SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Evansville 89,
Murray State 81
Belmont 90, @Tulsa 65
Florida State 75,
@Jacksonville State 51
EVANSVILLE 89, MURRAY STATE 81
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Murray State’s fourth quarter comeback fell short Sunday afternoon in Evansville, Ind., as the Racer women’s basketball team dropped its season opener to Evansville, 89-81.
MSU trailed 70-54 going into the final period and was able to get within four, 75-71 with 4:12 to play before a 3-pointer from Hannah Noe pushed UE’s lead back up to seven and from there on, the Purple Aces were able to salt the game away at the free-throw line.
The Purple Aces went 28-for-32 (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe Sunday, including going 14-of-15 in the final two minutes. The Racers went 13-for-15 (86.7 percent) at the line.
Evansville got off to a hot start Sunday as it hit 12-of-18 shots in the first quarter and made 5-of-6 from 3-point range to build a 31-14 lead after one. In the second quarter, the Purple Aces built their lead up to as many as 22, 47-25 with 2:43 remaining and led at halftime 51-33.
For the game, the Racers (0-1) shot 41.1 percent from the floor and hit just 8-of-29 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, UE (1-0) shot 48.1 percent for the game and hit 9-of-21 from 3-point range, including just 2-of-10 in the second half.
The duo of Bria Bethea and Ke’Shunan James were dynamic offensively in the loss as James led the team with 30 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and also dished-out five assists. Bethea added 28 points and 10 boards of her own on the day. Bethea and James combined to shoot 21-for-40 from the field and went 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Bethea hit a team-best four threes and also went 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Abria Gulledge added 18 points in the loss.
The Purple Aces got a big push from their bench in the game as they outscored the Racers’ reserves 20-1. MSU did have a 40-28 edge in points in the paint and a 19-13 advantage in points off turnovers. UE outrebounded MSU by two (39-37) on the day but the Racers had a 13-5 second-chance points edge as they recorded six more offensive rebounds.
The Racers return to action Wednesday in their home opener as Butler comes to town for an 11 a.m., contest.
BELMONT 90, TULSA 65
TULSA, Okla. - Veteran duo Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) erupted for 64 points in Belmont women's basketball's 90-65 win over Tulsa Sunday afternoon at Donald W. Reynolds Center. The victory marked Head Coach Bart Brooks' first win at the helm of the Bruins.
The pair recorded career performances as they became the first twosome to both score at least 30 points in the same game in Belmont's Division I history. Maggard poured in a career-best 33 points aided by nine three-pointers – tying a program-best mark. Meanwhile, Smith topped her previous career high by a tally with 31 points, including going 9-12 at the line while dishing out nine assists and bringing down nine rebounds.
After a slow start, BU closed out the first quarter scoring 10 unanswered points with seven coming from Smith. The squad continued to open up the game in the opening minutes of the second stanza, compiling a 19-2 run over a five-minute span. Maggard got the hot hand toward the end of the scoring frenzy hitting five consecutive field goals, including draining a three as time expired in the first half. The Larwill, Ind. product led the squad with 22 points to give Belmont a 46-33 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Bruins showed no sign of letting up after the break as Smith registered 15 points in the third quarter alone. The Alpharetta, Ga. product sunk five free throws while hitting four field goals in the quarter as BU held a comfortable lead, 70-50, with one stanza remaining. The team finished the game with its third consecutive 20-point quarter to solidify a convincing win over the Golden Hurricanes.
Smith and Maggard drained 13 of Belmont's 14 three-pointers with junior Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) hitting the other. Muensterman and senior center Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) each scored seven points, the most behind Maggard and Smith.
Collectively, the Bruins shot 48 percent from the floor with a 40 percent clip beyond the arc. They held Tulsa to just four threes on 22 attempts. Shug Dickson led the Hurricanes with 22 points while Krystan Vornes was the only other player to record a double-digit effort with 10 points.
Belmont opens its home slate with Fort Wayne on Wednesday, Nov. 15 inside the Curb Event Center. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
FLORIDA STATE 75, JACKSONVILLE STATE 51
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State fell to visiting Florida State on Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks are now 1-1 on the season.
Gretchen Morrison scored a team-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. She also went 6-for-9 from the three-poinnt line. Rayven Pearson added seven points, going 3-for-4 from the line.
Jacksonville State will be back in action on Wednesday when it will host Stillman.