THURSDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 80, Tennessee State 68
SIUE 61, @Austin Peay 38
@Murray State 72, Eastern Illinois 61
Belmont 67, @Southeast Missouri 57
Morehead State 74, @Tennessee Tech 67
@Jacksonville State 65, Eastern Kentucky 51
UT MARTIN 80, TENNESSEE STATE 68
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team got Ohio Valley Conference play started on the right foot on Thursday afternoon, outmatching league foe Tennessee State 80-68 in the Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (5-8, 1-0 OVC) snapped a three-game losing streak with a strong performance in the OVC opener by never trailing before securing an 80-68 victory. With the win, UT Martin improved to 94-21 in OVC play dating back to the 2010-11 season and 54-5 at home in league play during the span.
UT Martin would have four players score in double figures led by junior guard Emanye Robertson who tallied 18 points, eight assists and three steals in the contest. Senior Janekia Mason (18), junior Myah Taylor (15) and freshman Maddie Waldrop (12) would also score in double figures. Meanwhile, the duo of Kendall Spray and Ashton Feldhaus would also approach double-digits with nine points each.
Tennessee State (2-8, 0-1 OVC) was led by Tia Wooten with 22 points – including 19 points in the second half alone – while pulling down nine rebounds and five steals. Wooten was joined in double figures by four-time OVC Freshman of the Week Taylor Roberts with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Skyhawks would jump out to a quick lead, scoring just 11 seconds into the contest after receiving the opening tip. UT Martin would string together an 11-5 run midway through the period to push its margin out to as large as 11 points with 1:31 to play in the quarter. Following a three-pointer in the final minute by the Lady Tigers, the Skyhawks would take a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter.
The margin would fluctuate in the second quarter as Tennessee State would trim the deficit to as close as six points on a pair of occasions early in the period. UT Martin would respond however with a 7-0 run which gave the squad a 13-points midway through the period. From there play would level off as neither team found much offensive firepower as the Skyhawks took a 34-26 lead into halftime.
The third quarter would mark the highest scoring effort of the contest as both squads combined to score 46 points in the period. UT Martin would hold a lead as large as 14 points in the quarter before a Tennessee State run cut the margin down to six points following a jumper by Wooten with 1:22 to play in the third. While the Lady Tigers would look to build momentum, the Skyhawks would answer back with four points down the stretch to take a 10-point lead into the fourth.
Tennessee State would continue to bring the pressure in the fourth quarter with yet another run. The Lady Tigers strung together an 8-0 run to cut the margin from 12 points down to four following a free throw by Jade Wrightsell with four minutes to play. The Skyhawks would hold tight down the stretch however, pushing the margin up to double figures in the final minutes before securing an 80-68 home victory.
SIUE 61, AUSTIN PEAY 38
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Gwen Adams became the latest member of SIUE's 1,000-point club Thursday as the women's basketball Cougars opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a 61-38 victory at Austin Peay.
Adams hit the 1,000-point mark at 3:29 mark of the third quarter.
SIUE's defense was front and center in the OVC opener, holding Austin Peay to 27.9 percent shooting for the game (12-43).
It also was the lowest point total SIUE has allowed to an opponent in any OVC game since joining the league. The previous low was 39 against Jacksonville State in SIUE's first OVC game Dec. 31, 2011.
SIUE's offense shot 19 of 43 from the field (44.2 percent) for the game. Lauren White led all scorers with 16 points. Beck added 13.
The Cougars opened the game with a slim 13-9 lead after the first period on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. Neither team presented much offense in the second quarter although the Cougars outscored the Governors 8-7 in the period.
Buscher said she challenged her team to keep up its defensive pressure and set the tone for the second half.
The Cougars did so by pushing the lead to double digits at the 4:55 mark of the third period on a jumper by White.
SIUE turned up the offense with the first nine points of the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by White, two baskets by Beck and a layup by Zaria Whitlock, pushing the lead to 51-30 with 7:49 to play.
Falon Baker, who tossed in nine points, was the leading scorer for Austin Peay, now 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the OVC.
The Cougars also dominated the boards 38-18 yet turned the ball over 26 times.
MURRAY STATE 72, EASTERN ILLINOIS 61
MURRAY, Ky. - A pair of seniors in Bria Bethea and Ke’Shunan James and freshman, Brianna Crane, helped lead the Murray State women to an OVC-opening 72-61 win over Eastern Illinois Thursday night at “The Bank.”
James had all around fantastic performance as she scored a game-high 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and tallied eight assists on the night. It was James’ fifth double-double of the season. Bethea added 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals of her own in the victory while Crane scored a career-best 16 and pulled down nine rebounds.
For the game, MSU (5-7, 1-0 OVC) shot a higher percentage than the Panthers (1-11, 0-1 OVC) as the Racers shot an even 40 percent from the floor while holding EIU to 35.6 percent. The Racers also made seven more free throws than EIU and had a 32-26 edge in points in the paint and a 24-14 advantage in points off turnovers. MSU forced 17 turnovers and committed just 11 of its own.
The Racers controlled much of the contest as they led for nearly 36 minutes on the night. MSU’s biggest lead of the game came with 4:55 left in third at 58-40. The Panthers however were able to end the quarter on a 15-5 run and trailed 53-45 after three.
With 8:32 remaining, EIU got as close as it would come in the contest, as it cut the lead down to 53-48. A quick 7-0 spurt by MSU pushed the lead back up to double digits. The Racers would respond with another 7-0 run later in the quarter after EIU cut the lead to 60-53 with 4:25 to play.
MSU trailed the first part of the first quarter before stringing together a nice run to end the quarter and led 16-11 after the period. The Racers led by as many as nine points in the first half and had a 29-23 lead at the half.
Thursday’s win marks the third straight OVC opener that the Racers have won and improves MSU’s mark to 18-13 in home OVC openers.
Five Panthers finished in double-figures. Carmen Tellez had a team-leading 15 points. She also grabbed five boards and tallied three steals. Nehls and Danielle Berry neared double-doubles but fell short. Jennifer Nehls recorded 10 points and nine rebounds with five offensive boards. Berry scored 10 points and grabbed eight boards. Karle Pace added 12 points off the bench while Taylor Steele finished with 10 points.
BELMONT 67, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 57
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - On a night where shots weren't falling as usual, Belmont women's basketball pulled out a gutty win over Southeast Missouri in the Ohio Valley Conference opener Thursday evening inside the Show Me Center. The Bruins used a season-best performance from senior Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) to sneak past the Redhawks, 67-57.
McCabe posted 22 points, edging her previous season-best mark by a tally. She went 10-for-16 from the field, tying a career-best in field goals made. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn. native was joined by two additional double-figure performances with 14 from junior forward Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) and 10 from sophomore forward Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.). While the trio powered the Bruins offense, junior Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) held it down on the defensive end with 11 rebounds. Roy also dished out eight assists.
SEMO (5-8, 0-1) looked to Adrianna Murphy (14 points, 5 assists) and Tesia Thompson (10 points) much of the night. The Redhawks had three other players register at least eight points. The Bruins (11-3, 1-0) held them to just 34 percent from the field, only making one three in the contest.
Both squads got out to a slow start in the first four minutes of the game, combining for just seven total points as Belmont held a narrow, 5-2, lead. The Redhawks struck first with a jumper before the Bruins retaliated with a 7-0 run in the midst of a five-minute scoreless span for SEMO. Six first quarter turnovers hindered BU from separating itself as Southeast Missouri held on to a 15-13 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
The second quarter had a similar feel in the early goings as both Belmont and SEMO suffered a two-minute scoreless stretch. The Bruins took control from there, hitting three consecutive shots from beyond the arc to go up, 24-19, on the Redhawks. Wright drained three consecutive field goals, including two from three-pointer range, for eight second quarter points. Rookie Caitlyn Yost put a cherry on top of the half after getting fouled beyond the arc with less than a second left on the clock. The guard sunk all three free throws to put BU ahead, 32-23, at the intermission.
After scoring six points in the first half, McCabe got hot in the second scoring 16 points over the course of two quarters. She got the Bruins out to a quick start in the third, accounting for their first four points on back-to-back layups. E. Harmeyer proved to be clutch all night as she halted a Redhawk run with her third three-pointer of the night with 6:18 left in the stanza to put BU up 10, 39-29. Junior guard Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) drained her sole trey of the night directly following E. Harmeyer's as Belmont continued to try and distance themselves from Southeast Missouri. Maggard's trey would be one of Belmont's last field goals of the third as the team struggled to find the bottom of the net for the final 3:45. SEMO mounted a 6-0 run to cut Belmont's advantage to five, 46-41.
McCabe continued to light it up in the fourth, scoring 10 points in the quarter alone. Yost finished the night perfect at the line, hitting two more free throws as she tallied eight points. E. Harmeyer found McCabe for a pair of quick layups before the team once again hit a drought. E. Harmeyer ended the lull with her career-best fourth trey to secure BU's 67-57 victory over SEMO.
Adrianna Murphy led the Redhawks with 14 points while Tesia Thompson added 10.
MORHEAD STATE 74, TENNESSEE TECH 67
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Morehead State women's basketball sank 11 consecutive free throws to close out the fourth quarter, holding on for a 74-67 win at Tennessee Tech on Thursday night at the Eblen Center. The Eagles open Ohio Valley Conference play 1-0 for the second straight season, improving to 10-4 overall. Tennessee Tech falls to 3-9, 0-1 OVC.
Morehead State connected on 21-of-23 (.913) free throws on the game, its highest percentage of the season. The Eagles' marksmanship at the charity stripe countered Tennessee Tech's fourth-quarter run, wherein the home team nailed 9-of-15 (.600) field goals to outscore Morehead State 24-21. The Eagles, who never trailed and led by as many as 16 in the third quarter, survived the final 3:30 of the contest without a bucket.
Two Morehead State seniors poured in 17 points apiece to lead all scorers. Former Howard transfer Erin Blaine scored 17 on 7-of-7 shooting from the foul line, complemented by six rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Four-year letter winner Eriel McKee, who leads the league in steals, added five rebounds, three assists, and four steals to a 17-point output of her own.
Miranda Crockett logged 16 points (on 6-of-6 shooting from the line), eight rebounds, and three assists without missing a minute of action, while Darianne Seward tallied 14 points, four boards, six assists, and two steals. Brooke Todd tied a career-high six blocks off the bench, totaling over 200 blocked shots in a Morehead State uniform. The 6-foot-2 senior needs just four more to surpass Tasha Gales (205) for the second-highest career total in program history.
Jordan Brock led Tennessee Tech with 17 points while MacKenzie Coleman added 15 points and Akia Harris had 12.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 65, EASTERN KENTUCKY 51
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a convincing 65-51 win over Eastern Kentucky at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday.
The Gamecocks (7-5, 1-0 OVC) snapped a two-game skid in the process of winning its first conference opener in three years. The win was the seventh for JSU in the last eight meetings against the Colonels from Richmond, Ky. EKU falls to 3-7 overall and begins league play with an 0-1 mark.
Freshman Taylor Hawks posted a career best with 18 points, going 8-of-9 from the stripe, and a perfect 2-for-2 from long distance. The Gainesville, Ga., native was joined in double figures by Tyler Phelion and Chloe Long, who scored 14 and 11, respectively. Junior Rayven Pearson once against led the battle at the glass with 12 rebound, but her seven points snapped a string of three-straight double-doubles.
JSU assisted on 15 of its 21 field goals, as the Gamecocks tallied their highest scoring output in eight games. The Jax State bench outscored the visiting bench, 35-9.
The Colonels opened the game with a quick 5-0 lead, but that would be just about all it got in the opening period as JSU closed on an 18-2 run to take an 11-point advantage into the second quarter. EKU would narrow the gap to six at one point, but the two sides eventually evened out to 14 points apiece in the frame to hand JSU the 32-21 halftime lead.
In the third, JSU widened its margin as Phelion had a span of six-straight points for the Gamecocks. As the quarter closed in on the two-minute mark, senior Gretchen Morrison would hit her only bucket of the contest to give JSU its largest lead of the night at 21, 47-26.
A layup by Jayla Walker early in the fourth saw the margin remain the same at 54-33. The Colonels mounted a late surge with a 13-4 stretch midway through the final period, but the deficit never reached single digits as JSU continued on to the 65-41 victory.
The Colonels were led in scoring by Abby Wright, who scored 14 points and was an efficient 7-of-8 from the foul line. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and blocked two shots. Bria Bass was the only other Colonel to finish in double-figures, adding 11 points. A'Queen Hayes also joined Wright with eight boards and a team-high two steals.