THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 87, Murray State 61
Eastern Kentucky 75, @Eastern Illinois 56
@Tennessee State 66, Austin Peay 58
@SIUE 90, Morehead State 81
BELMONT 87, MURRAY STATE 61
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont University women's basketball team (10-7, 2-2) defeated Murray State (6-8, 2-2) 87-61, Thursday evening at the Curb Event Center.
Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) led a group five double digit points scorers with 23 and added six rebounds and five assists. Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) finished with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. The freshman guard also dished out a team-high six assists. Lauren Thompson (Franklin, Tenn.) added 12, Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) 10 and Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) 10, to round out Belmont's double digit scorers. McCabe also grabbed nine boards.
Belmont's home record remains unblemished as it now stands 7-0 at the Curb Event Center
Joubran finished with seven points and four rebounds off the BU bench.
Belmont held Murray State's KeShunan James, who came into the contest leading the OVC in scoring at 21.1 points per game, to just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field.
At the half, Belmont held a 53-30 edge over Murray State. The Bruins shot 62% from the field and assisted on 15 of their 21 field goals. BU finished 6-of-11 from beyond the arc for the half. Smith was sensational as she tallied 16 points, 5 rebounds and four assists. Maggard joined Smith in double figures with 12 points of her own on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Belmont came out as the aggressor Thursday evening, as it scored the game's first 17 points. Murray did not score until the 4:56 mark in the first quarter. The Bruins, for the second straight game, came out on fire. Belmont's 30 point first quarter effort against EIU on Saturday was followed up by a 28 point effort against the Racers. The Bruins shot 65% in the first and were paced by Smith who didn't waste much time finding double digits, as she finished with 10 in the first 10 minutes of action.
Belmont is averaging 84.8 points per game at home. The Bruins are averaging 49.8 points in first halves during their last four home games.
LeAsia Wright led MSU with 13 points in the loss. Bria Bethea had a solid game off the bench, scoring nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range and also added five rebounds. Kyra Gulledge added seven points and eight boards while Abria Gulledge and Ke’Shunan James each had seven points as well.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 56
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Halle Stull earned her first career double-dobule with 11 points and 11 rebounds for Eastern Illinois Thursday night, but Eastern Kentucky took advantage of EIU's cold shooting and pulled away late for a 75-56 win over the Panthers. The Colonels took advantage of Panther turnovers scoring 20 points off of EIU's 20 turnovers.
With the loss EIU falls to 1-16 overall and 0-5 in the OVC while EKU improves to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in the OVC.
It was a very tight contest between the two teams in the first quarter as the Panthers and the Colonels fought for the lead. Erica Brown was fouled making a layup at the 6:18 mark in the first quarter. Brown made the bucket and free-throw to put EIU up 8-4, their largest lead of the game. EKU would answer with a 7-2 run as a three-pointer from the Colonel's Alexus Cooper gave EKU an 11-10 lead with 2:54 left in the period. Cooper finished the game leading all scorers with 22 points. The quarter would come to a close with both teams tied at 12 and each team shooting below 40 percent.
The Colonels raced out to start the second quarter going on a 10-1 run to open the period finally ended by a three-point bucket from Carmen Tellez as EKU held a 22-16 advantage with 5:12 left to play in the first half. EKU extended their lead throughout the remainder of the second quarter to as high as 11 points following a jumper from Michaela Hunter at the 2:18 mark with the Colonels up 30-19. Stull scored the final five points in the half to cut the score to 30-24 going into halftime.
EIU only shot 29.6 percent in the first half but out-rebounded the Colonels 25-16.
The Panthers worked hard in the third quarter to cut into EKU's lead getting as close as four points following a layup from Phylicia Johnson at the 4:12 mark to make the score 38-34. Johnson scored eight points in the third period finishing the game with 13 total. Eastern Kentucky answered right back scoring the next seven points to extend their lead to 45-36 with 2:08 left in the period. EIU ended the quarter on a 6-2 run to head into the final quarter trailing 47-40.
In the fourth quarter Eastern Kentucky took advantage of cold shooting from EIU going on a 20-2 run started by a layup from the Colonel's Cooper at the 6:52 mark and eventually stopped by a three-point bucket from Kayla Steward with 2:13 left in the game. The Colonels led the Panthers 74-52 at that point. EIU closed the game out on a 7-1 run, but it was not enough to overtake EKU as the Panthers fell 75-56.
EKU shot 50 percent in the second half utilizing a 28-16 advantage in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Panthers. The Colonels pulled down 24 rebounds in the second half to finish the game out-rebounding EIU 40-39.
Hunter earned a double-double for the Colonels finishing the game with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists. Brown nearly earned her eighth career double-double finishing the game with nine points and eight rebounds.
TENNESSEE STATE 66, AUSTIN PEAY 58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State women’s basketball team extended their winning steak to three with a 66-58 win over Austin Peay on Thursday night in the Gentry Center.
TSU led by as many as 16, but suffered through a scoring drought that threatened an Austin Peay comeback. The Lady Tigers used a late run in the fourth to make a comeback of their own before giving the Governors their first conference loss of the season.
The Lady Tigers (8-9, 3-1 OVC) had three players shoot in double-digits. Senior Brianna Lawrence led the team with 16, followed by junior I’mani Davis with 15 and junior Jayda Johnson with 14.
Austin Peay (5-12, 3-1 OVC) had two players hit double-digits and was led by Tiasha Gray with 14.
In a high-scoring first quarter, the Lady Tigers hopped on the board first with a layup from Lawrence. TSU held Austin Peay off until the 7:56 mark when the Lady Govs sank a three-pointer to take an early 3-2 lead. Strong defense initiated APSU turnovers, allowing the Lady Tigers to outscore the Governors 8-2 before forcing Austin Peay into its first timeout at the 5:43 mark.
Leading 10-5, the Lady Tigers kept the pressure on by answering every Austin Peay bucket with one of their own. In a 13-13 run, I’mani Davis scored 11, including back-to-back 3’s, keeping TSU ahead by three (23-20) heading into the second.
A Lady Tiger foul opened up the second, allowing the Lady Govs to cut their deficit to one after sinking two from the line. Johnson answered with a shot from inside the paint to propel a 15-5 run which would give the Lady Tigers a ten-point lead, 36-26, with 2:20 left in the quarter. Two free throws from Austin Peay and a layup from Lawrence would finish the half, TSU leading 38-28.
Tennessee State outscored the Lady Govs 10-4 in the opening minutes of the third to extend its lead, 48-32, before the media timeout. With five minutes remaining, the Governors took advantage of TSU fouls and turnovers, outscoring the Lady Tigers 17-4 and cutting their 16-point deficit to just three (52-29) before heading into the final quarter.
Austin Peay continued their scoring streak, opening up the fourth with a layup to put them within a point of TSU. Lady Tiger turnovers and 3-pointer would allow the Governors to take their first lead of the night (56-54) at the 7:02 mark. Another bucket from the Govs would put the Lady Tigers down by four, their largest deficit of the night. APSU fouls would give the Lady Tigers a chance to eat away at the deficit. TSU went 3-4 from the line, closing the gap in the score but still trailing the Governors by one. TSU would take back the lead with a layup from Johnson and keep the Lady Govs scoreless for the remaining minutes of the game while tacking on seven more for a 66-58 lead before the final buzzer.
SIUE 90, MOREHEAD STATE 81
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - In a highly contested battle with Ohio Valley Conference preseason favorite SIU Edwardsville, the Morehead State women's basketball team lost its fifth straight game, 90-81, at the Vadalabene Center on Thursday night.
The Eagles (6-12, 0-4 OVC) gave the Cougars all they could handle on their home floor, challenging them to play catch-up throughout the evening. SIUE (9-9, 4-1) has won four of its last five games and remains tied with Southeast Missouri for first place in the OVC standings.
The fourth quarter proved to be a sparring match between MSU's junior guard Brianna McQueen and SIUE's senior forward Shronda Butts. McQueen and Butts each tallied 11 points in the quarter, but the combined effort of the Cougars proved to be too much in the later moments. SIUE led 80-79 with 2:34 left to play and finished the game on a 10-2 run.
MSU went on a 18-0 scoring run in the second quarter. During the stretch the Cougars were held scoreless for 8:36, and shot 0-for-13 from the floor. Five separate Eagles scored during the run as the visitors took a 40-34 lead into the half.
Junior forward Shay Steele finished with a team-high 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds, going 4-for-4 from beyond 12 feet. McQueen added 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The performance marked the sixth time in seven games she has scored in double digits, and tonight was her first career start. Sophomore Eriel McKee collected 11 points, hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in the third quarter, giving her 22 straight games scoring in double digits.
The Cougars were led by Butts and sophomore guard Donshel Beck, combining for 49 points, including Butts' game-high 30-point performance.