythm on offense. The Trojans would catch fire, however, as they utilized a 13-0 run to grab a nine point advantage over the Bruins. BU had a 7-0 run of its own to tie the score up at 30-30 midway through the second frame.
The Bruins, often susceptible to slow starts so far this season, were outscored 26-17 in the first quarter, but got things cooking in the second, as they outscored Troy 31-18. Smith needed just 16 minutes to eclipse her previous career high of 14 points, as the Vanderbilt transfer netted 16 points in the first half, including a career-high three 3 point makes. Smith, along with Roy, and Harmeyer, knocked down critical three pointer jumpers during BU's second quarter run.
Belmont's is now 5-1 for the first time since 2009-10.
Belmont had two quarters in which it scored 30 or more points, to put that into perspective, its opponent on Tuesday night, Alabama A&M, scored just 28 in the entire game when the teams met.
Troy opened the game 0-of-5 from the field, in which all of its shots were three pointers. The Trojans nearly surpassed their season average of 8.3 three pointers made per game in the first half as they netted eight.
Belmont returns to action Wednesday Dec. 2 when it travels down Belmont Boulevard for a showdown with the Lipscomb Bisons. Tipoff at Allen Arena is set slated for 6:30 p.m. and the action can be streamed live on ESPN3.
MIAMI (OHIO) 59, MOREHEAD STATE 57
OXFORD, Ohio - In a closely-contested battle, Morehead State women's basketball fell in its second game in two days with a 59-57 loss to Miami (Ohio) Sunday afternoon at Millet Hall.
The Eagles (3-4) were carried by a stellar defensive performance, holding the RedHawks (3-2) to 37 percent shooting from the floor and forcing 21 turnovers. The Miami duo of sophomore forward Baleigh Reid and freshman guard Leah Purvis combined going into the game averaging 38 points. The Eagles held them to a combined 10 on the afternoon.
MSU took two separate leads in the fourth quarter, but junior forward Shay Steele, junior guard Aaliyah Wells, and sophomore forward Eriel McKee were in foul trouble down the stretch, putting each on the bench at crucial points. In the closing seconds of the contest, senior guard Natatlie Greenwell pulled up for a game-tying jumper, drawing contact from a RedHawk defender, but the attempt fell short.
The Eagles were led in scoring by Steele with 17. The only other to score in double figures was McKee with 13 points, including 10 in the second half. Freshman guard Miranda Crockett finished with six points, six rebounds, and five assists. Sophomore forward Brooke Todd came off the bench, netting six points and grabbing a season-high eight rebounds.
MSU will continue on to Morgantown, W.Va., Wednesday for game number three of the five-game road stretch to take on West Virginia at 7 p.m. ET.