MONDAY'S SCORES
@Georgia 81,
Tennessee Tech 48
@No. 7 Kentucky 81,
Tennessee State 39
@Louisville 88,
UT Martin 66
@Illinois-Chicago 66,
Eastern Illinois 54
@UC Santa Barbara 93,
Morehead State 78
GEORGIA 81, TENNESSEE TECH 48
ATHENS, Ga. - The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team (4-9) hit a rough patch in their final non-conference game against the University of Georgia (12-1). The Bulldogs defeated the Golden Eagles 68-30, showing just how much of an SEC (Southeastern Confernce) powerhouse they are.
Georgia came out on fire right off the bat opening with an 11-0 lead over Tech. Alliyah Smith gave Tech their first bucket of the night at the 4:53 mark when Smith hit a jumper to bring the score to 11-2. However, the Golden Eagles could not seem to find a momentum in the first quarter scoring just three points to the Bulldogs 21. Tech shot 9.1 percent from the field in the first quarter and gave up five turnovers, whereas Georgia shot 45 percent from the floor and gave up only two turnovers.
The Golden Eagles fared better in the second quarter, connecting on 6-of-11 from the field and scoring 16 points. However, the Bulldogs continued to press their lead and scored 29 points giving up only two more turnovers to Tech's six. At the end of the first half, the Golden Eagles shot 31.85 percent from the field, 20 percent from the three point range, and 66.7 percent from the line. Georgia shot 52.6 percent from the field, 77.8 percent from the 3-point range, and 42.9 percent from the line.
Into the second half, the Bulldogs continued to dominate the Golden Eagles chalking up 22 points in the third quarter compared to Tech's 16. The Golden Eagles came back to outscore the Bulldogs 13-9 in the fourth, but it was not enough to make up for their deficit.
As a team, Tech closed out the game connecting 17-of-53 from the floor to shoot 32.1 percent from the floor and then shot 21.4 percent from the 3-point range and 57.9 percent from the line. Georgia shot 49.3 percent from the field, 64.3 percent from the 3-point range, and 50 percent from the line.
Howard led the Golden Eagles with 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. Hickson posted 9 points and two steals. Pachis Roberts lead Georgia with 25 points and five rebounds.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Dec. 31 when they host Eastern Illinois in their first conference game of the season in a 1 p.m. contest at the Eblen Center.
No. 7 KENTUCKY 81, TENNESSEE STATE 39
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jayda Johnson led all scorers with 19 points, posting her second highest scoring performance of the season, as Tennessee State fell to No. 7 Kentucky on Monday evening. The Wildcats improved to 11-0 with an 81-39 victory over the Lady Tigers (5-7) in front of a crowd of 5,586 at Memorial Coliseum.
The two teams went back-and-forth to start the game with Johnson hitting a pair of buckets. Maxine Beard hit a jumper at the 6:27 mark to bring the Lady Tigers within one, 7-6.
The Wildcats extended its lead to 13-6 over the next three minutes before Johnson could convert on an old fashioned three-point play, cutting the deficit to four at 13-9. TSU would be held scoreless for the remaining of the first quarter and for just over four minutes into the second stanza.
The drought would allow UK to go on a 20-0 run, as they began to pull away building a 33-9 advantage. Johnson ended the Wildcats run with a bucket at 5:58 of the second period, which led to a 6-0 run for the Lady Tigers.
Johnson scored the second of her two buckets of the stretch on a fast break layup after I’mani Davis blocked a shot and fed Johnson for the easy two. Davis capped off the scoring for TSU with a layup giving the Big Blue six points in a 30 second span making the score 33-15.
That would be the closest TSU would get the rest of the night as they went into half time trailing 38-17.
UK shot 43 percent opposed to the Lady Tigers 24 percent in the first half. The Wildcats would heat up even more in the second half as they shot 52 percent from the field and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point line.
Kentucky attacked TSU with a balanced attack with six players in double figures, led by Evelyn Akhator’s 14 points.
Davis finished short of her second double-double of the season, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Tigers will close out non-conference play as they continue their holiday road trip at Youngstown State on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
ILLINOIS-CHICAGO 66, EASTERN ILLINOIS 54
CHICAGO, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women's basketball closed out their non-conference portion of the season falling to the Illinois-Chicago Flames 66-54. The loss drops the Panthers to 1-11 as they head into OVC play while UIC improves to 9-2.
The Panthers had a remarkable first half but fell behind due to a massive third quarter effort from UIC in which the Flames outscored the Panthers 23-6. EIU did their best to come back in the final period but the lead proved to be too much.
Shakita Cox was the only Panther in double figures as she led the team with 17 points.
EIU came out of the gates hot scoring two quick buckets with 8:36 left in the first period. There were five different lead changes throughout the first period as EIU and UIC traded buckets throughout the quarter.
The refs halted the game at the 2:41 mark in the first period as the UIC Pavilion roof began to leak a steady stream of water onto the court causing a 26 minute 'rain delay.'
UIC's Melita Emanuel-Carr scored the period's final four points to give the Flames a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Emanuel-Carr had 13 points in the game.
The Panther defense stepped up their aggressiveness in the second period as EIU went on a 13-1 run to open the second quarter. UIC did not make a single bucket until the 2:08 mark as the Flames' Kendyl Nunn sank a jumper to make the score 26-19.
Phylicia Johnson found her touch in the second period draining three straight three-pointers to earn her only nine points of the game, a new season high. UIC closed the gap with 10 points in the final 2:08 of the first half.
EIU shot 80 percent in the second period to take a 32-27 lead into halftime marking only the second time this season the Panthers have earned a first half lead.
Momentum swung in favor of UIC in the third period as the Flames came out shooting going on an 11-2 run to start the second half. EIU could not seem to find an answer for Ruvanna Campbell as the red-shirt senior scored 12 points in the third quarter. Campbell finished the game with 28 points.
The Flames shot 50 percent outscoring EIU 23-6 in the third quarter to gain a 50-38 lead going into the final period of play.
The Panthers tried to get back into the game scoring seven straight points to cut the Flames lead to seven as UIC led 50-43 with 8:50 left in the game. Erica Brown opened the fourth quarter scoring before fouling out with 9:10 left in the game. Brown finished the game with eight points, four rebounds, and two steals.
It was back-and-forth in the final period as the Panthers could not get closer than seven points. UIC scored the last five points of the game to give the Flames the 66-54 victory.
Halle Stull finished the game contributing eight points while tying her career high with eight rebounds.
The Panthers open conference play at Tennessee Tech Thursday [Dec. 31] at 1 p.m.
LOUISVILLE 88, UT MARTIN 66
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite cutting the margin to just one point midway through the third quarter, a talented Louisville squad was too much for the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team as the Skyhawks dropped their final non-conference bout with an 88-66 decision at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Skyhawks (7-6) came up short in the contest after allowing Louisville to win the battle of the boards and force their opponents into 24 turnovers. From the Skyhawks 24 turnovers on the night, the home squad converted those opportunities into 40 points while scoring 46 points in the paint. The Cardinals also tallied 32 rebounds while recording 16 offensive boards and dishing out 21 assists.
Shy Copney paced the Skyhawks with a career-high 15 points in 21 minutes of action off the bench. DaiJia Ruffin put on a show in front of her hometown crowd, tallying 11 points while notching seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Louisville (8-5) won its fifth consecutive contest behind a balanced scoring offense which featured six players reaching double figures. Myisha Hines-Allen led the team with 13 points while the trio of Cortnee Walton, Briahanna Jackson and Asia Durr each chipped in 12 points in the contest. Mariya Moore and Taja Cole would round out double-digit scorers for the Cardinals with 11 points each.
The Cardinals would jump out to a 16-4 lead in the game’s opening six minutes of play before taking a 20-12 advantage into the second quarter. Hines-Allen would get the home squad on the right foot, scoring 11 of her 13 points in the opening quarter of play. Ruffin would pace the Skyhawks with four points while five players scored in the frame for the visitors.
Louisville would push its advantage out to 14 points before UT Martin would mount a comeback in the second.
With the team trailing 18-4, the Skyhawks would mount a 15-4 run of their own to bring the contest to a 22-19 margin. UT Martin would see the margin widen once again before trimming the lead back down to two points with 3:21 to play in the first half following a three-pointer from Myah Taylor, making it a 33-31 contest. From there the Cardinals would stretch their advantage yet again, taking a 41-33 lead into the half.
UT Martin came out of the halftime break looking to make a statement. Trailing by eight, the Skyhawks began the third quarter on a 7-0 run, bringing the contest to a 41-40 score. With the team’s margin cut to just one point, Louisville would turn up the intensity, finding three consecutive three-pointers from Moore, Durr and Cole to would widen the margin back out to 13 points in just over four minutes of play.
The Cardinals remained on the offensive, stretching their lead out to 17, taking a 63-46 advantage into the fourth quarter. Louisville would win the final quarter as well, seeing its lead reach as high as 22 as the final horn blew, cruising to an 88-66 home victory down the stretch.
UT Martin will shift its focus to the practice court over the next few days before returning to action on Thursday, Jan. 7 at Eastern Kentucky to open Ohio Valley Conference play. Tipoff against the Colonels is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CST.
UC SANTA BARBARA 93, MOREHEAD STATE 78
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Morehead State women's basketball ended the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 93-78 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Monday night at the Thunderdome.
Freshman guard Miranda Crockett paced the way for the Eagles with a season-high 27 points and seven assists. Sophomore forward Eriel McKee racked up her team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds. For the third game in a row, junior guard Brianna McQueen scored in double figures coming off of the bench for 16 points.
The Eagles were outrebounded 50-to-35 as the Gauchos controlled the glass throughout the evening. UCSB shot the lights out in the Thunderdome, hitting 46 percent of their shots from the floor, compared to the Eagles' 39 percent.
MSU will begin OVC play on Saturday against Murray State. The contest will be the second game of a doubleheader and is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m. ET.