SATURDAY'S SCORES
@George Mason 64,
Eastern Kentucky 41
Western Illinois 81,
@Austin Peay 68
@Miami (Ohio) 58,
Jacksonville State 55
@Tennessee State 93, Fisk 48
GEORGE MASON 64, EASTERN KENTUCKY 41
FAIRFAX, Va. – The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team held a two-point lead, 25-23, after one half of play, but could not sustain that advantage, falling to the George Mason Patriots, 64-41, at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia.
The Colonels (2-6, 0-0 OVC) forced 15 first half turnovers to help fight back from 10 down, 18-8, to take two-point lead, 25-23, going into the halftime break. However, George Mason came out of halftime on a 7-0 run to retake the lead, 32-25. Eastern cut the lead to four, 36-32, when Shay Solomon converted a layup underneath, but the Patriots rattled off another 7-0 run to pull ahead, 45-32 with 1:22 left in the quarter.
From there, EKU responded with a 6-0 run, sparked by a Solomon jumper, that extended into the fourth quarter, cutting the George Mason lead to nine, 47-38. The Patriots, however, put their foot down in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Colonels 19-5 the rest of the way to seal the win.
Madison Pierce led the way for the Colonels, scoring a career-high 12 points and coming away with a career-high four steals, the most steals by a Colonel since last season, when Marcella Rocha came away with four on March 1 against Morehead State.
Abby Wright was the only other Colonel to score in double figures, contributing 11 points. Despite scoring just two points and snapping her double-digit scoring streak, A’Queen Hayes pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and three steals.
The Eastern defense stepped up, coming away with a season-high 11 steals and forced the Patriots into 19 turnovers, scoring 15 points off of them. They also limited George Mason’s leading scorer, Natalie Butler (18.6 ppg), to just one first half point, 12 total, which tied her season low.
EKU’s offense struggled to find rhythm, going 18-of-64 (28 percent) and 2-of-15 from behind the arc.
The Patriots (9-2, 0-0 A10) were led by Nicole Cardano, who finished with a game-high 18 points.
The Colonels return to action on Dec. 18, when they take on Ohio Christian in McBrayer Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
WESTERN ILLNOIS 81, AUSTIN PEAY 68
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women's basketball team dropped its first home game of the season, 81-66 against Western Illinois, Saturday.
The Fighting Leathernecks jumped out to the early lead, as the Govs struggled with turnovers in the first two possessions. Falon Baker calmed the storm with a three-point shot to open the Austin Peay (7-2) scoring. Keisha Gregory then took over the Governors offense scoring nine points in the first period
The Govs worked to cut into the lead in the second quarter, which stretched to 20 points early in the period. Brianne Alexander helped give the Governors second chances, pulling down four offensive rebounds and six total in the second quarter.
Austin Peay found success with quick ball movement against Western Illinois' 1-3-1 zone defense, but the Governors lost the battle at the foul line with the Leathernecks shooting 16-of-18 from the line with the Govs going 2-of-4 from the stripe.
After the halftime break, the Governors made several runs to get back into contention, but struggled to string together consecutive stops on defense. Keisha Gregory scored eight points with Falon Baker adding six points and two rebounds in the third quarter.
Western Illinois (9-2) had a 5-0 run to open the fourth quarter, but the Govs responded with an 8-0 run of their own, cutting the Leathernecks lead to 13 points. The Governors scored seven points off Western Illinois turnovers and had 11 bench points while limiting the Leathernecks to two in the final period.
Keisha Gregory led the Governors with a career-high tying 17 points with four assists and two rebounds. Falon Baker scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds, shooting 50.0 percent from three-point territory.
Shelbe Piggie provided a spark off the bench scoring nine points in her 20 minutes on the court. Arielle Gonzalez-Varner and Brianah Ferby each added five points as Austin Peay tallied 19 points from the bench.
Austin Peay will have a week off before the first game of a two-game road series, 2 p.m. Dec. 16 at Illinois.
MIAMI 58, JACKSONVILLE STATE 55
OXFORD, Ohio – The Jacksonville State women's basketball team couldn't close a late fourth quarter rally, falling 58-55 to Miami University inside Millett Hall on the Ohio campus.
JSU (5-3) entered looking for its second consecutive road win, while the Redhawks (6-3) have now won four straight. The Gamecocks held the best three-point shooting team in the nation based on percentage (46.1) to just 1-of-7 (14.3) on Saturday in a strong defensive effort. MU's leading scorer Lauren Dickerson was also kept in check with just 10 points, less than half of her season average and far below the 42 she registered in her previous game.
For Jax State, Rayven Pearson led the way with 16 points and finished just one rebound shy of her third double-double of the year with nine boards. Chloe Long joined Pearson off the bench as the only other Gamecock to finish in double figures with 10 points. Leah Strain and Taylor Hawks both had nine.
JSU looked in trouble in the opening possessions as Miami quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Tyler Phelion eventually put JSU on the board with a layup that would spark the Gamecocks surge through the rest of the period. Long has a string of six-straight points that tied the game at 11 and eventually handed Jax State a four-point advantage. As MU got within one, Strain hit a three to put the Gamecocks back up 18-14, before Long hit the final basket to end the quarter on a 20-7 run.
JSU was able to continue the momentum in the second quarter and took a 33-28 lead into halftime. The third quarter however once again gave the Gamecocks fits as the Redhawks rallied back to grab their first lead since the midway point of the opening period. Miami shot 67 percent through the period and outscores JSU by 12 to take a 46-39 advantage into the final 10 minutes.
An early basket in the fourth game Miami its largest lead of the game at nine, but JSU wasn't finished. After Pearson cut it to seven, Hawks reeled off four straight points make it a three-point contest with 6:41 remaining. Back down five with just over two minutes left, Pearson hit drew a foul on a made layup and hit the free throw to make it 54-52. After each team exchanged goals on the following possessions, JSU got a needed block from Long that gave the Gamecocks the ball with nine seconds to play down 56-54. On the final play, Kiana Johnson was unable to hit a runner, but Pearson snagged the rebound and was fouled with under a second on the clock. She hit just one-of-two and after MU hits its last two free throws, JSU didn't have time to get off a good try at a game-tying three.
JSU closes the books on a four game road swing and will return home Tuesday, December 12, at Pete Mathews Coliseum to face Alabama A&M.
TENNESSEE STATE 93, FISK 48
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In a dominating first win of the season, Tennessee State University women’s basketball team defeated Fisk University, 93-48, Saturday evening in Gentry Center.
TSU improved to 1-5 on the season while Fisk dropped to 2-10.
Tia Wooten posted her second double-double of the season, 20 points and career-high 12 rebounds making this the fourth game she led TSU in scoring, while freshman guard Franceska Brown registered a career-high 19 points, 9 rebounds.
TSU took the early lead going 9-0 uncontested, putting them up 19-5 before the first media timeout. Franceska Brown took the offensive lead putting up 11 points in the paint for Big Blue.
The blue and white kept the Bulldogs in single digits for 11:33 of the game, while shooting 50.3 percent from the field summing 28 points.
With a three by Taylor Williams, the Lady Tigers increased their lead to 30 points in the second period.
Halfway into the third quarter, Fisk had four players in foul trouble.
Tia Wooten led the third period with 8 points, 4 rebounds.
Big Blue finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field and from the line.
TSU head to Louisville, Ky. to take on the Cardinals Tuesday, December 12 to be aired on ESPN3 at 6 p.m. CST.