WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 56, @Eastern Kentucky 54
@Morehead State 75, Tennessee Tech 71
@UT Martin 77, Tennessee State 50
@Murray State 66, Eastern Illinois 56
SIUE 72, @Austin Peay 61
JACKSONVILLE STATE 56, EASTERN KENTUCKY 54
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team earned a much-needed 56-54 win over Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday at McBrayer Arena as JSU erased a four-point deficit in the final 45 seconds left for the win.
With the win, it's the fourth consecutive over the Colonels of EKU (10-9, 4-4 OVC) and the second straight against EKU on its home floor. The Gamecocks improved to 8-13 overall and 3-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
JSU, trailing 53-49 with 45 seconds left, cut the lead down to one with a clutch three pointer by Gretchen Morrison. After EKU's Shameekia Murray hit the second of her pair of free throws, senior Courtney Strain connected with sophomore Tyler Phelion for an open layup with 20 seconds left. Michaela Hunter tried to give EKU the lead, but her jumper rimmed off and rebounded by Briana Benson. Benson was fouled by EKU's Jalen O'Bannon with six seconds left. The Jonesboro, Georgia gurd drained both to give Jax State a 56-54 lead. Hunter's final attempt was blocked by senior Destiny James, who had a career-high two blocks in the win. She also got the steal on the inbounds play to seal the win.
In a close contest throughout, the lead changed 11 times and was all tied up seven times during the game. Neither team led by more than six points as EKU held the largest lead of the game at 16-10 at the beginning of the second quarter. JSU trailed 13-10 after the opening 10 minutes and out-scored EKU 13-11 in the second to trail 24-23 at the break.
After being held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes, Strain tallied all nine of her points in the session to spark JSU and send the game to the final quarter with the Gamecocks holding a 39-38 lead. JSU was 6-of-15 from the field in the third quarter.
JSU, one of the top three-point shooting teams in the OVC, drilled 9-of-24 from three point range. After posting 23 points on Monday at Morehead State, Morrison turned in nine points on 3-of-4 from long range. Benson led all Gamecock scorers with 17 points off the bench. Benson was 4-of-11 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Phelion nearly matched her career high of 16 points, which was set at MSU on Monday, with 14 points. The Mobile, Alabama product had just two boards but was credited with a pair of blocks and steals.
EKU's O'Bannon, the leading candidate for OVC Newcomer of the Year, finished with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds. She also had six assists in the setback. Hunter collected 14 points, while Murray turned in 12 points.
MOREHEAD STATE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 72
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Freshman guard Miranda Crockett scored a team-high 16 points and recorded a crucial block on a three-point attempt in the closing moments for Morehead State women's basketball in a 75-71 win against Tennessee Tech on Wednesday night at Johnson Arena.
MSU (9-13, 3-5) rode the momentum of a fourth quarter surge, holding TTU scoreless for over four minutes, sparking a 9-0 run. The stretch put the home squad up 67-66 on a jumper by junior guard Brianna McQueen with 1:46 left to play in regulation. Senior guard Natalie Greenwell added two free throws bringing the MSU lead to 69-66. TTU's senior forward Candice Parsons hit a bucket in the paint bringing the contest back within one, but McQueen hit four straight free throws in the final 20 seconds, sealing the comeback victory for the Eagles.
TTU (7-15, 3-6) lost for the first time in three games and has now lost four in a row to MSU. Senior guard Samaria Howard, the second leading scorer in the OVC, scored a game-high 25 points and snatched five rebounds.
As a team, MSU outscored TTU at the free throw line 26-to-9, hitting 81 percent from the charity stripe. The rebounding margin favored MSU as they wiped the glass smug free with 52 boards compared to TTU's 40. As a team MSU swatted 11 shots, giving them 153 blocks on the season, which ranks first in the nation.
Junior forward Shay Steele finished the night with 13 points, eight rebounds, and hit 7-of-8 from the line. McQueen started out slow, but erupted in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of her 11 points in the final stanza. She added a team-high six assists and shot 4-of-4 from the line.
Bench production played a role as junior guard Aaliyah Wells and sophomore forward Brooke Todd combined for 11 points and Todd recorded a season-high five blocks.
MURRAY STATE 66, EASTERN ILLINIOS 56
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s basketball team used a strong fourth quarter and stingy defense to defeat Eastern Illinois, 66-56 Wednesday evening at the CFSB Center. The Racers outscored EIU 18-10 in the final period of play.
Leading by just two, 48-46 heading into the final quarter, the Racers (7-13, 3-5 OVC) opened the fourth on a 9-2 run and opened a 57-48 lead with 6:05 left to play in the game. MSU was also able to hit seven free throws the final 2:37 of the contest and went 19-for-28 (68 percent) for the game.
The Racers forced EIU (1-20, 0-9 OVC) into 24 turnovers and 38.8 percent shooting for the game. The Panthers were able to hang around in the contest by going 7-for-16 from 3-point range and 11-of-12 (92 percent) from the free-throw line. The Racers were able lead the game wire-to-wire.
Kyra Gulledge led MSU with a career-high 17 points in the game on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Gulledge was also a rebound shy of a double-double as she grabbed a team-high nine boards in the win. Ke’Shunan James added 17 points of her own, 11 of which came in the second half and also had four assists and five steals. Jashae Lee added nine points, while Bianca Babic and Abria Gulledge scored eight and six, respectively off the bench. The Racers’ bench outscored EIU’s 18-12 in the contest. Both Gulledge and Lee added six rebounds and two steals each.
MSU dominated inside, outscoring the Panthers 32-14 in the paint and also had an 11-5 edge in second-chance points. The Racers also had a big 21-9 edge on points off of turnovers. The Racers had a 29-23 lead at halftime. EIU made things closer to begin the third period as the Panthers made their first seven shots of the second half.
Head Coach Rob Cross earned his 100th career victory with the win. Cross becomes the first coach in program history to reach triple figure wins.
Grace Lennox led a trio of Panthers in double-digit points with 12. Erica Brown had 11 points while Shakita Cox chipped in 10.
UT MARITN 77, TENNESSEE STATE 50
MARTIN, Tenn. - Hot shooting was the theme of the night as the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team jumped out early and often en route to a 77-50 victory in a rematch of last season’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship.
The Skyhawks (13-7, 6-1 OVC) pushed their winning streak to six straight games while improving to 48-5 against league foes in the Elam Center since the 2009-10 season. Shooting was not a problem for the home team which made just its second appearance on Pat Head Summitt Court since mid-December. The Skyhawks shot a sizzling 57.8 percent from the floor while tossing in 14 three-pointers with 66.7 percent accuracy.
While turnovers equaled out at 22 apiece, the scoring duo of Haley Howard and Jessy Ward was too much for the Lady Tigers. Howard notched her sixth 20-point outing of the season and second consecutive game with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. Ward was equally as impressive, tossing in 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 6-for-6 mark from beyond the arc. The pair notched the fifth game this season that a duo have scored 20 points or more in the same contest.
Also joining in the fun was sophomore Shy Copney who notched her first career double-double and the team’s first since Dec. 18, 2015. Copney played a career-high 29 minutes while tallying 10 points and 10 rebounds on the night. As a whole, eight of the Skyhawks nine players scored in the contest.
Tennessee State (9-12, 4-4 OVC) dropped its third consecutive contest, all of which coming on the road. The Lady Tigers struggled from the field, shooting just 30.2 percent from the floor. Jayda Johnson proved to be a bright spot for the squad, tallying a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Brianna Lawrence chipped in an additional 12 points to lead the squad.
The contest would hold tight in the opening five minutes of play with UT Martin holding a slight 12-10 advantage heading into the first media break. The Skyhawks would finish the quarter on a 9-2 run with much of the production coming off Howard’s six points during the span, capping the first quarter with eight points and a 21-12 lead.
UT Martin would start the second quarter on a 7-0 run, pushing the team’s lead out to 16 points before Tennessee State answered with a small run of its own to cut the margin to 29-17 midway through the second. Both teams would play even to finish the quarter, scoring six points each while the duo of Howard and Ward both eclipsed double figures in the scoring column. UT Martin would take a 35-23 lead into half.
The third quarter would start with another run by the Skyhawks as they scored eight unanswered points, forcing Tennessee State to burn its first timeout less than two minutes into the second half. UT Martin would push the margin to 53-29 while the pair of Howard and Ward would combine to score 13 of the team’s 18 points through the first five minutes. The score would fluctuate to close the quarter but the trend would remain the same as UT Martin took a 60-35 lead into the fourth.
UT Martin would win the fourth and final quarter by outscoring Tennessee State 17-15. With the Skyhawks pushing the lead out to 34 points with 2:32 to play following a three-pointer by Emanye Robertson, the home squad would empty the bench. With the game out of reach, UT Martin would insert Union City product Tory Reedy for her career debut and the return of Barianne Taylor to run out the clock. As the final buzzer sounded, UT Martin notched its sixth consecutive win by a 77-50 decision.
SIUE 72, AUSTIN PEAY 61
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - An eight-minute stretch without a field goal doomed Austin Peay State University women’s basketball in a 72-61 loss to Ohio Valley Conference leader SIUE, Wednesday night at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (7-14, 5-3 OVC) led by nine points, 40-31, early in the third quarter thanks to a 12-2 run that started at the second quarter’s end. The Govs scored four points in the final 11 seconds of the second quarter to take a 32-29 lead into halftime. Austin Peay then opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run, capped by junior center Tearra Banks’ layup with 6:08 left in the third.
SIUE (13-9, 8-1 OVC) kept the APSU lead from growing larger, trading baskets over the next three minutes. The Govs would push its lead to five points one final time when senior guard Tiasha Gray hit a jumper with 2:32 left in the third. However, Austin Peay would not hit a shot the rest of the third quarter, SIUE closing the period with a 6-0 run to take a 47-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Governors shooting woes continued into the final frame, failing to make a field goal over the opening 5:22. All told, Austin Peay went nearly eight minutes without making a shot from the floor, going 0-for-10 with five turnovers. The Cougars capitalized on the drought with a 22-5 run and led by 12 points, 63-51, before Gray hit a jumper with 4:38 left in the game to end the drought.
Austin Peay would get the deficit back to single digits twice in the final three minutes, but could not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Gray led Austin Peay with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting, adding seven steals, four assists and three rebounds. Banks added 13 points off the bench, but was held to 5-of-12 shooting.
The Govs made 19 of their first 38 shots before the game-deciding drought. Austin Peay closed the game making just four of their final 17 and finished the game making 41.8 percent for the game.
Senior guard Shronda Butts led SIUE with 20 points, one of a quartet of Cougars to reach double-digit scoring territory. Donshel Beck added a 17-point, six-rebound performance while Lauren White supplied 14 points and CoCo Moore chipped in 10 points.
SIUE shot 54 percent from the floor, making 16 of their final 23 shots. The Cougars also made APSU pay for its miscues, turning 22 Govs turnovers into 34 points.