SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 53, Tennessee Tech 51
Southeast Missouri 77, @Eastern Illinois 54
@Belmont 78, Austin Peay 75
@Eastern Kentucky 48, Jacksonville State 44
Murray State 85, @Tennessee State 73
@SIUE 73, UT Martin 70
MOREHEAD STATE 53, TENNESSEE TECH 51
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Sophomore Breuna Jackson hit a go-ahead layup with 2.9 seconds remaining, lifting Morehead State women's basketball to a 53-51 victory over Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
Morehead State outscored Tech 14-6 in the fourth quarter and put a stamp on the game by scoring nine unanswered points over the final 2:47 of play.
On a night where the Eagles struggled to get into a rhythm offensively, the defense stepped up and held TTU to 20-of-61 (.328) shooting from the floor.
In a game that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, the final minute of play proved to be the most important of the contest.
After Darianne Seward stole a Tennessee Tech inbound pass with 51 seconds remaining and the Eagles down 51-48, Eriel McKee was able to draw a foul and sink 1-of-2 attempts from the line. Junior Miranda Crockett grabbed the miss on the second attempt, putting back the layup to tie things up at 51 apiece.
Tech would subsequently turn over the basketball with 17 seconds to go, leading to Jackson's only field goal of the night. After the shot, the 5-foot-5 guard intercepted Tennessee Tech's fullcourt heave with only two seconds left on the clock, sealing the victory for the Eagles.
Crockett finished with her second double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and hauling in a team-high 12 rebounds. McKee led the team in points, tallying 14.
Senior forward Brooke Todd also achieved double-figures in scoring, tying a season-high 10. Todd raked in nine rebounds and added three blocks in the sixth start of her career.
The win gives Morehead State its second straight season sweep of Tennessee Tech, improving its record to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. TTU falls to 4-15, 1-7 OVC.
Tennessee Tech's MacKenzie Coleman led the team with 14 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Yaktavia Hickson also notched a double-dobule with 10 points and 15 boards. Asia Harper added 10 points and seven rebounds.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 77, EASTERN ILLINOIS 54
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri women's basketball defeated the Eastern Illinois Panthers 77-54 in a Saturday matinee in Charleston.
Southeast stuck first with a pair of free throws from Iyanna McCurdy before EIU answered with a 6-0 run. The Redhawks struggled to take care of the ball early in the quarter with eight turnovers, however SEMO ended the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a nine point advantage into the second quarter.
SEMO led 17-8 after one.
Both teams began the second quarter trading buckets back and forth, with SEMO hanging on to a small cushion around five points the first seven minutes of the period. EIU looked as if they were going on a run multiple times throughout the period, but the Redhawks had an answer for almost every bucket.
After two, the Redhawks led the Panthers 38-31. Southeast shot 46 percent from the field for the half.
The Redhawks opened the second half going scoreless for almost three minutes, EIU also began the half cold from the field but was able getting to the line at will with Southeast committing five team fouls in the opening four minutes.
At the five minute mark a pair of buckets from Deja Jones and Adrianna Murphy helped stretch the lead to 11. The panthers came right back with 5-0 run of their own to cut the lead back to six.
Both teams traded buckets the rest of the quarter. Southeast took a five point lead at 53-48 into the fourth quarter.
Southeast struck early in the fourth with a couple buckets stretching its lead to nine points early. EIU hit a three cutting the lead to six at the 7:01 mark prompting a timeout from the Redhawks.
After the timeout, the Redhawks went on an 10-0 run including three point plays from both Deja Jones and Iyanna McCurdy, extending the SEMO lead to 16.
The Panthers went stone cold the rest of the fourth, not hitting a field goal since their three-pointer at the 7:01 mark. Southeast shot 56 percent from the field in the fourth quarter as they went on to win by 23.
Southeast had four players score in double figures. Tesia Thompson led the way for the Redhawks with 18 points.
Adrianna Murphy added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Deja Jones had 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Iyanna McCurdy also chipped in 12 points and career-high tying seven rebounds for Southeast.
The Panthers shot 28.6 percent from the field on the game led by Danielle Berry who was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. She finished with a team-leading 13 points and shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Taylor Steele extended her double-figure scoring streak to eight consecutive games as she finished with 10 points for EIU.
BELMONT 78, AUSTIN PEAY 75
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont women's basketball edged Austin Peay, 78-75, Saturday afternoon inside the Curb Event Center to clinch its 33rd consecutive win over a conference foe. The Bruins win marked its ninth straight to improve to 18-3 on the season, their best start in the program's division I era.
Junior guard Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) powered the team's offensive efforts with 24 points, including hitting six threes. She was followed by Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) who registered 17 points while going 10-for-11 from the line. The forward also led the team in rebounds, collecting eight boards. Veteran duo Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) rounded out the double-digit scoring efforts with 11 and 14 points, respectively.
The Governors used a pair of 20-point performances from Brianah Ferby (28 points) and Brianne Alexander (23 points) to keep Austin Peay within striking distance throughout the game. As a team, APSU recorded 12 threes, including four from Ferby in the final stanza.
Both teams got out to a sluggish start as Jones hit a layup in the opening seconds before the Bruins and Governors hit a scoreless spell for the next three minutes. Maggard sunk a step back jumper on the baseline coming out of the first media timeout to give Belmont an 8-6 advantage. From there E. Harmeyer and Maggard paired up for a couple of three-point plays that sparked an 8-0 BU run over a span of a minute. Belmont made it a seven-point game with the help of a trey from rookie Caitlyn Yost (Lewisburg, Tenn.) in the waning minutes of the quarter. Austin Peay used a three of their own to make it a 17-13 game at the first intermission. Maggard was 3-for-3 from the field in the first stanza.
E. Harmeyer charged the Bruins on both ends in the second quarter, tallying six points and five rebounds while going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the 10-minute period. The squad collected the first bucket before suffering another scoring drought that McCabe once again ended with another jumper. Austin Peay also struggled to find a rhythm at the beginning, before hitting a three-pointer that made it a two-point game, 30-28, in favor of BU with 6:49 left in the half. E. Harmeyer made a presence on both ends to keep the Bruins afloat while the Governors chipped away at the deficit. APSU seemed to have an answer for everything Belmont did, leaving the game tied up, 30-30, at the half.
The Bruins and Governors came out of the locker rooms on fire as both squads traded buckets in the opening minutes. Austin Peay claimed its first lead of the game on a three-pointer from Bri Williams to go up, 33-32, at the 8:48 mark. APSU tried to take advantage of the bucket, but BU responded with a trio of threes of its own with two coming from Maggard. The Larwill, Ind. native went on to drain four shots from afar to help the Bruins claim a 55-49 lead at the end of the frame. Collectively, Belmont drained five threes while shooting 64 percent from the field.
Austin Peay responded with five unanswered points to start the fourth quarter before McCabe tallied her fourth field goal of the game. Maggard remained hot from afar, registering her fifth of the second half to put BU up three before APSU knotted it back up with 7:05 remaining. Jones came up clutch, ending a 2:45 scoreless drought for Belmont with a pair of fast breaks to put the Bruins ahead, 68-64, with 3:15 left in the game. It was a battle down to the final seconds as the Governors used a pair of timely treys from Ferby to keep it a one possession game. E. Harmeyer and Maggard sank a pair of free throws in the final minute to keep APSU from stealing the win from BU.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 48, JACKSONVILLE STATE 44
RICHMOND, Ky. - A’Queen Hayes poured in her fourth double-double of the season to propel the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team to a 48-44 victory over the No. 2 team in the Ohio Valley Conference, Jacksonville State.
The Gamecocks led for much of the first half, going into the locker room with a 16-13 advantage. The Colonels came out of the half and drew first blood, after a Bria Bass tip in and triple the lead tilted, 18-16 EKU. Jacksonville State responded and regained the lead 20-18. Hayes found an answer and drilled a jump shot to spark a 10-2 EKU run that ended on another jumper from the junior, aiding the Colonels in taking their largest lead of the game, 28-21.
Eastern Kentucky maintained the lead, but Leah Strain sank one from the charity stripe to put some life back into the Gamecocks. JSU used an 8-2 run that came on 4-of-5 shooting to draw within one, 43-42.
Shay Solomon found the net and Abby Wright put away a free throw to close the game.
Hayes led all players with 17 points and 10 boards, while Shay Solomon netted 12.
Taylor Hawks (12) and Tyler Phelion (10) were both in double-digits to lead the Gamecocks.
MURRAY STATE 85, TENNESSEE STATE 73
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Five Racers scored in double figures Saturday night at the Gentry Center as the Murray State women defeated Tennessee State, 85-73 in Nashville.
MSU (7-12, 3-5 OVC) shot 45.6 percent from the floor in the contest and made 29 free throws. The 29 made at the line is the second-most this season by the Racers. Meanwhile, the Tigers (3-14, 1-7 OVC) shot just 35 percent from the floor.
The Racers led 46-36 at halftime thanks in large part to an 8-0 run over final 2:21 of the first half. TSU went 0-for-7 from the field down the stretch of the second quarter. For the half, the Racers shot 54.8 percent from the floor while the Tigers shot 41.4 percent.
To begin the third, after TSU scored the first five points of the half, the Racers went on a 9-0 run and led 55-41 with 7:32 left in the quarter. The Racers built their lead up to as many as 15 points multiple times throughout the quarter and led 71-57 heading into the fourth, despite going the final 2:33 of the third without a made field goal. MSU's biggest margin of the night was 16 points with under five minutes left to play.
Ke'Shunan James led the way for MSU in the win as she tallied 22 points, 12 rebounds and dished out five assists. Brianna Crane also notched a double-double on the night as she scored 14 and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds. It marks the third time this season (November 12 and 29 against Evansville and ETSU) that a pair of Racers have recorded double-doubles in the same game. Jasmine Borders added 16 points in the victory while Bria Bethea and Abria Gulledge chipped in with 14 each.
The Racers outscored the Tigers 40-32 in points in the paint and had a 29-14 advantage in points off the bench. TSU forced 18 Racer turnovers and scored 20 points off those, while MSU had 16 off 13 Tiger turnovers.
Tennessee State was led by Tia Wooten with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Kaliya Griffin added 17 points while Taylor Roberts chipped in 14.
SIUE 73, UT MARTIN 70
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Lauren White made sure the SIUE women's basketball team continued its winning ways Saturday night.
White, a redshirt senior from Edwardsville, Illlinois, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Cougars over UT Martin 73-70 in an Ohio Valley Conference game at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE, winning its third consecutive game and for the seventh time in eight games, improved to 10-9 overall and 7-1 in the OVC. The Cougars remain one game behind league-leading Belmont. UT Martin fell to 8-12 and 4-4.
White scored a game-high 20 points, including 16 in the second half.
Freshman Allie Troeckler scored a season-best 15 points and snared five rebounds to complement White's scoring. Jay'Nee Alston contributed 11 points. Sydney Bauman collected 10 points and seven rebounds, while Beck had nine points and seven rebounds.
Troeckler made 6 of 8 shots, plus 3 of 5 free throws and also handed out five assists.
A strong defensive effort got the Cougars pointed in the right direction against UT Martin. The Skyhawks missed their first 10 shots and went 1 for 13 from the field in trailing 17-5 by the end of the quarter.
However, UT Martin guard Kendall Spray connected on a trio of three-pointers early in the second quarter as the Skyhawks mounted a comeback, thanks to an 11-0 run. Alston (six points), Gwen Adams (six points) and Troeckler (five points) led SIUE's scoring the first half as the Cougars and led 28-26 at the break.
The lead changed hands eight times and the game was knotted seven times in the second half before White made her magic again at the end of the game.
SIUE made 28 of 57 shots, including 6 of 17 from three-point range. The Cougars converted 11 of 20 free throws and outrebounded UT Martin 36-29. The Skyhawks sank 23 of 55 shots, including 12 of 30 from three-point land. They were 12 of 17 on their free throw shots. Spray led them with 16 points, thanks mainly to four three-pointers.