SATURDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 86, @Eastern Illinois 58
@Jacksonville State 65, Austin Peay 47
@Southeast Missouri 69, Eastern Kentucky 55
@SIUE 74, Tennessee State 63
Morehead State 81, @UT Martin 76 (OT)
@Murray State 72, Tennessee Tech 63
BELMONT 86, EASTERN ILLINOIS 58
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Junior guards Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) each registered a double-double as Belmont women's basketball remained perfect in conference play with an 86-58 victory over Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
BU (16-3, 6-0) saw five players score in double digits with the scoring led by Sally McCabe's (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) 20 points. She was followed by Roy, who neared a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Maggard contributed 12 points and 12 assists for her first double-double of the season and eighth career game with double figure assists.
Junior guard Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) accounted for five of the team's 13 threes for 15 points, while rookie Caitlyn Yost (Lewsiburg, Tenn.) closed out Belmont's double-digit performances with her third 10-point game of the season. Collectively, the Bruins shot 50 percent from the floor and received 28 points from the bench.
The Panthers (2-15, 1-5) were powered by a pair of 13-point outings from Karle Pace and Taylor Steele. Grace McRae followed with 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks. EIU shot 36 percent while going 8-for-23 from three-point range.
The Bruins and Panthers shared buckets in the opening five minutes of the game before Belmont separated themselves from the pack. Muensterman hit a trey to tie it up, 9-9, at the first media timeout to spark BU's offense. Roy came out of the break, going coast-to-coast and converting at the line for a three-point play of her own. The squad went on to outscore Eastern Illinois 13-4 down the final stretch to claim a 22-13 advantage after one frame.
Eastern Illinois looked to claw its way back into the game, draining a three of their own on the first play of the second stanza, but Muensterman followed suit with her third bucket beyond the arc. Belmont outscored EIU, 21-10, with McCabe accounting for 12 second quarter points. While McCabe powered the Bruins scoring, Roy stifled the Panthers offense with seven rebounds and two steals at the break. Belmont boasted a 20-point lead at the half, 43-23.
Belmont continued to edge itself further and further from Eastern Illinois in the second half as Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) hit one from afar to get things started. Roy continued to dominate in all facets, registering her third And-1 of the day to cap an 8-0 BU run. She'd go on to hit a three-pointer later in the frame to register her season-high 16th point. In addition to veteran contributions in the third, Yost recorded four of her 10 points as the Bruins took a 67-43 lead into the fourth.
The final stanza started slow for both squads with Belmont only registering seven points in the first six minutes. After the media timeout Belmont erupted four 12 points, all coming from beyond the arc. Yost initiated the scoring frenzy with back-to-back treys before junior guard Hannah Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) and Muensterman followed suit. The spurt pushed BU to an 86-58 victory over the Panthers.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 65, AUSTIN PEAY 47
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Senior Tasha Magruder notched her first double-double in a Gamecock uniform, and freshman Taylor Hawks led with 15 points as the Jacksonville State women's basketball team won its seventh-straight home game of the season to improve to 5-1 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
JSU (11-6, 5-1 OVC) led wire-to-wire for the second-consecutive game, topping Austin Peay (10-7, 3-3 OVC) in a 65-47 decision on Saturday afternoon. The win maintained JSU's second-place spot in the league standings, and matches the longest home-winning streak since 2003-04.
Senior Gretchen Morrison joined Hawks and Magruder in double figures with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Magruder finished with 10 points and 11 boards, while junior Rayven Peason worked the glass for 10 rebounds for her 10th game of double-digit boards this season. In reserve, Chloe Long and Tyler Phelion pitched in six points apiece.
Morrison started the scoring with a triple in the first minute, before Magruder went to work with six-straight points, all from the inside. Morrison then hit her second of four treys on the day to make it 12-5 with 4:37 remaining in the first period. JSU used an 8-0 run that stretched into the second quarter to take a 21-9 advantage, before APSU used a timeout to slow things down. The lead grewt to as many as 15 in the opening half as Hawks hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to send JSU to the half up, 36-21.
JSU continued its momentum early into the third period, extending the margin out to 50-27 before the Gamecocks ran into a three-minute scoring-drought that saw the Govs make an 8-0 run to cut the deficit back to the halftime difference at 15.
Despite shooting just 2-of-11 from the free throw line in the fourth, the Gamecocks managed to make timely baskets to keep APSU from ever getting within 13 points of the lead. Morrison's final three-pointer of the day made it 59-43 with just over three minutes remaining. JSU reached the 60-point barrier in the final minutes, and moved to 9-0 when scoring at least that much.
Falon Baker led Austin Peay with nine points and seven rebounds while Kelen Kenol added eight points and seven rebounds.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 69, EASTERN KENTUCKY 55
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's basketball defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 69-55 on Saturday at the Show Me Center.
The Redhawks began the game strong on the defensive end, limiting the Colonels to just two points in the opening half of the first quarter. Adrianna Murphy had 8 points in the period.
SEMO led 18-12 at the end of one.
The Southeast offense really picked up in the second quarter, making over 60 percent of its field goals including two three pointers. The Colonels continued to struggle to take care of the ball with 11 turnovers in the period.
At halftime, Southeast led EKU 42-25.
The third period the Colonels showed some life on the offensive end, hitting over 50 percent of their shots. They did however still have seven turnovers in the period. Southeast continued their hot shooting from the first half, shooting over 60 percent for the second consecutive quarter.
The Redhawks led 59-41 at the end of the third quarter.
Eastern Kentucky came out aggressive in the fourth, and even cut the lead once at 18 to 12 with 7:09 remaining in the game. However, that was as close as the Colonels could come to a comeback, as Southeast went on to win by 14.
Southeast was able to capitalize on the 35 turnovers from Eastern Kentucky, scoring 34 points of their own off the Colonels mistakes.
For the game Southeast shot 52 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line.
Tesia Thompson continued her strong play of late with a career-high tying 23 points to go along with four rebounds and a career-high six steals.
Adrianna Murphy added 17 points and a career-high tying seven steals.
Deja Jones chipped in 11 points, six rebounds, and five steals for the Southeast.
LaTrese Saine put in 10 points, two blocks and four rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.
Jessie Harshberger has hit a three-pointer in back to back games after making zero her previous 34 games as a Redhawk.
Abby Wright led the way for Eastern, scoring 18 points and grabbing eight boards. A’Queen Hayes added 13 and a game-high nine rebounds, while Bria Bass scored 12 points and converted all seven of her foul shots. On the defensive end, Teri Goodlett came away with a career-high four steals, three coming in the final quarter.
SIUE 74, TENNESSEE STATE 63
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A quick getaway was all the SIUE women's basketball team needed to recapture its winning ways Saturday at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars built a 14-3 lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back in defeating Tennessee State 74-63 for their fifth victory in their last six games. SIUE, which had its four-game winning streak snapped Thursday against Belmont, improved to 8-9 overall and 5-1 in the OVC. Tennessee State dropped to 3-12 overall and 1-5 in the OVC.
Most of those good things continued throughout the game. Five Cougars scored in double figures with senior Donshel Beck leading the way with 17 points. She also snagged seven rebounds. Gwen Adams (13 points), Jay'Nee Alson (12 points), Lauren White (11 points) and freshman Zaria Whitlock (a season-best 10 points) contributed to the cause. Freshman Allie Troeckler also grabbed a season-best nine rebounds.
The Cougars accumulated 17 assists, matching a season high. They also sank a season-best 28 free throws (28 of 34 from the line) and withstood 29 turnovers, the most this year.
Alston and White both connected on a pair of three-pointers and each scored eight points the first half as the Cougars forged in front 34-24.
Adams converted all of her seven free throws attempts and punched in a three-point play with 6:59 remaining after Tennessee State got to within 52-40. Whitlock made four foul shots in the final minute to put the finishing touches on the win.
Taylor Williams, Maxine Beard and Taylor Roberts all scored 13 points for Tennessee State, which made only 20 of 63 shots, including 4 of 21 from beyond the arc. The Tigers hit 19 of 21 free throws and committed 17 turnovers. SIUE, which made 20 of 41 shots, including 6 of 12 from three-point range, outrebounded Tennessee State 38-29.
MOREHEAD STATE 81, UT MARTIN 76
MARTIN, Tenn. - Led by two career double-double performances from its starting frontcourt, Morehead State women's basketball (13-6, 4-2 Ohio Valley Conference) fought to an 81-76 overtime victory at UT Martin (7-11, 3-3 OVC) on Saturday evening at the Elam Center.
The Eagles led for over 27 minutes in Saturday's tightly contested bout, but needed extra time for the first time this season to secure the victory. Morehead State led 24-19 after the opening quarter, and an even second period lifted the Eagles to a 42-37 advantage at the break.
A cold third quarter for Morehead State saw the Eagles shoot just 4-for-16 (.250) from the field, allowing UT Martin to take a 56-54 lead heading into the fourth. Morehead State bounced back with a 15-13 scoring advantage in the period, tying the game at 69-69 at the end of regulation.
With UT Martin's leading scorer Chelsey Perry (21) already fouled out in the fourth quarter, Morehead State lost its top scorer, Miranda Crockett (19), shortly after the overtime tip. Despite playing shorthanded, the Eagles found an extra gear in the bonus stretch, connecting on half of its dozen overtime points at the foul line.
Tierra McGowan finished with 17 points on 8-of-11 (.727) shooting and a monstrous 20 rebounds, tying a season-high, in addition to her one block. Senior forward Brooke Todd – in her fourth career start – tied a season-high with 10 points, pulled a season-high 12 rebounds, and tied a career-high six blocks on the defensive end.
Crockett added three boards, two assists, and three steals to her team-high 19 points, while Darianne Seward filled out the box score with 14 points, a season-high eight rebounds, and seven assists in a team-high 44 minutes.
Sophomore reserve Breuna Jackson notched a season-high 11 points, two rebounds, and three assists in 30 minutes off the bench. Senior Eriel McKee logged eight points, eight boards, four assists, one block, and two steals.
MURRAY STATE 72, TENNESSEE TECH 63
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Bria Bethea scored a game-high 27 points, just one off her career-high and grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds as she helped lead Murray State to a 72-63 victory Saturday night at Tennessee Tech. It was the Racers’ first OVC road win of the season.
Much of the first three quarters of the game were back and forth, as the Racers trailed 36-34 at halftime. In the third, MSU (6-11, 2-4 OVC) led by as many as four, 46-42 with 2:36 left to play in the period and the Racers led 48-47 after three.
In the fourth, MSU outscored the Golden Eagles (4-13, 1-5 OVC) 24-16 in the frame and was able to pull away late for the victory. The Racers went 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. The Racers led from start-to-finish in the fourth, as the close as TTU would get would be 53-52 with 6:55 left to play before MSU went on a 9-2 run and led 62-54 with 3:46 to play.
In addition to Bethea’s big night, Ke’Shunan James had a solid game as she added 16 points and a season-high eight assists. Jasmine Borders added 14 while Brianna Crane chipped in with eight points and grabbed seven boards.
MSU shot 45.6 percent overall for the game while the Golden Eagles shot 39.2 percent. The Racers also hit seven 3-pointers in the win. The Racers out-rebounded TTU 34-32 and had a 36-28 edge in points in the paint.
Bethea’s contribution off the bench gave the Racers a huge advantage there as MSU got 29 from reserves while TTU didn’t have a single bench point.
Tennessee Tech had three players reach double-digits in pints with Mackenzie Coleman leading the way with 20 points while Akia Harris and Yaktavia Hickson each had 14. Coleman also led the team with 10 rebounds to notch the double-double.