THURSDAY' SCORES
Belmont 111, @Vanderbilt 74
Lipscomb 61,
@Tennessee Tech 57
@FGCU 66,
SIUE 49
@West Virginia 66,
Morehead State 56
Marshall 71,
@Tennessee State 65
BELMONT 111, VANDERBILT 74
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A 25-2 run by Belmont women's basketball to close out the second quarter sunk Vanderbilt's comeback bid Thursday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium. A career day from junior forward Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) helped propel the Bruins to a record-breaking 111-74 victory, marking the most points a BU squad has scored in its Division I era.
Three different Bruins scored 20 points in a single game for the first time since the 1994-95 season. Senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) posted her second consecutive 20-plus point performance, scoring 27 with the help of five threes. She was accompanied by Darby Maggard's (Larwill, Ind.) 21 points and E. Harmeyer's 20 points, tying her career-best. The trio was also joined by three more double-digit performances from Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) (17 points), Maddie Wright (Chatanooga, Tenn.) (15 points) and Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) (11 points).
The Bruins (10-3) shot an astounding 58 percent from the floor with the help of draining 15 treys and going 37-for-64 from the field. They also got it done on the defensive end, out-rebounding the Commodores, 47-17.
Vanderbilt (3-10) was led by Chelsie Hall's 26 points who was perfect from the line, sinking all nine free throws. Three other Commodores also tallied double figure scoring performances.
After trading buckets to start the game, Belmont began to separate itself from Vanderbilt with the help of Maggard's hot hand. The junior guard powered the Bruins to an 8-0 run, sinking two of her four treys in the first quarter within a span of 30 seconds to put BU up, 12-7, with 5:22 left in the quarter. Maggard accounted for nearly half of Belmont's first quarter points after going 4-for-4 beyond the arc as Belmont led, 25-17.
The rest of the squad followed suit in the second stanza as five Bruins drained at least one trey en route to putting up 32 points. Vanderbilt tried to get back into the game, scoring eight unanswered to come within one-point, 32-31, of the Bruins with 5:13 remaining in the half. That was as close as BU was going to let the Commodores get as the team erupted in the final four minutes, countering Vanderbilt's run with a 25-2 scoring frenzy. E. Harmeyer was the spark plug, hitting a three and the proceeding to draw and convert the And-1 play on her next drive. E. Harmeyer refused to let up, swiping the ball from a Commodore guard in the waning seconds that led to Maggard draining her fifth three. Belmont took a commanding lead into the locker room, 57-33, with the help of 11 poinst from E. Harmeyer.
Vanderbilt started to come alive in the third quarter, scoring 28 points but Belmont responded with 24 of its own. Roy made her presence known in the third, tallying seven points and compiling four rebounds in the stanza. Collectively, Belmont refused to let the Commodores sneak back into the game finding an answer to everything VU had up their sleeve.
Belmont continued to forge forward in the final stanza with none other than E. Harmeyer hitting her third three-pointer of the afternoon to get things started. The trey put the guard at 20 points, tying her career-best. Smith took control from there, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter alone with the help of three buckets from beyond the arc. Wright also added eight points to her line in the final minutes to notch her fourth double-digit performance of the year. While piling another 30 points in the fourth, Belmont held Vanderbilt to a quiet 13 points as the squad ran away with a 111-74 victory.
Belmont will kick off OVC play with a pair of road games Dec. 28 and Dec. 30. The Bruins will start with a trip to Cape Girardeau, Mo. To take on SEMO before heading to UT Martin.
FGCU 66, SIUE 49
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast hit seven three-pointers in the third quarter Thursday to push past SIUE women's basketball 66-49 at Alico Arena.
Lauren White was named to the All-Tournament team for the Cougars, 3-8, after averaging 18.5 points per game at the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Classic.
White tied for second in scoring for the Cougars against Florida Gulf Coast with nine points. Donshel Beck led SIUE with 10 points. Cloe Churchill and Sydney Bauman added nine each for the Cougars.
The game marked the final game before SIUE begins Ohio Valley Conference play next Thursday at Austin Peay.
SIUE's defense held FGCU to 30.8 percent shooting in the first half and just two three-pointers. The Cougars led for most of the first half after hitting 47.4 percent of their shots in the opening 20 minutes. SIUE led at halftime 27-20.
FGCU, 12-3, entered the game leading the nation in three-pointers and attempted. The Eagles hit 12 for the game, 10 of which were in the second half. China Dow and Taylor Gradinjan each had four three-pointers. Dow and Nasrin Ulel led the team in scoring with 14 points.
WEST VIRGINIA 66, MOREHEAD STATE 56
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Morehead State fell at No. 9 West Virginia, 66-56, on Thursday night. The loss snapped the Eagles seven-game win streak.
Darianne Seward led the team with a career-best 23 points, including hitting a trio of three-pointers. Eriel McKee added 11 points while Tierra McGowan nearly had a double-double with eight points and a team-best 11 boards.
The Eagles will have the next week off and will return to action on Dec. 28 when they travel to Tennessee Tech to open up OVC play.
LIPSCOMB 61, TENNESSEE TECH 57
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech fell to visiting Lipscomb, 61-57, on Thursday evening. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fell to 3-8 on the season.
Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson led the team with 15 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Brock came off the bench to score 12 points while Kesha Brady chipped in 11.
Tennessee Tech returns to action on Dec. 28 when it hosts Morehead State to open up OVC play.
MARSHALL 71, TENNESSEE STATE 65
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee State women’s basketball erased a 31-point deficit and freshman Taylor Roberts poured in a career-high 27 points but it was not enough as TSU fell to Marshall, 71-65, Thursday night in the Gentry Center.
After being outscored, 49-24, in the first half, TSU (2-7) held Marshall (5-7) to 22 second-half points. The Lady Tigers cut the deficit down to six points but could not complete the comeback.
Taylor Roberts finished with 27 points to lead TSU while Tia Wooten added 13.
TSU fell behind, 29-10, after Marshall knocked down seven three-pointers and shot 77.8 percent from beyond the arc in the opening period.
The visitors extended the advantage to 44-13 after outscoring TSU 15-3 to start the second quarter.
Later in the second frame, a 9-0 spurt fueled by back-to-back three-point plays from Taylor Roberts provided a spark for the TSU offense.
The Lady Tigers outscored the Thundering Herd, 11-5, in the last 5:10 of the half to go into the break trailing, 49-24.
Taylor Roberts led TSU with 12 points at halftime.
TSU scored six unanswered points to start the third quarter but Marshall responded with six straight.
The home team continued to fight and managed to cut the deficit down to 13 points on a layup by Jaden Wrightsell with 31 seconds left in the third period.
With 6:56 remaining, TSU pulled to within single digits, 61-52, following a 6-0 run.
TSU closed to within six with 3:46 remaining when Taylor Williams drained a triple.
With just over one minute remaining the score was, 69-61, in favor of Marshall.
TSU cut the deficit down to six points again but that would be as close as they would get.
TSU returns to action next week in the OVC opener at UT Martin. Game time is set for 3 p.m. in Elam Center.