TUESDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 74, Miami (Ohio) 47
@Jacksonville State 50, Savannah State 35
JACKSONVILLE STATE 50, SAVANNAH STATE 35
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - - Jacksonville State sophomore Tyler Phelion returned to action after missing the last four games to post her second career double-double to lead the Gamecocks to a 50-35 win over Savannah State on Tuesday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum
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Phelion, who has not played since the Jackson State contest back on November 21, finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The Mobile, Alabama-post player gave the Jax State post a lift with 19 minutes of action in her return. Phelion finished the contest 6-of-9 from the free throw line and connected on a pair of field goals. She also was credited with a pair of assists. Phelion was active on the offensive boards with seven of her 11 on the offensive end of the floor. The Gamecocks out-rebounded the Lady Tigers 46-31 and scored 15 second chance points. The plus-15 advantage on the boards was the best of the season for JSU and just the third time that it has out-rebounded the opposition.
After scoring a season-best 74 points on Sunday against Tuskegee, JSU had its offensive struggles in spurts throughout the game, including a four-point second quarter. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 16-7 lead after the first quarter but they were limited to just one field in the second quarter. SSU also could not get the offensive production going as it tallied just six points in the frame. JSU took a 20-13 lead into intermission.
The Lady Tigers trimmed the lead down to 25-22 at the 4:44 mark of the third period after opening the second half with a 9-5 scoring run. Jax State pushed the lead out to eight points after a three pointer by Gretchen Morrison and a layup by Phelion. JSU would take that same margin in to the final quarter.
JSU took its first double digit lead at 37-27 with 7:22 left in the contest after a bucket by freshman Rayven Pearson. SSU would get back within seven points with just under five minutes left before JSU extended the lead back out to double figures for good with 2:42 left on the clock. JSU took its largest lead of the game at 47-32 with 1:31 left to play on a pair of Kelly Naughton free throws. Phelion, needing one point to reach double-double status for the second time in her career, sank a free throw line with 31 seconds left.
Senior Courtney Strain came off the bench to aid the Gamecocks with 10 points and five rebounds. Morrison, who was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week earlier in the day after collecting 31 points and hitting a school-record 10 three pointers against Tuskegee, drilled three treys for nine points. In the last two games, the South Lake Texas native has hit 13-of-27 (48 percent) from three-point range.
All eight available Gamecocks scored in the contest as junior Briana Benson added eight points, Naughton and Pearson finished with four points. Destiny James, hampered by foul trouble throughout the game, added a pair of points from the free throw line late in the game.
SSU was led by Shanikwa Buie's 10 points.
Jax State wraps up its pre-Christmas docket with a road trip that begins in Thibodeaux, Louisiana and concludes in Macon, Georgia. The Gamecocks will take on Nicholls State on Friday, December 18 and then face the Bears of Mercer on Monday, December 21.
UT MARTIN 74, MIAMI (OHIO) 47
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team pushed its winning streak out to four straight games after posting an impressive first half and defensive performance against Miami (Ohio), cruising to a 74-47 home victory.
The Skyhawks (6-4) trailed for much of the first four minutes of the contest before taking control of the contest late into the first quarter. After outscoring Miami’s total output in the first half, the Skyhawks would put the game on cruise control en route to a 27-point victory. In the team’s final home contest of the non-conference slate, the Skyhawks led by as much as 37 points while forcing 24 turnovers in the contest. Defensively, the Skyhawks held their third consecutive opponent to 50 points or less.
After placing six players in double figures against Evansville, the Skyhawks continued the script of balance after placing four in double digits against the RedHawks. Senior Haley Howard led the Skyhawks with 14 points – including a career-high eight free throws - while notching six rebounds and four assists. Katie Schubert and DaiJia Ruffin both scored 11 point while combining for 14 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals. Shy Copney joined the trio in double figures, scoring 10 points in her home debut.
Miami (5-6) snapped its three game winning streak with one of its lowest scoring performance of the season after averaging over 70 points per game in its first seven contests. Baleigh Reid led the RedHawks with 16 points while tallying three rebounds and three assists. As a team, the RedHawks shot just 30.8 percent from the floor.
The RedHawks would come out of the gates looking to make an impression in the opening minutes of the contest. The visitors would make six of their first eight shots from the field, pushing out a 14-8 lead in the first five minutes of play.
Following the final jumper by Ana Richter at the 5:20 mark, Miami would go dry from the field, missing 22 of its next 24 shots going into the third quarter. While the RedHawks were going dry from the field, the Skyhawks were just starting to heat up. The Skyhawks would close the first quarter on a 12-1 run to take a 25-15 lead into the second quarter.
The second quarter would be another dominating stretch for the Skyhawks as they outscored the RedHawks 25-7 in the period to take a 50-22 lead into the halftime break. The team’s success came on both sides of the floor as UT Martin went into the break on a 42-8 run. Howard paced a balanced offense with 11 first half points while Ruffin tallied nine to rank as the game’s top scorers at the intermission.
UT Martin would come out of the break looking to put the game away by jumping out to an 8-1 run and 35-point lead just over three minutes into the third quarter. Howard and Jessy Ward would both tally three-pointers during the span before ultimately pushing the lead out to a game-high 37 points following a jumper by Copney at the 5:38 mark.
Miami would begin to chip away in the final minutes of the third quarter, using a 7-0 run to trim the margin to 30 points with 3:25 to play in the third. The Skyhawks would still win the battle of the third quarter, narrowly outscoring the RedHawks 15-12 during the period to hold a 65-34 margin heading into the fourth.
Reid would pace the RedHawks in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring seven of her team-high 16 points during the span. The RedHawks would benefit from the Skyhawks poor shooting in the final frame, missing 10 of the team’s final 11 shots of the contest, trimming the margin as close as 23 in the final minutes before ultimately falling 74-47.
UT Martin will return to action on Friday, Dec. 18 when the Skyhawks travel to American Athletic Conference foe Cincinnati. The game marks the first of a five-game road swing for the Skyhawks with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.