THURSDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 59, @Southeast Missouri 56
@UT Martin 77, Eastern Kentucky 49
@Tennessee Tech 63, Austin Peay 59
@Jacksonville State 97, Murray State 65
@Eastern Illinois 66, Tenessee State 59 (OT)
MOREHEAD STATE 59, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 56
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Senior forward Eriel McKee hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Morehead State women's basketball team to a 59-56 win at Southeast Missouri on Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
With the victory, the Eagles bounce back to 12-6 overall, posting a 3-2 record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast Missouri falls to 7-10, 2-3 OVC.
Morehead State never led in a very physical opening quarter, hitting just 2-of-14 (.143) from the floor. Its first advantage came at the 8:22 mark in the second, when McKee found Brooke Todd for a bank shot down low to bring the score to 15-14. The Eagles reversed their shooting woes by hitting 9-of-15 (.600) in the period, eventually taking a 30-20 lead into the halftime break.
Fortunes flipped once more in the third, as Southeast Missouri came storming back to tie the contest at 41 heading into the final period. The fourth quarter transpired in back-and-forth fashion, culminating in a 56-56 tie with under one minute remaining.
After SEMO's Deja Jones was called for a travel with 18 seconds to go, Morehead State took a 30-second timeout to mull over its last possession. Darianne Seward received the ensuing inbound pass, watching the clock dwindle until a double-team attacked with just a few seconds lingering. Seward somehow found McKee behind the three-point line at the last moment, and the 5-foot-10 four-year starter let it fly as the buzzer sounded. The ball swished through the net for McKee's only three-pointer of the ballgame.
McKee finished with a team-high 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, one block, and a steal. Junior guard Miranda Crockett, who became the 25th all-time member of the Morehead State 1,000-point club late in the first half, notched 12 points, six boards, one assist, and two steals. Seward was the Eagles' only other double-digit scorer, logging 11 points, four rebounds, a game-high eight assists, and a steal.
Southeast Missouri's Tesia Thompson scored a game-high 22 points while Adrianna Murphy recorded 10 points. Murphy also led the team with eight rebounds and five assists.
UT MARTIN 77, EASTERN KENTUCKY 49
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 77-49 victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky on Thursday evening.
The Skyhawks (7-10, 3-2 OVC) picked up their second consecutive victory behind an offensive performance which saw five players score in double figures for the first time this season. While UT Martin played strong offensively, it was its defensive presence which held Eastern Kentucky to just 29 percent shooting from the field and just 18 field goals in the contest.
UT Martin was led in scoring by sophomore Kendall Spray with 18 points while junior Emanye Robertson was close behind with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds. The post trio of Janekia Mason (13 points), Ashton Feldhaus (12 points) and Chelsey Perry (10 points) would dominate, combining to tally 35 points and 18 rebounds to round out the group in double figures.
Eastern Kentucky (5-9, 2-3 OVC) dropped its third OVC contest of the season following a tough night shooting from the floor. Reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week A’Queen Hayes would prove to be the team’s lone bright spot, tallying 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Skyhawks would jump out to a big lead, scoring the game’s first 16 points before the Colonels finally broke through with a jumper by Joya Wright with 5:56 to play in the quarter. UT Martin would benefit from a hot shooting stroke, making eight consecutive field goals during the first quarter run. Behind eight points from the duo of Robertson and Mason, the Skyhawks secured a 24-12 lead going into the second quarter.
UT Martin continued to stretch out its margin out to as large as 20 points in the second quarter. Sparked by yet another 8-0 run, a jumper by Spray at the 4:10 mark gave the Skyhawks a 36-16 advantage. As a result of a 63.3 percent shooting performance in the first half, UT Martin held a 43-23 lead at the break.
Eastern Kentucky would narrowly outscore UT Martin in the third quarter, trimming the deficit down to as close as 17 right before the end of the period. The Skyhawks saw their lead balloon out to as large as 25 points on a pair of occasions in the third before the Colonels closed the period on a 10-4 run. After three quarters of play, the margin would hold at 17 points for the home squad.
With the contest well in hand, UT Martin controlled the fourth quarter as well. The Skyhawks turned to their reserves down the stretch to close the game, ending the contest on an 8-0 run to secure a 77-49 victory.
TENNESSEE TECH 63, AUSTIN PEAY 59
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated Austin Peay, 63-49, for its first OVC win of the season. With the win the Golden Eagle improve to 4-12 overall and 1-4 in league play while the Governors fall to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in OVC play.
Jordan Brock led Tech with 17 points while Mackenzie Coleman added 15. Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Michaela Campbell came off the bench to lead Austin Peay with 19 points while Brianne Alexander added 14 points. Alexander also tied for the team lead with five boards.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 97, MURRAY STATE 65
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team made 41 field goals Thursday night in a 97-65 rout of Ohio Valley Conference foe, Murray State, to move to 4-1 in league play.
The Racers (5-11, 1-4 OVC) lead the all-time series, 17-6, after 23 meetings, but the Gamecocks have turned the tides lately winning four of the last five meetings under head coach Rick Pietri. Thursday's win propelled the Gamecocks (10-6, 4-1 OVC) to their seventh home win of the season.
In a rare feat, six Gamecocks reached double figures scoring, led by senior Tyler Phelion's 15. Junor Rayven Pearson put up 14 points. Both Phelion and Pearson finished with double-doubles with 10 and 11 boards, respectively. Senior Ki-Ki Patterson added 12 off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting, followed by a trio of Gamecocks with 11 points in Gretchen Morrison, Kiana Johnson and newcomer Brianna Perry, who was 4-for-4 from the field in her only action in the fourth quarter.
Jax State shot above 50 percent (54.7%) for the first time since last season's conference opener on the road at UT Martin in what was a 94-83 setback for JSU. This time, JSU finished with its largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent in 84 games, since a 70-34 win over Southeast Missouri on Jan. 14, 2015.
JSU bookended the contest with a pair of 28-point quarters. The first quarter opened 8-0 in favor of the Gamecocks, forcing MSU to take a timeout less than three minutes into the game. The lead reached double-digit for the first time at 21-9 following one of three first-quarter triples by Morrison. The Racers were limited to just nine points in the opening period, putting the visitors in a hole the rest of the way.
A 15-0 run for JSU spanning into the second quarter gave the Gamecocks a 31-9 advantage. That turned to a 48-26 margin by halftime.
The Racers kept with JSU throughout the third period, but were outmatched once again in the fourth as JSU stretched the lead to 30 on a jumped by Patterson with seven minutes remaining. Even digging deep into the bench didn't fault the Gamecocks who outscored MSU's bench by 41, 49-8.
MSU still shot 41 percenet, led by Ke'Shunan James' 29 points. Brianna Crane pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 66, TENNESSEE STATE 59
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois picked up its first OVC win of the year as the Panthers defeated Tennessee State, 66-59, in overtime on Thursday night.
With the win the Panthers improve to 2-14 overall and 1-4 in the OVC while the Lady Tigers dropped to 3-11 overall and 1-4 in league action.
Taylor Steele paced eastern Illinois with 19 points, including hitting a pair of three-pointers. Karle Pace scored 18 points while Danielle Berry notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jennifer Nehls chipped in 10 points in the win.
Tennessee State's Tia Wooten posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Wooten went a perfect 10-for-10 from the line. Taylor Roberts hit six three-pointers for 18 points while Kayliya Griffn also hit double-digits in points with 11.