WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 75, Morehead State 74
UT Martin 63, @Eastern Illinois 60
@Belmont 84, Eastern Kentucky 70
@SIUE 78, Southeast Missouri 67
TENNESSEE STATE 75, MOREHEAD STATE 74
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State seniors combined to score 42 points and led the Lady Tigers past Morehead State, 75-74, on Wednesday night.
Chelsea Hudson (20 points), Rachel Allen (10), Briana Morrow (six) and Lateasha Hill (six) were honored before their final home contest.
Hudson’s 20 led TSU (14-12, 11-4 OVC) while Imani Davis netted 16 and Jayda Johnson poured in 10 to round out the double-digit scorers for Tennessee State.
While the Lady Tigers benefitted from a handful of scorers, the defense caused 18 turnovers and blocked five shots.
MSU was paced by Shay Steele who scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds.
Hudson started quickly and had eight of her team’s first 12 points of the game. The rest of the Lady Tigers were a combined 2-of-10 from the field during the opening eight minutes and trailed, 18-12.
Allen and Hill quickly closed the gap by scoring seven straight points and the Lady Tigers found themselves up, 21-18 with 9:43 to go in the half.
The sides traded the lead until a three-pointer by Jemilah Leonard at the 3:54 mark gave TSU its biggest cushion up to that point at 32-28.
A jumper from Davis gave the Lady Tigers a six-point lead later in the half, but Morehead made a bucket with 31 seconds left in the first half and TSU went into the locker room up, 36-32.
TSU outshot the Eagles 42 to 35 percent and held a 23 to 19 advantage on the boards during the opening period.
Davis kicked off the second stanza by canning a pair of three-pointers to put her team up by eight, but MSU went on a 9-3 run from there to make the score 45-43 with four minutes gone in the half.
The Eagles continued their charge and took a one-point lead with a triple at the 12:47 mark. The hoop started a stretch that saw eight lead changes in just over three minutes.
The Lady Tigers were still down by one with 4:57 to play when Allen hit a shot from beyond the arc to go up, 72-70.
A powerful back-down move by Hudson ended with an easy layup to put TSU ahead by five, but a Morehead freebie and three-pointer made it 75-74 with 21.9 seconds remaining.
A missed Lady Tiger free throw gave MSU one final chance to pull out a win with one second left. MSU inbounded the ball underneath the goal, but the pass was too hot to handle and the final horn sounded without a shot attempt.
In a game that was virtually even across the board, TSU outshot MSU 43 to 42 percent to escape with a 75-74 win.
UT MARTIN 63, EASTERN ILLINOIS 60
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball leaned on the shoulders of an unlikely set of shoulders as Monique Jackson tallied a career-high 21 points as the Skyhawks escaped Eastern Illinois with a 63-60 victory.
The Skyhawks (19-9, 15-0 OVC) narrowly kept their unbeaten record in Ohio Valley Conference play alive on Wednesday night in a game which saw the score tied on four occasions and the lead change hands 11 times. Shooting 53.1 percent from the floor, the Skyhawks held off an explosive Panther squad with forced 15 turnovers and tallied seven blocks in the contest.
Led by the senior performance of Jackson, the Phenix City, Ala. native was sizzling from the field, making 9-of-10 field goal attempts while scoring 21 points and tallying seven rebounds. While Jackson’s night was a standout, Katie Schubert tossed in yet another consistent night, notching 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. The pair was also joined in double figures by Ashia Jones after scoring 10 points.
Eastern Illinois (10-18, 7-8 OVC) saw big time performances from a pair of its seniors as Sabina Oroszova and Arnisha Thomas combined for 34 points and 15 rebounds. Oroszova led the Panthers with 18 points and 10 rebounds, her third consecutive double-double while Thomas notched 16 points following a brief two-game absence.
The Panthers would come out of the game with a quick 4-0 run after seeing the Skyhawks commit three turnovers on the opening possessions of the game. The Skyhawks would get back in the contest behind Jessy Ward who would answer with a 5-0 run of her own. Following a sequence of exchanging buckets, EIU would take a 12-8 lead into the first media break.
The Skyhawks would respond by using a 5-0 run to retake the 13-12 lead with 13:28 to play in the first. The Panthers would later snap a four minute scoreless stretch with a pair of free throws from Thomas to give the home squad back the lead.
Both teams would begin to find some rhythm over the ensuing five minutes of play. Each squad would see the game stay within shouting distance, scoring eight points each during the span. The post duo of Jones and Jackson would combine to score six points for the Skyhawks while four players got on the board for the Panthers.
The home squad would look to put some space between the visitors, outscoring the Skyhawks 5-2 during a stretch of nearly four minutes.
Not to be outdone, the Skyhawks would once again turn to their bench and the play of Jackson. After trailing for much of the first half, the Skyhawks would retake the lead at the 2:50 mark off a jumper from Jackson from the right block. The seniors’ career night would continue during the span by scoring six of her team-high 13 first half points in the final three minutes of the first half to give the Skyhawks a 35-32 lead heading into halftime.
Much like the first half, the Panthers would open the second on yet another 7-0 run, punctuated by a three-pointer from Oroszova – moving her into double figures. The Skyhawks would immediately go to the second unit, bringing Jackson, Haley Howard, Karisma Tyson and Danielle Woolfolk into the game. With the quick substitution, the Skyhawks would string together a 5-0 run as Katie Schubert tallied a three-pointer and three rebounds during the span to give the Skyhawks the advantage.
From there the Skyhawks would begin to push out their advantage, seeing Schubert knock a three-pointer in from the right corner to give the visitors their largest lead of the game at eight points, 47-39 with 12:58 to play.
Following a called timeout to stop the momentum of the Skyhawks, EIU would not only snap the visitors run, but answer with a 6-0 run of their own to trim the margin to just two points. The Panthers would get contributions from both Erica Brown and Alece Shumpert off the bench.
Heading into the final media timeout of the game, the Skyhawks would hold onto the advantage, leading 59-53 with just under four minutes to play.
The game would go back and forth until the Panthers would finally get over the hump with 49 seconds to play, taking a 60-59 lead. With the one point deficit, the Skyhawks would take the lead right back with a three-pointer from Schubert at the top of the key with 35 seconds to play, giving them the two point lead.
With the game at a two point margin, Eastern Illinois would set up for the potential game-tying field goal on its final possession but would not find the final punctuation mark as a free throw by Jackson with 1.8 seconds remaining would give the Skyhawks the 63-60 victory.
BELMONT 84, EASTERN KENTUCKY 70
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's basketball team (13-15, 10-5 OVC) used stellar work behind the arc to help it notch its longest win streak of the season on Wednesday night at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins handily defeated Eastern Kentucky (9-16, 4-11 OVC), 84-70, to record their fifth consecutive win and ninth victory in 10 outings. The win also gave the program its 300th NCAA Division I win.
The first half got started with the Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) show. The freshman helped win the opening tip, scored the first seven points for the Bruins and went on to assist on a layup by sophomore Lauren Thompson (Franklin, Tenn.). The flurry forced Eastern Kentucky to burn its first timeout of the night and try to recoup from a 9-3 deficit. BU continued to pour on the points, thanks to freshman Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) and junior Natalie Cohlmeyer (Evansville, Ind.) and by the 10:44 mark, it was ahead, 19-6.
Spotty shooting continued to plague the Colonels but they were finally able to break into double digits around the nine minute mark. Belmont held onto its double digit lead for another four and a half minutes before EKU closed the gap six, 26-20, but sophomore Frankie Joubran (Detroit, Mich.) drained a pair at the charity stripe to rebuild BU's lead. The Colonels worked behind the arc to make up ground but the Bruins leaned on defense to keep them at bay. Eastern Kentucky pushed back in the final two minutes and trimmed the lead to eight, 35-27, but Thompson hustled in the lane with 16 seconds remaining to bring the lead to double figures. Her work in the paint helped BU take a 37-27 lead into the locker room.
After the break, Thompson continued to do work in the paint and helped BU solidify a double digit advantage that it would not relinquish for the remainder of the night. The Bruins blew their lead up to 17 points, 48-31, before a brief icy spell on the hardwood slowed the point production. However, Belmont remained strong defensively. EKU surged around the 10 minute mark and trimmed Belmont's lead down to 10, 54-44, but that would be as close as it would get in the waning minutes.
The Bruins exploded behind a 14-4 run that put them on top, 71-51, with 5:34 left in regulation. Despite victory being in its sights, BU continued to battle down the stretch, putting in work on both sides of the ball. Eastern Kentucky dug in its heels one final time as the clock ticked into its final 60 seconds. The Colonels added five more points to their tally but could get no closer than 14 points away as Belmont held on for the 84-70 win.
Eastern Kentucky shot 40.3 percent from the floor, 32 percent from three-point range and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line. The Colonels held the advantage in steals, 13-6.
EKU was led in scoring by Shameekia Murray, who netted 17 points. Michaela Hunter and Jasmine Henshaw added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Hunter also led the team in rebounds with a total of eight.
Belmont shot 44.6 percent from the hardwood, 44 percent from behind the three-point arc, and 74.2 perecnt from the charity stripe.
Four Bruins reached double figures, led by Jones, who dropped in a game and career-high 23 points, including a 10-for-10 performance at the free-throw line. Carroll added 17 points, fueled by a career-high five three pointers, while Thompson and McCabe each contributed 16 points. McCabe also tallied her third double-double of the season with a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) collected nine assists, one shy of matching her career best.
SIUE 78, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE women's basketball clinched the No. 2 seed for next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 78-67 victory Wednesday over Southeast Missouri at the Vadalabene Center.
This is the third straight season SIUE has qualified for the OVC Tournament. It is SIUE's best seed, having been the No. 6 seed during the 2012-13 season and the No. 7 seed during the 2013-14 season.
SIUE improved to 17-11 overall and 12-3 in the OVC. Southeast Missouri dropped to 10-18 overall and 3-12 in the OVC.
Gwen Adams led all scorers with 21 points. She connected on 10 of 12 shots from the free throw line and tied CoCo Moore for the lead in rebounds with seven.
The Cougars were dominant in two statistical areas. SIUE won the battle in the paint 42-22 and outrebounded the Redhawks 40-22.
The two teams battled it out in the first half. A pair of steals by Southeast Missouri's Brianna Mitchell cut SIUE's lead to 36-34 heading into halftime.
Allyson Bradshaw would finish as the leading scorer for the Redhawks with 15 points. Mitchell and Erin Bollman added 13 points each.
Butts helped power the Cougar offense with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. She added a team-high six assists.
Micah Jones added 14 points, her second highest offensive output during the conference season. She added four assists.
A 15-4 run midway through the second half proved to be the difference. Jones scored eight of her 14 points during that run.
SIUE pushed ahead on the offensive end, hitting 60.9 percent (14-23) of its shots in the second half. On defense, the Cougars held Southeast Missouri to 37.5 percent shooting (12-32).