SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 70, @Belmont 53
Jacksonville State 83, @Morehead State 78
@SIUE 72, Eastern Illinois 55
Tennessee Tech 82, @Eastern Kentucky 71
Austin Peay 72, @Southeast Missouri 67
UT Martin 87, Murray State 74
TENNESSEE STATE 70, BELMONT 53
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State women’s basketball team closed out the regular season with an impressive, 70-53, win over Belmont Saturday afternoon in the Curb Event Center.
With the victory, TSU improved to 15-12 (12-4 OVC) and earned the third seed in the 2015 OVC Basketball Tournament. The win extended TSU’s win streak to seven games.
Briana Morrow led TSU with 19 points while Chelsea Hudson added 17. I’mani Davis chipped in 14 for the Lady Tigers.
Belmont was led by Katie Carroll’s 13 points while Frankie Joubran scored 10.
The Tennessee State defense was stifling to start the game as Belmont was held without a field goal during the opening five minutes. TSU jumped out to an 8-1 lead but the three-point shooting of BU’s Katie Carroll got the opponents back into the contest.
The Bruins cut the deficit down to just one, 20-19, with 6:25 remaining in the half. Over the next several possessions, although the teams traded buckets, the Lady Tigers maintained at least a two-point lead.
The score was, 28-25, in favor of TSU when a 13-3 rally fueled by three-pointers from Brianna Lawrence, Rachel Allen and Chelsea Hudson gave the Lady Tigers a 41-28 advantage at the half.
TSU shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field and buried seven triples in the opening stanza.
A three-point play by Briana Morrow got TSU on the board in the second frame and sparked a 9-4 run that increased the lead to 50-32 before the media timeout.
Another old fashioned three-point play by Jayda Johnson swelled the TSU lead to 21 points before a Johnson steal led to TSU going up, 61-36, with a little over 10-minutes left to play.
Over the next five minutes, TSU went without a score and BU took advantage of the drought with a 9-0 run.
The Lady Tigers weathered the storm as I’mani Davis scored four straight points to shift the momentum back to TSU.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 83, MOREHEAD STATE 78
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team did something on Saturday at Morehead State that hasn't been done in the program's NCAA Division I history as the Gamecocks secured the 19th win of the season, but had to earn it with an 83-78 overtime win.
JSU entered the regular season finale with 18 overall wins -which matched the win total from the 2003-04 season. The five-point win moved the Red and White to 10-6 in the OVC. The Gamecocks finished tied for fourth in the league with Belmont, but will be the No. 5 seed in next week's OVC Tournament in Nashville. Jax State and the Bruins will face off for the third time this season at Municipal Auditorium at 12 p.m.
The win in Morehead was the first for JSU since the 2011 meeting in Johnson Arena and it finished exactly like the 2011 outing with an overtime period. After winning eight in a row against Jax State, MSU has dropped the last two meetings.
The contest was a see-saw affair for the entire 45 minutes as there were 24 lead changes and nine ties. Jax State held its largest lead of regulation at 63-59 with 3:25 left to play after a Tyler Phelion lay up. MSU would go on a 9-5 scoring run to finish regulation and would take a 68-67 lead with 27 seconds left, but freshman Gretchen Morrison equalized with a free throw on the other end. The Eagles had two good looks in the final 11 seconds but could not convert.
JSU was playing in its fifth overtime game of the season and fourth in conference play. After MSU took an early 70-68 lead in the opening minute of the extra session, the Gamecocks would finish overtime scoring 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting. JSU hit a pair of its final eight three pointers in the extra session after Briana Benson drilled both. The Red and White were also 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
After JSU held a 34-32 lead at intermission, the Eagles raced out to their largest lead of the game at six points with 13:35 left to play. The Gamecocks were led by a trio of double figure scorers, paced by junior Destany McLin's 23 points. The Athens, Alabama-native registered 10 of her final point tally in the second half. McLin connected on a career high 10 field goals as she finished 10-of-18 from the field and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Senior Candace Morton also had another stellar game in her home state with 15 points, nine coming in the second half. In the second half alone in the last three game, the Lexington, Kentucky-guard has posted 34 points in the final half of those three games.
Senior Miranda Cantrell and sophomore Kelly Naughton also gave the Gamecocks a lift in the win. Cantrell, who was held scoreless in the opening half, scored nine big points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Naughton, in the starting line up after Destiny James was ill, carded a career-high 10 points and was one assist shy of matching a career high in assists.
The Eagles were led by the combination of Almesha Jones and Shay Steele. Both finished with 17 points each. Jones had a double-double with 12 assists. Eriel McKee had 12 points and 12 boards in the setback.
SIUE 72, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Seniors Tierny Austin and Allyssa Decker played their final regular season game Saturday, and the SIUE women's basketball team made it a special day with a 72-55 win over Eastern Illinois at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE, 18-11 overall and a program-best 13-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play, will play seventh-seeded Austin Peay at 2 p.m. Wednesday in an OVC Tournament quarterfinal round game. Austin Peay closed out its regular season with a 72-67 win over Southeast Missouri.
SIUE's Shronda Butts led all players Saturday with 26 points. Included in her 10th 20-point effort of the season was 9-of-16 shooting, a pair of three-pointers, and a 6-for-6 performance from the line.
The Cougars were strong on the free throw line as a team, hitting 28 of 30 overall and 21 of 22 in the second half.
Austin, who enters the postseason with 1,237 career points, was one of three SIUE players with eight points. That included Gwen Adams, who scored all eight from the free throw line, and Sidney Smith who hit two three-pointers.
Decker, who has played in 10 games this season battling injuries, played five minutes and grabbed one rebound.
Alece Shumpert led the Panthers with 11 points. EIU fell to 10-19 overall and 7-9 in the OVC.
SIUE held a 29-25 lead at halftime despite hitting 1 of their first 11 shots from the field and finishing the opening 20 minutes 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) from the field.
The Cougars opened up the offense in the second half. SIUE used a 17-5 run over a six-minute time frame midway through the half to pull away from the Panthers.
UT MARTIN 87, MURRAY STATE 74
MARTIN, Tenn. - On top of all the wins and championships during the past five seasons, the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team accomplished yet another program first. Perfection. With a strong second half, the Skyhawks became just the sixth team in Ohio Valley Conference history to finish the conference season unbeaten after knocking off Murray State 87-74.
The Skyhawks (20-9, 16-0 OVC) joined the likes of Tennessee Tech (1978-79 and 1989-90), Middle Tennessee (1979-80 and 1982-83) and Austin Peay (2002-03) as the only teams to finish the OVC slate with a perfect record. Along with perfection, the Skyhawks notched their fourth 20 win season in the last five seasons.
Four players scored in double figures for the Skyhawks, led by the play of explosive sophomore Ashia Jones who notched 36 points in the contest. Katie Schubert joined in the action with 14 points while the post combo of Tiara Caldwell and Monique Jackson combined for 24 points and 20 rebounds.
Murray State (8-21, 3-13 OVC) brings its season to a close despite leading by as much as six in the first half and holding the advantage for over 10 minutes. The Racers were paced behind the stellar play of senior Keiona Kirby who finished her career just an hour from her hometown of Jackson with 25 points. Kirby was joined in double figures by fellow Jackson native Ke’Shunan James with 14 points and eight rebounds.
After seeing baskets change hands in the opening three minutes, Murray State would register their first lead of the game with a three-pointer by Bianca Babic from the left wing to take a 7-5 lead into the opening media timeout of the contest.
The Racers would continue their run by pushing their lead out to five points. The Skyhawks snapped a two minute scoring drought, getting the contest back to a single possession margin as Caldwell banked a shot from the right block. The visitors would keep on the offensive, leading by four with 11 minutes to play in the first.
A three-pointer by Chelsea Roberts and a pair of free throws by Schubert would key a Skyhawk comeback to take their first lead in over five minutes of play at 14-13. The Skyhawks would use a 14-2 run to push their advantage out to six points right before the Racers would answer with a 5-0 run of their own to cut the margin to just one with seven minutes to play. Roberts would notch six points during the span for the Skyhawks while Kirby scored five consecutive for the Racers.
Playing in her final game as a Racer, Kirby’s third three-pointer of the contest would put the senior in double figures in the first half’s final minutes. The Racers would outscore the Skyhawks 10-6 during a three-minute span, holding a three point advantage heading into the final media timeout of the first half.
The Skyhawks would tie the game in the final minutes at 33 as Jones reached double figures for the 20th consecutive game. Jones would score seven of her 15 first half points in the final three minutes of the half as a Jackson layup would give UT Martin a 39-37 lead at the break.
UT Martin would come out of the break outscoring Murray State 10-4 in the opening minutes. Turning to the team’s conventional starters in the second half, the trio of Schubert, Jones and Jessy Ward would all score during the run.
The home squad would continue to find their groove through the following four minute sequence, forcing four turnovers and pushing their margin out to 12. Jones would single handedly outscore the Racers during the span, notching seven points during the stretch to notch her 16th contest with 20 points or more on the season.
Another 9-3 run would give the Skyhawks an 18 point cushion with just under eight minutes left in the contest. Jackson would score four points during the brief run to give her 12 points and her first career double-double with 11 rebounds.
Both teams would score 11 points during the following four minutes of play as Kirby added to her team total with six points during the stretch. Schubert would join the Skyhawk double figure scorers with seven points during the span while Jones chipped in four more points to reach the 30-point plateau for the eighth time this season.
Murray State would cut into the Skyhawks margin in the final three minutes of the game, getting as close as 13 points, but it wouldn’t be enough as UT Martin notched the 87-74 victory and punctuated the season with its 16th consecutive win.
TENNESSEE TECH 82, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
RICHMOND, Ky. - Despite junior Jasmine Henshaw’s career day, the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team fell to Tennessee Tech, 84-71, in its season finale in McBrayer Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Tennessee Tech (6-23, 3-13 OVC) went 27-of-34 (79.4 percent) from the free throw line to help propel them past the Colonels.
Foul trouble plagued the Colonels throughout the game, as EKU’s top-five scorers picked up two fouls each in the first half. The Colonels matched a season-high with 29 fouls in the game.
Henshaw, however, was a bright spot for the Colonels, setting new career highs in points (16), assists (4) and steals (4). Junior Shameekia Murray continued her recent hot streak, leading the Colonels in scoring with 17 points.
The Colonels used a 12-2 run to start the second half that put them ahead, 43-41. From there Tennessee Tech hit 16-of-20 second half free throws that helped negate the Colonels’ 30-12 bench-points advantage.
TTU junior Samaria Howard led the team in scoring with 25 points. She went 7-of-8 at the free throw line.
AUSTIN PEAY 72, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - It took a full 40 minutes of effort and one of the better games of junior Tiasha Gray's career, but Austin Peay State University outlasted a spirited effort from Southeast Missouri to take a 72-67 victory home from the Show Me Center and with it, the No. 7 seed at next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Austin Peay (10-19. 7-9 OVC) needed a come-from-behind win against Southeast Missouri (10-19, 3-13 OVC) and also needed a little help from around the league. But with SIU Edwardsville's 72-55 win against Eastern Illinois, the Lady Govs clinched the No. 7 seed and a date with SIU Edwardsville at 2 p.m., Wednesday, at Municipal Auditorium.
While the Lady Govs led wire-to-wire in the first meeting between these two teams back on Jan. 31 at the Dunn Center, this was a more back-and-forth affair. Although the Lady Govs got out to a quick 6-0 lead, the offense aside from Gray struggled mightily over the first 17 minutes, hitting well under 40 percent from the floor for much of the first half. Southeast Missouri, meanwhile, recovered from a slow start to lead by as many as 13 points with under five minutes remaining, with Gray hitting the bench late due to foul trouble.
However, Austin Peay mounted a late rally thanks to April Rivers. The sophomore keyed a 12-7 run with six points over the final 3:34 of the half to send Austin Peay into the break trailing 37-29.
Slow and steady, Austin Peay chipped away at the deficit through the second half's first 10 minutes, tying the contest on a Brianne Alexander lay-up with 9:41 remaining. But the Redhawks responded with a 10-4 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to regain the upper hand.
But the Lady Govs kicked into overdrive with a 14-0 run that took the game from a six-point deficit to an eight-point lead. Gray kicked off the run with a three-pointer at the 6:51 mark, adding four free-throws along the way to comprise half of Austin Peay's output during the game-defining stretch.
Late Redhawk three-pointers from Olivia Hackmann and Erin Bollmann gave the hosts life, but despite hitting just 16-of-29 free-throws for the game, the Lady Govs made them late, converting 5-of-8 down the stretch to put the game away.
Gray scored a game-high 36 points – her season's eighth 30-point outing – on 12-of-20 shooting, throwing in six steals for good measure. Her efforts were buoyed by Rivers, who scored 11 points in 22 minutes off the bench, and sophomore Beth Rates, who scored 10 points and chipped in with eight boards. Freshman Sydney Gooch scored five points in 29 reserve minutes but did her damage on the glass with a career-high 11 rebounds, picking up the minutes in the stead of junior Jennifer Nwokocha, who missed the contest while battling a stomach virus.
Jasmine Robinson had a 17-point, 12-rebound effort in the loss for Southeast Missouri. Bollmann (15 points) and Hackmann (13) had nice showings off the bench on the Redhawks Senior Day.