WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 94, Austin Peay 75
@Tennessee Tech 77, Morehead State 69
Murray State 74, @Eastern Illinois 71
Eastern Kentucky 76, Jacksonville State 50
SIUE 94, AUSTIN PEAY 75
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE women's basketball complemented an electric crowd of elementary students at the Vadalabene Center with its biggest offensive output of the season Wednesday with a 94-75 victory over Austin Peay.
The Cougars improved to 15-11 overall and 10-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, utilizing 2,369 fans made up mostly of area elementary students who used a field trip day sponsored by Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery to spark the victory.
Sidney Smith tied the school record for three-pointers made in a game with eight, equaling the record set by Whitney Sykes during the 2005-06 season and Jazmin Hill during the 2011-12 season.
Shronda Butts was part of more than half of SIUE's points as she scored 30 and added a team-high 10 assists.
As a team, SIUE shot 72.2 percent (13-18) from three-point range. Butts shot 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, and Erin Kelley added one in the second half. SIUE shot 53.3 percent for the game (32-60) and knocked down 17 of 21 from the free throw line.
Tearra Banks led Austin Peay with 21 points off the bench. Beth Rates scored 15 for the Governors, and Tiasha Gray added a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. Austin Peay dropped to 8-15 overall and 4-8 in the OVC.
TENNESSEE TECH 77, MOREHEAD STATE 69
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - On a Wednesday night when senior Samaria Howard became the latest Golden Eagle to join the 1,000-Point Club, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team won its third straight with a 77-69 homecourt victory over Morehead State in Eblen Center.
Tech (10-17/6-8 OVC) got 29 points and eight rebounds by Howard, while senior Mariah Dean notched her second straight double-double with 10 points and 10rebounds. Junior point guard Lindsey Jennings added six points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. Candace Parson and Yaktavia Hickson each scored 10, giving Tech four players in double figures in the scoring column.
MSU (9-18/3-10 OVC) had three players in double figures, led by Brianna McQueen with 23 points, along with six rebounds and six assists. The Eagles, who have now lost five in a row, also got 14 Natalie Greenwell and 13 by Eriel McKee. Miranda Crocket added eight points and eight rebounds.
The Golden Eagles appeared to be in cruise control with an 18-point second half lead, and a 15-point bulge in the fourth quarter before a 13-2 run by Morehead State made things interesting over the final minute.
Tech withstood the attack, hitting all four free throws and grabbing two big defensive rebounds to hold on.
Tech forced Morehead State into an early 1-for-11 stretch from the field, and the Golden Eagles took advantage to pull ahead, 15-9 late in the opening quarter. Two 3-pointers by Hickson were keys to the lead. Tech’s 11-4 run erased an early 5-4 MSU advantage. The Golden Eagles weren’t able to take greater advantage, however, going without a basket for the final 2:36 of the first quarter, missing two shots and committing two turnovers.
A buzzer beater by McKee after scooping up a loose ball at the free throw line made it 15-11 after the first period.
After trailing 21-16, MSU scored five straight to tie the game at 21-21, but Tech quickly regained control with four consecutive points by Lindsey Jennings and a 3-pointer by Howard. Tech never lost the lead after that.
With nine points on the night and 998 career points midway in the second quarter, Howard sailed in another 3-pointer with 3:38 left in the half to make it a nine-point Golden Eagle lead, 35-26. The lead went eventually grew to a 15-point Tech margin at halftime, 43-28.
Howard becomes the 28th player in program history to achieve the1,000-point barrier, the first since Diamond Henderson. Ironically, it was two years ago on the same date (Feb. 17, 2014) that Henderson joined the club.
Down by 18 at one point in the third quarter, Morehead State got things in gear in the fourth quarter, battling back to within nine points, the second time at 65-56 with 5:34 to play.
The Golden Eagles were back up by 15, before Morehead stitched together itsclosing run.
A layup from McQueen with 1:27 left, then two free throws by Wells finished off a 13-2 MSU run and had the Eagles within four points with 1:23 remaining, 73-69.
MSU had three tries at the iron with just under a minute but couldn’t get the ball to drop, and Alliyah Smith pulled down a critical defensive rebound for Tech. Two free throws by Jennings with 26.4 seconds to play halted a scoring drought of 2:52 for the hosts, and gave Jim Davis’ team a little breathing room with a six-point lead.
MURRAY STATE 74, EASTERN ILLINOIS 71
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Murray State women’s basketball team hung on for a thrilling 74-71 overtime victory on the road over Eastern Illinois Wednesday night at Lantz Arena. The win gives MSU its fourth consecutive victory and evens its mark to 7-7 in OVC play.
An Erica Brown putback with three seconds left in regulation tied the game at 67-67 and a Ke’Shunan James corner 3-pointer to beat the buzzer just missed as the Racers went to their first overtime game since January of 2015 at Jacksonville State.
EIU (3-22, 2-11 OVC) scored the first points in the extra frame before the Racers were able to go in front on back-to-back layups from LeAsia Wright and James. After the Panthers tied the game at 71-71, a pair of Abria Gulledge free throws put MSU back in front for the rest of the game. Gulledge was able to get a big steal on EIU’s second-to-last possession with 11 seconds to play and a free throw from James pushed the MSU lead to 74-71. EIU failed to get a shot off in the final nine seconds as the Racers played a great final defensive possession.
MSU (11-14, 7-7 OVC) got off to a sluggish start to the game, scoring just 10 first quarter points and trailed at the half, 34-34. However, the Racers came out much stronger in the second half, especially from long range and outscored the Panthers 20-10 in the third period.
The Racers were able to build their biggest lead of the night to eight points, 54-46 with 8:52 left to play and also led by seven with 6:07 left in the game before the Panthers were able to cut into the lead and eventually force overtime.
Despite EIU shooting better from the floor in the contest, 41 percent to 38 percent, and outscoring the Racers in the paint 32-16, MSU made its bones in this win from 3-point range and at the free-throw line. The Racers went 12-for-25 (48 percent) from beyond the arc in the win and made 14 free throws. EIU went 7-of-7 (41.2 percent) from deep and was just 4-of-10 from the line.
James led four Racers in double figures with a game-high 24 points in the win and also added eight rebounds and four assists. LeAsia Wright added 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals and hit four 3-pointers. Abria Gulledge added 14 and Jasmine Borders scored 12 while both hitting a trio of 3-pointers each. Kyra Gulledge grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and had a pair of blocks on the night.
Grace Lennox led the Panthers with 23 points while Brown finished with 12 points to go with 10 rebounds. Shakita Cox had 15 points while Jalisha Smith brought down a team-high 11 boards.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 76, JACKSONVILLE STATE 50
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - A 20-6 second quarter by Eastern Kentucky propelled the Colonels to a 76-50 win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum in Ohio Valley Conference women's hoops action.
The loss was Jax State's third in a row and first to EKU since January 18, 2014 in Richmond, Kentucky. JSU entered the game having won the last four meetings with the Maroon and White, including the first meeting of the season on January 27, 56-54. The Gamecocks have a pair of games left on the docket with a visit to Tennessee State on Saturday and their final home contest of the season with Morehead State. JSU dropped to 10-16 overall and 5-9 in OVC play, while EKU improved to 14-10 on the season and 8-5 in the league.
After JSU trailed 19-17 after the first ten minutes, EKU's scoring production exploded in the second 10-minute session. The Colonels pushed a two point lead out to as many as 18 points in the second quarter after starting the quarter on a 16-2 scoring run over the first five and a half minutes of the quarter. EKU connected on 14-of-26 from the field, and nine free throws to extend the lead to double figures and take a 39-23 lead in to halftime.
JSU was held to nine baskets in the first half as its leading scorer; Briana Benson came off the bench for 11 of her 13 points in the first 20 minutes. Benson finished the game 5-of-14 from the field and a pair of free throws by the OVC's top free throw shooter. Senior Courtney Strain was the only other Gamecock to double figures as she posted 12 points in the setback. Strain turned in seven points of her points in the first half.
EKU continued its hot shooting night in the second half as it pushed the lead to 20-plus points in the third quarter and did not allow JSU a chance to get back in the contest the rest of the way. EKU shot a sizzling 56.9 percent from the field, including a 45 percent effort from three point range. JSU;s scoring woes continued with a 33 percent shooting outing. EKU controlled the paint with a 30-18 advantage and scored 19 points off of 16 JSU miscues.
The Colonels were led by the 28-point effort by Jalen O'Bannon and she was aided by double figures by Shameekia Murray and Miranda Maples. O'Bannon, one of the top newcomers in the OVC, was 9-of-16 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Murray finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Maples pitched in 13 points, 12 from three-point range.
JSU's Tyler Phelion and Rayven Pearson collected six points each, while Chloe Long added five points.