2015 OVC Women's Basketball Championship - Semifinals

3/6/2015 8:00:26 AM

#1 UT MARTIN 71, #4 BELMONT 65
NASHVILLE - For the fifth consecutive year the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team will compete for an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament after outlasting Belmont 71-65 in today’s semifinal showdown.

The Skyhawks (22-9) picked up the squad’s 18th consecutive victory while improving upon the team’s perfect OVC Tournament record under head coach Kevin McMillan at Municipal Auditorium. The top seeded Skyhawks advanced in the field after knocking off preseason favorite Belmont for the second time this season.

The highly anticipated contest saw both teams shoot above 45 percent from the floor while watching the lead change hands on four occasions and seven ties. Despite Belmont winning the battle of the boards and knocking down 10 three-pointers, the Skyhawks were able to capitalize on just four turnovers while finding a near record setting performance from their sophomore post.

Ashia Jones continued to shine in her second OVC Tournament appearance, upping her scoring from Wednesday by nine points while scoring 39 points – falling just two points of the single-game tournament record set by former teammate Jasmine Newsome. Along with her impressive scoring performance, she broke the school’s single-season field goals record set by Heather Butler in 2011-12 with 275 baskets this season.

Despite the huge performance from Jones, it was a three-pointer from Jessy Ward on the left wing with 33.5 second remaining which proved to seal the team’s victory. With Belmont riding momentum of back-to-back three-pointers, Ward’s prayer with the shot clock expired capped off the day’s scoring.

Belmont (14-17) saw its tournament run come to an end despite placing four players in double figures and winning the battle of the boards by nine. Included in their efficiency, the Bruins notched 21 assists on the team’s 25 field goals while Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield led the team with 17 points off the bench. Katie Carroll (15), Frankie Joubran (11) and Lauren Thompson (10) also posted solid performances on the day.

Both teams would come out of the gates with intensity as neither team’s lead got higher than two points while finding success from their respective post players. Heading into the first stoppage in play, both teams would flood the post as they combined to score 12 of the game’s 17 points. For Belmont it was the duo of Thompson and Sally McCabe who tallied four points each while Jones notched five and Tiara Caldwell tossed in four for the Skyhawks.

With both teams turning to their bench depth, the Skyhawks would continue to push forward, piecing together a 6-2 advantage to push their advantage out to five points. The Bruins would cut the deficit back to one following a three-pointer from Luffman-Hartsfield from the top of the key before eventually taking the 19-17 lead with another on the following possession. The senior would notch her third trifecta off the bench to give Belmont a 24-21 lead at the 9:05 mark.

From there the Skyhawks would string together a 7-0 run, retaking the lead after holding the Bruins scoreless for over three minutes of play. After snapping Belmont’s scoreless streak off a bucket from Joubran, Katie Schubert would knock down back-to-back three-pointers to push the Skyhawks’ advantage out to eight.

Belmont would respond with a 6-0 run of their own over the ensuing two minutes of play behind four points from Joubran, trimming the lead to just two with 2:33 to play in the first.

The Skyhawks would take a 38-34 lead into the break as Jones led all scorers with 17 points. For the Bruins, Luffman-Hartsfield led the squad with 11 points while Joubran and Thompson chipped in eight to pace the squad.

Both teams would open the second half with a significant offensive push. With Jones’ second field goal of the second half and her eighth of the contest, she broke the program’s single-season record for field goals made, topping the mark set by Butler during the 2011-12 season.

A pair of surges by both teams would see the lead trimmed to two points by the Bruins before the Skyhawks answered by pushing its margin back to six points with under 12 minutes left in the contest. Three players would score for both teams during the span, including eight points for Jones while Carroll tossed in six points for the Bruins.

Even play would continue over the following four minutes, seeing the Skyhawks narrowly outscore the Bruins 8-7 during the span. Jones would once again make the difference for the Skyhawks, scoring six points while notching her team record 10th 30 point outing of the season.

Struggling to find a wealth of separation, the Skyhawks would push their lead out to as high as 10 points for the first time in the contest at the 3:52 mark off yet another bucket by Jones, giving the sophomore her 37th point of the contest.

Belmont would trim the lead to just three with 2:01 left to play following back-to-back three-pointers from Carroll. The Skyhawks would answer with a three-pointer from Jessy Ward as the shot clock expired to take a six point lead with 33.5 seconds to play to seal the 71-65 victory.

#3 TENNESSEE STATE 71, #2 SIUE 65
NASHVILLE - On the 20th Anniversary of the Tennessee State women’s basketball team’s last OVC Championship Game appearance, the Lady Tigers are back again in 2015 after a 71-59 win over SIUE, Friday.

The TSU (17-12) post players were the team’s main offensive weapon, as Jayda Johnson (17), Chelsea Hudson (17) and Briana Morrow (11) all scored in double figures.

The Lady Tigers also had success shooting from outside and were 10-of-21 from beyond the arc. Those 10 triples were the second-most for the team this season.

SIUE (19-12) also had three players score in double-figures led by Tierny Austin’s 20.

Morrow paced the Lady Tigers early on, netting her team’s first five points of the game. Despite her effort, TSU still trailed, 9-5, after a three-pointer by SIUE’s Austin at the 15:06 mark.

The Lady Tigers fought back, draining five-of-six to spark a 10-0 run and a 17-11 advantage. TSU’s defense started the run by forcing a pair of turnovers and four consecutive Cougar misses.

TSU shooters went cold later in the half and the squad went on a scoring drought that lasted 4:45. SIUE took advantage and rattled off nine straight points to go back on top, 23-19, with 4:24 remaining in the half.

Morrow finally broke the spell with a layup and Jemilah Leonard scored five-straight to put her team ahead by three.

After another lead change, Rachel Allen canned a deep three to give the Lady Tigers a, 31-28, edge heading into the locker room.

The sides played it close in the opening stanza as turnovers (nine), rebounds (18), bench points (10) and assists (eight) were even.

Brianna Lawrence got TSU off to a good start in the second period, netting her first points of the game on a triple. The hoop gave the Lady Tigers their largest lead of the game up to that point at, 38-32.

Two technical fouls on Tennessee State let SIUE get back into the game and nine straight Cougar points gave SIUE the lead, 49-47.

A huge three-pointer by Hudson as the shot clock was expiring hit its mark and halted the SIUE momentum and put TSU back on top with seven minutes to go.

After trading the lead two more times, Hudson later nailed a jumper and Johnson tossed up a wild, high-arcing three-pointer that somehow found the back of the rim and went in. The hoops put the Lady Tigers up, 61-55, with 3:29 to play.

TSU would not take the foot off the pedal and a slicing layup from Allen with 1:41 to go gave the Lady Tigers a double-digit lead.

All that was left was making the ensuing free throws and the Lady Tigers made good on those, making 11-of-14 for the game.
The Lady Tigers will play for the OVC Championship and a berth of the NCAA Tournament by taking on UT Martin tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the Municipal Auditorium.