SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 60, Eastern Illinois 52
@Southeast Missouri 75, Tennessee State 65
@Austin Peay94, Eastern Kentucky 66
@Murray State 83, Morehead State 79
SIUE 83, @Tennessee Tech 68
JACKSONVILLE STATE 60, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State had five players score in double figures to earn its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season with a 60-62 decision over Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecocks close out the first weekend of OVC competition at 1-1 in the league and 6-8 overall, while EIU's struggles continued and dropped to 1-13 on the season and 0-2 after the first weekend in the league.
Freshman Chloe Long led the five Jax State players in scoring with her second-best scoring output of the season with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. The Hazel Green, Alabama post player was one rebound shy of her first career double-double. She also dished out three assists in her 31 minutes of action. Long has started OVC play with back-to-back double figure games after registering 10 points on Thursday against SIU Edwardsville.
It was Long coupled with senior Courtney Strain that ignited the Gamecocks early in the contest. JSU opened the game with a 23-9 lead after the first 10 minutes and never trailed in the contest. The tandem combined for 21 of JSU's 32 first half points as Long dropped 12 in the first 20 minutes and Strain posting nine of her final 12 points in the first half. The Woodland, Alabama product was 4-of-5 from the field, including a three pointer in the opening half.
After holding an 11-point, 32-21 lead at the halftime break, JSU knew EIU would make a run and get back in the contest. The Panthers sliced the double figure lead down to five points at 37-32 with 2:07 left in the third quarter after starting the quarter on an 11-5 scoring run. EIU would get within a basket at 37-34 at the 1:42 mark of the period before Stain's trey would push the JSU out to eight points with just under a minute left.
JSU expanded the lead out to double figures on Briana Benson's three pointer with 7:08 left to play. Benson would match the halftime lead of 11 points with a free throw to make it 53-45 at the 4:57 mark. EIU put together a final run to get within four points with 2:04 left to play, but could not get closer as JSU closed out the contest to take the eight-point win. Benson became the fifth Gamecock to score double figures with a pair of free throws in the final seconds to record 10 point for the game.
The Jax State inside game controlled the contest with 28 points in the paint, led by sophomore Tyler Phelion and Rayven Pearson. Phelion tallied 12 points and seven rebounds, while Pearson finished with 11 points. Pearson turned in six of her points in the second half.
The last time JSU had five players reach double figures in a contest was just over a year ago as five Gamecocks scored double digits on January 1, 2015 at SIUE. The Gamecocks also controlled the backboard with a season-high 44 rebounds and out-rebounded the Panthers by 11. For the second consecutive game, JSU shot over 45 percent as it connected on 46.2 percent from the field.
Shakita Cox led EIU with 12 points, followed by Grace Lennox's 10 points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 75, TENNESSEE STATE 65
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - A 44-point second half propelled Southeast Missouri women's basketball (9-6, 2-0 OVC) to a comeback victory over Tennessee State (5-9, 0-1 OVC) Saturday, 75-65.
The Redhawks open Ohio Valley Conference play 2-0 for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
Imani Johnson tallied a new season/career-high 20 points while Ashton Luttrull exploded for 17 points in the game, also a new career-best. With Johnson and Luttrull both coming off the bench, the bench put up 46 points in Saturday's game.
Southeast trailed Tennessee State by a point, 12-11, at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Turnovers plagued the Redhawks in the frame as Southeast committed seven in the first 10 minutes. The Lady Tigers took advantage of the mistakes, scoring eight points off turnovers.
Johnson drained a pair of foul shots to start the second quarter, giving Southeast its first lead of the game, 13-12. The lead didn't last long as TSU answered with six-straight points to go up 18-13 on the Redhawks.
Down 30-25 with two minutes to play, Bri Mitchell and Johnson each drained a pair of free throws to pull within one of the Lady Tigers, 30-29.
At the conclusion of the first half, Southeast trailed 35-31.
Johnson led the Redhawks with 12 first-half points thanks in part to a perfect 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line. Mitchell ended with eight points in the first half.
Southeast committed 16 turnovers in the half; TSU turned those turnovers into 15 points against the Redhawks.
With TSU up seven and 5:06 to play, Luttrull drained three-straight 3-point buckets to give the Redhawks a 47-46 lead.
Southeast never relinquished the lead as the Redhawks led 51-50 going to the fourth quarter.
Luttrull had 11 points in the third period alone, setting a new career-best. Her three 3-pointers were also a career best for the sophomore.
A TSU 3-point bucket gave the Lady Tigers their last lead of the game, 53-51, 28 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Redhawks slowly pulled away and built a comfortable lead on TSU as the period progressed.
After trailing 35-31 after the first half, Southeast turned the table and outscored the Lady Tigers 44-30 in the second half en route to the 75-65 victory.
Johnson's drained a new career-best 12 free throws on way to her 20-point perfromance. The 12 made free throws is the most by a Redhawk since Mitchell did it at UT Martin on Jan. 13, 2014.
Luttrull was responsible for Southeast's three 3-point buckets. Luttrull also earned a new career-high four steals.
Mitchell picked up her sixth double-digit point performance in the last seven games with 16 points. Mitchell was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Deja Jones finished as Southeast's rebounds leader with nine in the game. As a team, Southeast outrebounded TSU, 44-30.
As a team, Southeast made a season-best 28 free throws and shot 84.8% from the line, also a new season-high.
After committing 16 turnovers the first half, Southeast limited the turnover count to just six in the second half.
Tennessee State had four players reach double-digits in scoring with I'mani Davis leading the way with 19. Jayda Johnson had 12 while Michelle Cox and Brianna Lawrence each added 11.
AUSTIN PEAY 94, EASTERN KENTUCKY 66
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Playing at the Dunn Center for the first time in 32 days, Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team used an overwhelming offensive effort to secure a 94-66 Ohio Valley Conference-opening victory against Eastern Kentucky, Saturday afternoon.
Austin Peay (3-11, 1-0 OVC) faced an Eastern Kentucky defensive effort that deployed a box-and-one scheme in an attempt to lessen APSU senior guard Tiasha Gray’s impact. However, the Govs responded with a team effort that saw 19 of their first 28 shots finding net as they built a 25-point, 43-18 lead with 3:35 left in the first half. Austin Peay scored the half’s final six points to take a 27-point, 49-22 lead into halftime as it scored the final six points.
Meanwhile, Eastern Kentucky’s (6-6, 0-1 OVC) offense couldn’t gain traction in the opening half. The Colonels missed nine straight shots during an 18-0 APSU second-quarter run that pushed the lead from six points to 24 points. The Colonels had particular trouble inside the arc, failing to make a two-pointer in the final 13-plus minutes of the half – their three shots made in that span coming from three-point range – as they went 3-for-21 in that span.
The second half saw the Colonels offense warm up while the Govs offense never cooled down. Both teams shot better than 45 percent from the floor in the second half – Eastern Kentucky posted a warmer 46.7 percent (21-of-45) while APSU shot 48.0 percent (12-of-25). The Govs extended their lead to 37 points in the third quarter with Eastern Kentucky cutting the deficit to only 25 points in the fourth quarter before settling on the final margin.
Austin Peay shot a season-best 53.3 percent (32-of-60) in recording its first victory against a Division I opponent. The Govs tacked on a 26-of-38 (68.4 percent) effort from the free-throw line. Austin Peay also won the rebounding battle with a season-high 48-rebound outing while limiting Eastern Kentucky to 36 rebounds.
Gray rallied from a six-point first-half effort to post a 21-point, 10-assist double-double performance. Sophomore guard Madison Rich (18 points), junior center Tearra Banks (16) and sophomore forward Sydney Gooch (14) also reached double-digit scoring territory. Ten of APSU’s 11 available players scored in the contest.
Junior guard Jalen O’Bannon finished with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double effort to pace Eastern Kentucky. Freshman forward Abby Wright added 11 points off the bench. The Colonels were held to 36.4 percent (28-of-77) shooting for the contest.
MURRAY STATE 83, MOREHEAD STATE 79
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State scored 28 points in the fourth quarter and outscored Morehead State by 12 points in the final frame on its way to an 83-79 come-from-behind victory Saturday at the CFSB Center in the OVC opener.
Ke’Shunan James had a monster game for the Racers (5-7, 1-0 OVC), scoring a career-high 32 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor and 5-for-7 from 3-point range. James also had a career-best 12 rebounds in the win. MSU had two others with career-highs on the day as well as Kyra Gulledge scored 14 points and had a career-best 13 rebounds. Ajee Smith dished out a career-best 10 assists in the victory.
The Eagles (6-9, 0-1 OVC) controlled much of the game, leading for over 33 minutes of the contest while the Racers led for just 3:04 of game time. The Racers trailed by as many as 11, with 57 seconds left in the third period, trailing 61-50. MSU cut the deficit to 63-55 heading into the fourth.
With 5:48 left to play in the game, MSU was down 70-63, before going on a 10-2 run and took its first lead of the game, 73-72 with 3:29 left to play. During the run, James hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit from seven points to one point.
After both teams traded buckets and free throws, a Jashae Lee layup with 2:01 left gave the Racers the lead 78-76, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way. MSU hit five at the free-throw line the final 1:33 of the game.
The Racers went 8-of-13 from the floor in the final period, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc while Morehead was 6-of-15 from the floor and turned the ball over eight times in the quarter. For the game, the Racers held a 24-9 edge in points off of turnovers.
MSU went 30-for-76 (39.5 percent) from the floor and hit 11-of-30 (36.7 percent) from 3-point land while Morehead State shot 40.6 percent from the field (28-for-69) and was 8-of-16 from beyond the arc. Neither team shot the ball well from the free-throw line as the Racers went just 12-for-21 while Morehead was 15-of-24.
The Eagles came into the game as the leading rebounding team in the league, but held just a 49-48 advantage on the boards in the game while both teams scored 28 points each in the paint. The Morehead bench outscored the Racers’ reserves 28-24.
Eriel McKee paced Morehead State with 14 points while Aaliyah Wells added 13. Kayk Tate scored 11 points while Brooke Todd and Shay Steele each had 10 points.
SIUE 83, TENNESSEE TECH 68
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE picked up an 83-68 road win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday. SIUE improved to 2-0 in the OVC and 7-8 overall while Tennessee Tech fell to 5-10 overall and 1-1 in league play.
The Cougars had three player reach double-digits in scoring with Shronda Butts leading the way with 26 points. Sindey Smith and Gwen Adams came off the bench to score 14 and 13 points, respectively. CoCo Moore pulled down a team-leading 10 boards in the win.
Tennessee Tech's Samaria Howard led the team with 23 points while Alliyah Smith posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.