TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 115, Kentucky Christian 39
@Belmont 97, Trevecca 39
@Cleveland State 77,
Eastern Illinois 69
Ohio 69,
@Eastern Kentucky 57
OHIO 69, EASTERN KENTUCKY 57
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team cut a 13-point deficit to six late in the fourth quarter, but their comeback fell short, as the Colonels fell to the Ohio Bobcats, 69-57, Tuesday night at McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels (2-4, 0-0 OVC) found themselves on the wrong end of a Bobcat 7-0 run with 5:00 left in the fourth quarter, when a jumper by Abby Wright stopped the spurt. On the next possession, the Colonel defense forced the Ohio miss, when reining Co-OVC Newcomer of the Week A’Queen Hayes grabbed the board, faked her defender with a nifty behind the back dribble, and took it coast-to-coast for the layup. Another Colonel stop led to a Wright triple to pull EKU within six, capping a 7-0 run. It would be as close as Eastern would come.
Ohio (4-1, 0-0 MAC) closed the game on a 9-2 run, led by a Dominique Doseck layup to seal the win.
Eastern was led in scoring by Wright, who scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Freshman Bria Bass recorded her second straight game in double-figures, adding 16 points and finishing tied with a team-high seven rebounds. Hayes rounded out Colonels who scored in double-figures, adding 10 points, seven boards, and a game-high five assists.
EKU finished the game shooting 44 percent from field and outrebounded the Bobcats, 42-31. Eastern also dished out 17 assists, compared to just 11 for Ohio.
The Colonels led after one half of play, only trailing for a combined 2:20 in the first half. However, the Bobcats forced Eastern into 27 turnovers, turning them into 28 points.
Both teams traded baskets to start the contest, when a Bass three started a 7-2 run, topped by a Wright three spanning 1:51 to give Eastern its biggest lead of the game, 14-8.
The Bobcats were paced by Doseck, who had 15 points. Cierra Hooks also had 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Bobcats.
EKU will be back in action next Tuesday at home, when they take on Kent State. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
MOREHEAD STATE 115, KENTUCKY CHRISTIAN 39
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Coming off its second win of over 30 points last Sunday at Chicago State, Morehead State added to its tally of lopsided victories with a 115-39 win over Kentucky Christian behind a career-night from Tierra McGowan on Tuesday at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles had no problem accumulating points, jumping out to a 33-10 lead after one quarter. Morehead State continued knocking down shots in the second, leading 64-19 at the break. As a team, the Eagles shot over 50 percent in each quarter, totaling 45-of-76 (.592) from the field in the eventual 76-point win.
McGowan anchored the offensive attack with a season-high 35 points on 15-of-17 (.882) shooting from the floor and a 5-of-7 (.714) performance at the free throw line. The reigning two-time Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week added 11 boards and four blocks on the night, keeping alive her streak of grabbing double-digit rebounds in each of her first seven showings in a blue and gold jersey.
Five other Eagles logged double-digit scoring outputs in addition to McGowan. Miranda Crockett recorded 20 points and nine rebounds, plus a season-high seven assists and five steals. Eriel McKee poured in 17 points and made five steals.
5-foot-11 freshman Sisalynn Norman exploded for a season-high 16 points on 4-of-6 (.667) shooting from three-point range, complemented by five boards in 22 minutes off the bench. Darianne Seward logged 14 points and a career-high six steals, while senior forward Brooke Todd rounded out the box score with a season-high 10 points, nine rebounds, a career-high six assists, and a season-high four blocks.
Following a full day of rest, Morehead State will return to action for its last home stand of the 2017 calendar year. The Eagles (4-3) tip off with Southern Illinois (3-2) on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. ET.
BELMONT 97, TREVECCA 39
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - There was nothing that could stop Belmont women's basketball Tuesday night inside the Curb Event Center. The Bruins drained a program-best 19 three pointers in route to a 97-39 victory over Trevecca Nazarene.
Junior guard Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) was one of seven Bruins to light it up beyond the arc, going 7-for-8 from afar for a career-best 21 points. The only miss she had was her last shot of the evening, previously boasting a flawless mark from three. Nineteen treys not only marked a program-best, but also set a new Curb Event Center record surpassing the previous tally of 17 – recorded by the men's basketball team twice before.
Muensterman wasn't the only player to get a hot hand, as six different players scored in double-digits for the first time since Jan. 9, 2016 against Eastern Illinois.
Senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) (17 points) and junior forward Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) (11 points) each posted a double-double, registering 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively.
To add to the historical night, Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) became the 30th Bruins to score 1,000 career points at Belmont. The talented guard joined teammates Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Smith, while finishing the night with 10 points and eight assists to her name.
The Bruins got down to business in the opening minutes of the game and never let up. They went on a 18-3 run over a four-minute span, hitting six threes to go up 24-7 on the Trojans with 3:27 left in the frame. Belmont ignited their long-distance shooting with 8 shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter to outscore Trevecca Nazarene, 33-9. Muensterman led the charge with three treys.
The magic rolled over into the second quarter as BU sunk back-to-back threes in the first 41 seconds, going up 39-11 with 8:19 left in the half. The Bruins continued to shoot lights out from afar, finishing the half with 13 three-pointers. The 13th came from Maggard with one minute left in the frame, marking her 1,000th career point and putting BU up, 56-20.
It was a different story after the break as the Bruins went 0-7 from three-point range to start the third, having to rely heavily on making shots inside the paint. The cold spell ended with 2:24 left in the frame when Smith and Muensterman hit consecutive long balls to bring the tally to 15, one short of the previous record.
Smith was responsible for the record-setting trey, hitting her fourth of the night to put Belmont ahead, 80-30, with 8:34 left in the game. During a stretch where the Bruins went 6-for-6 from the field, Hannah Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) collected her first points of the season to set the Curb record as Belmont went on to score 25 in the fourth and cruise by the Trojans.
Trevecca was led by Brittin Boyer and Hannah Eaglen who each compiled seven points.
Belmont shot 45.2 percent from beyond the arc, finishing 19-for-42. Overall the squad was 53.2 percent from the field, a season best shooting effort.
Belmont hosts Presbyterian College on Friday, Dec. 1 inside the Curb Event Center. Tip is scheduled for 11 a.m.
CLEVELAND STATE 77, EASTERN ILLINOIS 69
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State handed the Eastern Illinois women's basketball team their fifth loss this season to close out EIU's three game road trip. The Panthers fell to 1-5 with the 77-69 loss. The Vikings improve to 4-2 on the season.
Grace Lennox led the Panthers with a season high performance of 24 points. Lennox also dished out five assists, tallied five steals, and grabbed four rebounds. Jennifer Nehls also finished in double-figures for EIU. She scored 12 points with four rebounds and four assists.
The game saw four lead changes as the teams battled through the four quarters. EIU won the first and third quarters, but let the Vikings outscore them by nine in the second and two in the fourth leading to the Panthers eight point loss. The teams shot evenly through the game. The Panthers finished shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the arc while the Vikings shot 49 percent from the field and 31 percent from the arc.
The Panthers bench outscored Cleveland State's 21-19 with big performances from Taylor Steele and Jalisha Smith. Steele connected on 3-of-5 from behind the arc recording nine points for the Panthers. Smith scored a season high nine points on 4-of-5 field goals. Smith also tallied four rebounds.
Five players scored in double-figures for the Vikings. Ashanti Abshaw had a team high 20 points while Mariah Miller and Jade Ely each added 14. Khayla Livingston and Olivia Voskuhl scored 12 apiece.
EIU will return home to Lantz Arena on Tuesday Dec. 5 to take on the Bradley Braves at 6 pm.