MONDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 81, Bethel 76
SIUE 57, @Southern Illinois 53
Troy 95,
@Tennessee State 66
@Georgia 56,
Tennessee Tech 48
MURRAY STATE 81, BETHEL 76
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s basketball team was able to withstand a furious second half rally from Bethel (Tenn.) Monday night at the CFSB Center, as the Racers were able to hang on for an 81-76 victory.
The Racers (2-4) led by double digits for much of the contest, leading by as many as 18 points late in the third quarter. However, late into that third period, the Wildcats (5-5) went on a 5-0 run the final 57 seconds of the quarter and then went on a 20-8 run to begin the fourth quarter, tying the contest at 68-68 with 3:28 left to play.
A Jasmine Borders 3-pointer broke the tie with 3:09 before BU was able to tie the game at 71 all with a 3-pointer of its own on the very next possession. Ke’Shunan James broke the tie for good with a layup with 2:15 left to play and then another layup, this time for Borders lengthened the margin.
Bethel was able to get itself back into the game thanks to poor shooting at the free-throw line by the Racers. MSu went just 13-for-25 at the line in the second half, but made its final four at the stripe in the last half minute of the game. BU was also able to shoot lights-out, going 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the final stanza.
MSU ended the final 2:06 of the first half on a 10-0 run. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Bria Bethea and Janika Griffith-Wallace in a seven-second span jumpstarted the run. The Racers led 44-31 at the break.
Bethea led the way with 21 points in the win while grabbing eight rebounds and shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Bethea was one of four Racers to score in double figures in the game as James added 19 points and Borders chipped in with 10. Griffith-Wallace had a career-best 15 points and a team-high four assists in the win.
The Wildcats out-rebounded MSU 47-32 on the night and had a 26-20 edge in paint points. MSU scored 19 points off turnovers while BU had 16. The Racers also outscored BU 8-2 in fast break points and 12-8 in second-chance scoring.
The Racers play in their second home game in three nights Wednesday as East Tennessee State comes to “The Bank” for a 6 p.m., tip.
SIUE 57, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 53
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Lauren White broke away for a layup off an in-bounds pass from Nakiah Bell with six seconds left Monday as SIUE women's basketball defeated SIU Carbondale 57-53 at SIU Arena.
SIUE, 3-1, won its third straight game this season and defeated its sister school for the second year in a row. White led all scorers with 18 points.
Bell was a long-distance threat for the Cougars, connecting on five three-pointers. She finished with 15 points.
The Cougars held the Salukis to 1-of-11 shooting in the opening quarter, pushing out to a 16-7 lead after 10 minutes of play. SIUE led by as much as 11 points with 48 seconds left in the first period.
Kylie Giebelhausen helped lead the Salukis back in the second period, becoming the 25th player in school history to record 1,000 points. She had nine of her 13 points in the first half.
The Salukis, now 3-2, were down 24-23 at halftime and surged ahead midway through the third period. A three-pointer by Giebelhausen with 6:10 left in the period put SIU Carbondale up 35-27.
SIUE chipped away at the Salukis lead and evened up the score 42-42 when Bell hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the period.
Bell continued to flourish to open the fourth quarter. She hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Cougars a 48-42 lead with 7:42 to play. That led to a quick timeout for SIU Carbondale.
SIUE would never trail in the fourth quarter but were pushed in the final seconds when Makenzie Silvey hit a step-back three-pointer with nine seconds left to cut SIUE's lead to 55-53.
The Salukis then needed to foul to get SIUE into the bonus. They did so twice but lost track of White on the third restart. Bell made a perfect pass from near the SIUE bench to other side of the lane and into the hands of an open White, who made the layup that put SIUE up by the final margin.
SIUE shot 36.7 percent for the game and hit just 6 of 9 free throws for the game.
SIUE next heads to Illinois State for a 7 p.m. contest Thursday at Redbird Arena.
TROY 95, TENNESSEE STATE 66
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team dropped a, 95-66, decision to Troy Monday night in the Gentry Center.
TSU fell to 0-4 on the season while Troy improved to 3-1.
Tia Wooten led TSU with 20 points while Taylor Roberts posted her second consecutive double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Maxine Beard tallied a career-high 11 points to go with four assists and four steals.
After falling behind 8-0, TSU used a 5-0 spurt to get back into the game. TSU was down by two when the Trojans outscored the Lady Tigers, 11-4, to capture a double-digit lead.
After cutting the deficit down to single digits following a steal and breakaway layup to start the second quarter, TSU once again fell behind by double-figures.
The score was 52-38 in favor of Troy at the break. Taylor Roberts (12) and Tia Wooten (10) led TSU in the first half.
In the third quarter, a series of turnovers by TSU led to the home team falling into a 62-42 hole.
TSU managed to pull within 15 points but the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
Tennessee State will hit the road to face Arkansas State on Nov. 30. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in the ASU Convocation Center.
GEORGIA 56, TENNESSEE TECH 48
ATHENS, Ga. - Tennessee Tech fell at Georiga, 56-48, on Monday night. With the loss the Golden Eagles fall to 1-4 on the season.
Yaktavia Hickson led Tech with 14 points and six rebounds while Mackenzie Coleman added 10 points and six rebounds. Akia Harris dished out a team-best five assists to go with five points.
Tennessee Tech will return to action on Friday when it travels to Wright State.