SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 78, Tennessee State 67
Murray State 80, Southeast Missouri 61
@Austin Peay 80, UT Martin 70
@Tennessee Tech 51, Jacksonville State 49
Belmont 89, @Morehead State 74
EASTERN KENTUKCY 78, TENNESSEE STATE 67
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team used a 17-5 run at the end of the first quarter to help propel them to a 78-67 win over Tennessee State University Saturday afternoon in McBrayer Arena.
The Tigers (10-16, 5-8 OVC) came out of the gate hot, going on a quick 9-3 run to begin the game. After EKU (13-10, 7-5 OVC) found itself down 13-8, a Miranda Maples three would spark a 17-to-5 run over the course of 4:09 to give the Colonels the lead for good.
Eastern was led in scoring by Michaela Hunter, who poured in 17 points while dishing out a game-high four assists. Jalen O’Bannon also chipped in 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting. She pulled down 12 rebounds to record her OVC-best 13th double-double of the season. Five Colonels scored in double figures.
The Colonel defense came to playing, holding TSU to 36 percent shooting from the floor. EKU also forced the Tigers into 13 turnovers, eight of those off steals.
Eastern tied a season high in offense rebounds with 20 and held a 51-43 lead on the boards.
EKU came out of halftime strong, going on an 18-7 run that spanned the majority of the third quarter. However, TSU answered with a quick 7-0 spurt to pull within 12. That would be as close as the Tigers would come.
With 2:13 to play in the third quarter, a free throw by O’Bannon gave EKU a 64-45 lead, their largest of the game.
Tennessee State was led in scoring by Briana Lawrence who had a game-high 19 points. I’mani Davis registered a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
MURRAY STATE 80, SOUTEHAST MISSOURI 61
MURRAY, Ky. - Saturday nights at the Dunn Center have been something special for Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team and the trend held true in an 80-70 upset win of Ohio Valley Conference leader UT Martin.
Austin Peay (8-18, 6-7 OVC), which improved to 5-0 in home Saturday dates, took control of the contest with a 16-3 run in the opening 4:31 of the second quarter. The burst was spurred by the trio of senior guard Tiasha Gray, junior center Tearra Banks and freshman guard Falon Baker who combined for all 16 APSU points. The Govs, who held a one point lead after the first quarter, held a 44-30 advantage after the opening run.
The Govs would see that lead shrink during the rest of the second quarter, UT Martin closing to within three points on a Jessy Ward three-pointer with 52 seconds left. But Banks would strike again with a layup on the next APSU possession for a 53-48 halftime lead.
The second half proved to be a defensive struggle, with neither team matching their first half output. UT Martin (17-8, 10-2 OVC) had a golden opportunity to close the deficit in the third quarter during a four minute shooting drought by APSU. But the Skyhawks saw the opportunity slip by as they only scored six points, closing within two points, 59-57, after Katie Schubert’s layup with 1:09 left.
Gray responded with the third quarter’s final four points, extending the Govs lead back to six points, 63-57, at quarter’s end. Austin Peay then used a Banks layup and Rich three-pointer to push the lead to nine points early in the fourth.
UT Martin closed back to within four points on a 5-0 run, but Austin Peay closed the game with a 8-3 burst that saw it convert on 6-of-8 free-throws in the final 1:05 to secure the win.
Gray finished with a game-high 29 points, making 10-of-22 from the floor and 8-of-9 at the free-throw line. Sophomore guard Madison Rich and Banks each supplied 12 points and Baker added 10 points. Junior forward Beth Rates grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds and had six points.
Ward led UT Martin with 22 points but was held scoreless in the second half. Haley Howard added 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting. The Skyhawks had five players reach double-digit scoring territory.
The Skyhawks opened the game making 19-of-31 (61.3 percent) from the floor, including 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from three-point range. However, Austin Peay’s defense stiffened in the second half and limited UTM to 7-of-31 (22.6 percent) shooting and did not surrender a three pointer on 12 attempts.
Austin Peay prepares to close out the road portion of its regular-season slate when it meets third place SIUE in an 11:30 a.m., Wednesday contest in Edwardsville, Illinois.
TENNESSEE TECH 51, JACKSONVILLE STATE 49
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A Golden Eagle defense that held Jacksonville State scoreless for six minutes and blocked a school-record 13 shots helped Tennessee Tech (9-17/5-8 OVC) capture a 51-49 Ohio Valley Conference victory in overtime Saturday night in Eblen Center.
The Gamecocks (10-15/5-8 OVC) forged a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Tech bounced back with a 10-0 run and a lock-down defense that helped take the game to the wire.
A layup just before the buzzer in regulation rolled along the back of the iron and came off, denying Tech of the win in regulation.
A 3-pointer by Brianna Benson in the overtime lifted JSU into a 45-44 lead and a layup by Destiny James with 1:10 left had the Gamecocks on top, 47-46.
Tech scored the next five points, beginning with a jumper off the glass by Samaria Howard and two free throws by Mariah Dean. One more free throw by Howard set things up at 51-47 with 16 seconds left.
A JSU layup with five seconds remaining was the final marker. Tech missed two free throws, giving the visitors one final fling but Benson's 3-pointer from in front of the JSU bench was wide of the mark as the horn sounded.
Howard led all scorers with 25 points, including 10-of-13 at the free throw line. Senior Mariah Dean posted her second career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. She also recorded five of the team's record 13 blocked shots.
Lindsey Jennings chipped in with eight points, for rebounds and three assists.
Benson's 16 points led JSU, while Tyler Phelion finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Tech held a slight, 48-45 edge in rebounds. The Golden Eagles shot 28.6 percent for the game overall while JSU hot 25 percent.
Tied at 24-24, JSU got two free throws, a layup and a 3-pointer from Benson with two seconds left in the third quarter to wedge open a seven-point advantage, 31-24 heading to the fourth period.
The teams exchanged baskets and free throws, and were still seven points apart when Benson hit another 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Gamecocks a 10-point lead, the largest margin of the night.
But the Tech defense took over, forcing the Gamecocks through a stretch of 5:57 without a point and the Golden Eagles scratched their way back into the contest with a 10-0 run.
Tech was up 7-6 after the first quarter, and a 3-pointer by Howard from the top of the key with 41 seconds to play were the final points in the low-scoring opening half as Tech went to the dressing room with a 16-14 lead.
Each team had a three-point lead in the first half; beyond that there was no breathing room for either squad. At one point, Tech missed 13 consecutive shots, while JSU had 11 straight misses in one stretch and missed nine-in-a-row another time.
BELMONT 89, MOREHEAD STATE 74
MOREHEAD, Ky. - With their tenth straight victory Belmont University women's basketball (18-7, 10-2 OVC) has tied the longest win streak set in the 2006-07 season. The Bruins defeated the Morehead State Eagles (9-17, 3-9 OVC) Saturday afternoon 89-74.
The Bruins were paced by junior Lauren Thompson (Franklin, Tenn.) with a career-high 18 points, along with six rebounds. Thompson went 8-for-11 from the field.
Five other players ended the game in double-digits; freshman Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) and redshirt sophomore Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) each had 12, while sophomore Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.), freshman Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) and sophomore Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) finished with 11 each.
The Bruins went 21-for-27 from the free throw line, with Jones shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. Freshman Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) recorded seven assists and eight points in the game. Harmeyer led the team with eight rebounds.
Maggard opened up play with a three. Both teams traded baskets with the first half of the first quarter being run by Thompson. Of the Bruins first 15 points, Thompson accounted for eight of them; Smith recorded two and McCabe recorded two. The second half of the first quarter was filled by free throws from both teams. Belmont jumped ahead by four with five straight made free throws, four from Harmeyer and one from Roy. With two more free throws from Smith the Bruins ended the quarter on a 10-to-1 run.
Second quarter was a bit slower offensively as the Bruins only scored 16. Jones hit a three early on in the second quarter to put the Bruins up by 10. A jumper from Thompson and two free throws from Jones gave the Bruins their largest lead in the first half going up by 12. The rest of the second quarter was filled with baskets from Morehead, and a three from Roy and Maggard. With the Bruins up by just two Smith drew a huge and one which gave the Bruins a five point lead at half.
The Bruins took control offensively in the third quarter. McCabe opened the second half with a free throw and then a jumper from McCabe and Thompson put the Bruins up by seven. Belmont kept control of the game and a layup from junior Frankie Joubran (Detroit, Mich.) put the Bruins up by 15, the Eagles took six of the next eight points but Belmont held an 11 point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Morehead hit the first basket of the fourth quarter coming within nine but two jumpers form McCabe and a layup from Maggard took the Bruin lead back to 15. In a fifteen second span Smith hit a three, the Bruins forced a quick turnover followed by a layup from Smith leading to a 19 point lead. Jones made four free throws along with layups from Harmeyer and Roy gave the Bruins their largest lead of the game at 23. Morehead went on a ten to two run to close out the game, but the Bruins held onto a 15 point lead when the buzzer sounded.