WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 44, @Jacksonville State 32
Austin Peay 96, @Morehead State 75
UT Martin 65, @Eastern Illinois 39
@Eastern Kentucky 72, Murray State 60
@SIUE 80, Southeast Missouri 73
BELMONT 44, JACKSONVILLE STATE 32
JACKSONVILLE, Ala - Belmont University women's basketball (12-7, 4-2 OVC) notches first conference victory on the road over Jacksonville State (1-12, 2-5 OVC) with a score of 44-32.
Junior Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) led the charge with 14 points. Freshman Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) snagged eight rebounds while redshirt sophomore Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) grabbed seven. Freshman Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) came out strong for the Bruins with seven points and four rebounds.
A slow start for the Bruins and the Gamecocks left the first quarter with Jacksonville leading 8-5. McCabe made the first basket of the game after a five-minute drought on both ends. Jacksonville knocked down three straight jumpers to take a 6-2 lead. With 0:12 left freshman Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) hit a three, but the Gamecocks retaliated with a layup to end the first quarter.
Second quarter started with two hit free throws from Maggard. After back-to-back jumpers from Jacksonville State, Belmont went on a 12-2 and took the 19-14 lead. In the Bruin run Harmeyer contributed five points, Smith three and four from McCabe. Each team knocked down two more jumpers before the Bruins went into the half up 23-18.
The Bruins held the Gamecocks to just seven points in the third quarter. Belmont opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run, holding Jacksonville to a nearly six minute scoring drought. Junior Frankie Joubran (Detroit, Mich.) hit a layup late in the third quarter which gave Belmont a three point lead, but a three from Jacksonville with 0:02 seconds left in the game cut Belmont's lead to 10.
Belmont did not score for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter along with five points by Jacksonville cut the Bruin lead to five. McCabe responded with a layup and one, followed by a layup from Roy, which extended the lead back to ten. Jacksonville would only hit two free throws during the final minutes of the game while McCabe and Thompson each hit one more to close out the game with a 12-point lead.
This marks the first road victory for the Bruins since defeating Wake Forest in early December.
For just the second time this season, JSU did not have a double figure scorer as Tyler Phelion and Chloe Long led Gamecocks with eight points each. Phelion, who battled BU's lengthy inside presence all day, turned in a nice stat line with seven rebounds and seven blocked shots in 35 minutes of action. Long grabbed four rebounds and was credited with four steals.
AUSTIN PEAY 96, MOREHEAD STATE 75
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior guard Tiasha Gray handed out a school-record tying 13 assists to lead Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team to its first road win this season with a 96-75 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Morehead State, Wednesday night at Johnson Arena.
Austin Peay (6-13, 4-2 OVC) got off to a slow start again missing five of its first six shots. Meanwhile, Morehead State made 4-of-6 to start the game and held a 9-2 lead after Natalie Greenwell’s layup just 3:10 into the contest.
The Govs turned the tide quickly, making five consecutive shots as part of a 12-2 run. Gray hit a three-pointer at the 4:47 mark to give APSU a 12-11 lead and freshman Keisha Gregory followed with a layup following a Gray steal to secure the lead, 14-11, at the 4:28 mark.
After its 1-for-6 start, Austin Peay closed the first quarter making 10 of its last 15. The outburst resulted in APSU piecing together a quarter-ending a 24-11 run that proved decisive, APSU taking a 26-20 lead into the quarter break.
Morehead State (7-13, 1-5 OVC) could not slow the Austin Peay juggernaut in the second quarter. The Govs hit their first three shots of the quarter, Gray making a three-pointer just 66 seconds into the frame to push the APSU lead to 11 points, 33-22. The Govs lead would not fall back into single digits the game’s remainder as it tacked on a second-straight 26-point quarter for a 52-36 halftime lead.
The Eagles had one last chance to trim the Austin Peay deficit late in the third quarter when Gray went to the bench with 4:14 left after picking up her third foul. The Govs held their own over the final part of the third quarter, losing only two points off its lead, and took a 73-55 lead into the final frame.
Gray’s 13-assist outing tied the APSU record held by Kelly Chavez, who set the mark during the 2000-01 season. She also had a game-high 28 points while tacking on six steals and five rebounds.
The Govs frontcourt also did its part offensively, the trio of sophomore forward Sydney Gooch, junior forward Beth Rates and sophomore center Brianne Alexander combining for 40 points and 26 rebounds. Gooch recorded her season’s first double-double with a 14-point, 12-rebound night. Alexander added 15 points and Rates chipped in eight points.
Austin Peay made 50 percent (34-of-68) of its field goals and recorded 24 assists on its 34 field goals made. The Govs tacked on a 40.9 percent (9-of-22) outing from three-point range and shot 76 percent (19-of-25) from the free-throw line.
Eriel McKee and Brianna McQueen led Morehead State with 17 points apiece. The Eagles were held to 33.3 percent shooting (26-of-78), including 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from three-point range.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 72, MURRAY STATE 60
RICHMOND, Ky. - Strong second half shooting by the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team turned a one point half-time deficit into a 12-point, 72-60, win over Murray State University on Wednesday night in McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels used a 7-0 run to end the third quarter and begin the fourth to open up a 9-point lead, the biggest difference in the game up to that point. The run began and was ended by Abby Wright. The freshman contributed five of her 10 points to help EKU build a cushion.
Murray State would come within four, 63-59, before being held scoreless for all but 12 seconds of the final 4:07 of play. Shameekia Murray started the game-winning run for Eastern with a triple from the top of the key and Jalen O’Bannon ended it with two free throws. The Colonels led 72-59 before MSU capped the scoring with a single free throw with 12 seconds left in the game.
During the second half the Colonels shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field while holding the Racers to 27 percent (9-of-33). EKU remained strong all game from the stripe missing only five as a team, while Murray State made just nine of its 18 attempts.
O’Bannon led all players with 25 points, shooting 9-of-13 from the field, and notched her ninth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. She was closely followed by Murray, who went 7-of-14 from the field totaling 15 points. Michaela Hunter finished with 14.
EKU improves to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in conference play, while Murray falls to 6-11 this season and 2-4 in the OVC.
LeAsia Wright came off the bench to score 17 points and pulled down seven boards to lead the Racers. Ke’Shunan James had 16 points.
UT MARTIN 65, EASTERN ILLINOIS 39
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Senior Alece Shumpert scored 14 points off the bench Wednesday night but the remainder of the Eastern Illinois offense combined for only 25 points as the Panthers fell to UT Martin 65-39 in Lantz Arena.
Shumpert made five of the Panthers 15 field goals including knocking down four shots from 3-point range. Grace Lennox had the second highest total for EIU finishing with six points to go with three assists.
The Panthers struggled early on trailing 14-7 after the first period. UTM extended the lead to 29-20 at the half shooting 44 percent from the floor while holding EIU to just 25 percent.
In the second half UTM turned up the pressure as they forced 24 turnovers in the game resulting in 23 points. Shy Copney had four steals for the Skyhawks as they finished the night with 14.
Haley Howard scored 15 points to lead three UTM players in double figures. Jessy Ward had 13 and Myah Taylor added 11.
EIU fell to 1-18 overall, 0-7 in the OVC. The Panthers play on Saturday afternoon at Austin Peay. UTM improved to 11-7, 4-1 in the OVC.
SIUE 80, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 73
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill - SIUE took over sole possession of first place as the Cougars defeated visiting Southeast Missouri, 80-73, on Wednesday. With the win SIUE improved to 11-9 overall and 6-1 in the OVC while the Redhawks fell to 12-8 overall and 5-2 in league play.
SIUE had five players reach double-firgures in scoring with Gwen Adams leading the way with 16. Adams went 4-for-6 from the floor and 8-for-9 from the line. Lauren White recorded 13 points while Shronda Butts and Sidney Smith each had 12 points. Donshel Beck added 11 points for the Cougars.
Erin Bollman led the Redhawks with a game-high 23 points while Imani Johnson chipped in 12 points.