THURSDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 67, @Morehead State 65
Austin Peay 75, @Tennessee State 59
UT Martin 72, @Eastern Illinois 44
@Eastern Kentucky 55, Tennessee Tech 53
JACKSONVILLE STATE 67, MOREHEAD STATE 65
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior Ki-Ki Patterson's rebound and layup in the closing seconds propelled the Jacksonville State women's basketball team from a double-digit, second-half deficit to a last-second 67-65 win on the road at Morehead State, Thursday afternoon.
JSU avenged a tough 85-82 road loss at Johnson Arena that came in last year's season finale, and played a part in the Gamecocks missing postseason play. Dating back to the end of last season, Jax State has now won nine of its last 11 games against OVC opponents, and sits second in the league standings nearing the halfway mark of this season.
Although Patterson's final two points caught most of the attention, she was 4-of-5 from the field overall in the final period with nine points. She proved to be the late spark JSU needed to rally for its third road win of the year.
Patterson matched Kiana Johnson for a team-high 12 points total. Johnson's dozen matched the freshman's career high which also came against MSU back on Dec. 30. Freshman Taylor Hawks recorded nine points, followed by Rayven Pearson and Tasha Magruder with eight apiece. Pearson also led JSU with 10 rebounds in her 11th game this season with double-digit boards.
The Gamecocks (12-6, 6-1 Ohio Valley Conference) trailed 35-25 entering the third quarter against the Eagles (13-7, 4-3 OVC) who shot 52 percent in the first half. JSU benefitted from a three-pointer by Leah Strain in the final minute of the second quarter to erase MSU's largest lead of 13 at 35-22.
From that point, JSU flipped the switch at halftime and came out on fire to begin the third quarter. Johnson and Pearson had consecutive inside baskets, before Hawks buried back-to-back triples to even the score at 35 less than three minutes into the period. Going back to Strain's trey it marked a 13-0 run for JSU which soon stretched to a 20-2 streak, handing the Gamecocks a 42-37 advantage.
The Eagles managed to stop JSU's momentum and evened the score against at 48 heading into the fourth quarter. JSU grabbed an early 52-50 lead in the final period before running into a 4:52 dry-spelled that saw MSU escape out to a 59-52 lead. Patterson's running jumper ended the drought, and she followed it up with a corner three fed by Strain to cut it to a two-point contest.
With 1:29 remaining, a bucket from Tyler Phelion gave JSU a one-point lead. Phelion later padded the cushion with a pair of free throws with 14 seconds to play to make it 65-62. MSU's Eriel McKee hit her only three-point attempt of the night in the Eagle's final possession to knot things up at 65 with 7.7 ticks left on the clock.
On JSU's final play, Chloe Long came up short on a runner across the paint, but Phelion was there to put the ball back up. MSU's got a hand on the the putback sending it into the waiting hands of Patterson who made JSU's game-winning basket on the third attempt. Originally 0.3 seconds remained, but after review the referees placed 0.7 for MSU's final inbounds, but the Eagles were unsuccessful in getting off an attempt.
JSU shot 53 percent in the second half, and held MSU to just 27 percent and only nine field goals. MSU's Darianne Seward led the Eagles with 20 points, but recorded just two in the second half.
AUSTIN PEAY 75, TENNESSEE STATE 59
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a career night from Arielle Gonzalez-Varner, Austin Peay State University women's basketball team downed Tennessee State 75-59, Thursday.
Austin Peay (11-7) came out strong, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor taking an early eight-point lead. The Governors dribble penetration created opportunities for shooters beyond the arc, as the Govs went 5-for-7 from three-point territory in the first quarter. Keisha Gregory led the way going 2-for-2 from deep, scoring nine points in the opening quarter.
Falon Baker dished out three assists and Gonzalez-Varner pulled down two offensive rebounds in the first half, but the Tigers closed the gap in the second period, tying the game at 28 with five and half minutes left in the second quarter. Both teams traded baskets in the second period and headed into the half knotted at 34 apiece.
The Governors defense held the Tigers to 1-of-10 to open the third quarter as the Govs went 6-for-6 from the stripe to cushion their lead. Gonzalez-Varner and Jemiah Harrison combined for nine points late in the third quarter as the Govs outscored the Tigers 21-14.
Brianne Alexander scored six points and pulled down three rebounds, while Brianah Ferby posted four points and four rebounds in the fourth quarter as the Govs sprinted out to a 20-point lead. The Tigers made a late 6-0 run, but Baker drained a deep three to secure the Governors first road win since Dec. 5.
Alexander lead the Govs with 16 points and seven rebounds, with Ferby adding 15 points and seven rebounds, and Gregory scoring 12 points and pulling down five rebounds.
Gonzalez-Varner tied a career high scoring 6 points and pulled down a career best eight rebounds. Michaela Campbell and Harrison scored six and five points respectively, with each adding four rebounds.
Tennessee State's Tia Wooten led the team with 22 points while Kaliya Griffin added 11.
UT MARTIN 72, EASTERN ILLINOIS 44
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team took control of the second half, outscoring Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois 44-15 in the final 20 minutes of play to lift the squad to a 72-44 road victory.
The Skyhawks (8-11, 4-3 OVC) led for the majority of the game to pick up their second road victory of the season after a strong fourth quarter which saw the guests allow just three points. UT Martin would command nearly every statistical category – including winning the battle of the boards by 20 while placing all nine players in the score column.
Three different Skyhawks eclipsed double figures, including freshman Chelsey Perry’s first career double-double - and the first for UT Martin this season - with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Ashton Feldhaus joined in the action with 13 points while sophomore Kendall Spray tallied 11 points and eight rebounds to cap the trio in double figures. Freshman forward Maddie Waldrop also posted a big game in her second career start, just missing out on a double-double of her own with eight points and nine rebounds.
Eastern Illinois (2-16, 1-6 OVC) struggled on the evening, shooting just 28.1 percent from the floor while tallying 19 turnovers. Freshman Taylor Steele would pace the Panthers with 19 points as the team’s lone scorer in double figures.
Both teams would struggle on the offensive side of the ball in the first quarter, combining to score just six points through the first five minutes of the contest. Turnovers would prove detrimental for the Skyhawks as seven turnovers in the opening quarter led to easy baskets for the Panthers. After 10 minutes of play, the contest would be tied at 12.
The two squads would find some added firepower in the second quarter as the teams combined to score 35 points in the period. The score would change hands three times in the second with Eastern Illinois stringing a pair of runs to take a lead a large as three-point in the quarter behind 13 first half points from Steele. Despite the strong play by the Panthers, the Skyhawks would narrowly outscore the home squad during the quarter by one point as seven players reached the scoring column and UT Martin took a 30-29 lead into halftime.
UT Martin turned up the intensity in the third quarter, pushing its lead up to 11 points with three minutes to play in the period. The post duo of Perry and Feldhaus would combine to score 13 of the team’s 20 points in the quarter to give the Skyhawks a 50-41 advantage heading into the final quarter of play.
The Skyhawks would stay aggressive in the fourth quarter, wearing the Panthers down in the waning minutes. UT Martin would outscore Eastern Illinois 22-3 in the final period as seven different players got in the board in the fourth alone. With the strong play down the stretch, the Skyhawks would pull away to secure a 72-44 victory.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 55, TENNESSEE TECH 53
RICHMOND, Ky. - A’Queen Hayes fielded an inbound pass under the basket and laid it in at the buzzer to send the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team to a 55-53 victory over visiting Tennessee Tech University on Thursday at McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels (6-10, 3-4 OVC) went in front by three, 53-50, after an Abby Wright free throw with 10.1 seconds left in the game. Jordan Brock nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing with two seconds left in regulation to tie the score.
After an EKU time out, Shay Solomon threw the ball in from the sideline. Hayes made a cut down the lane, leaped high for the pass, came down and then went back up. The ball left her hand right before the buzzer sounded and fell through the hoop.
Hayes finished the night with a game-best 19 points and 10 rebounds, her third double-double of the season. Bria Bass scored 13 points. Wright contributed 10 points and six rebounds.
Brock led Tennessee Tech (4-14, 1-6 OVC) with 14 points. Akia Harris added 10 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Eastern turned 12 offensive rebounds into a 15-4 edge in second-chance points. EKU out-rebounded Tech by six, 35-29, and out-scored the Golden Eagles 32-16 in the paint.