THURSDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 88, @Tennessee State 76
Morehead State 82, @Murray State 80
@Belmont 59, Eastern Illinois 37
@Austin Peay 59, Eastern Kentucky 45
Southeast Missouri 70, @Tennessee Tech 66
UT Martin 61, @Jacksonville State 57
SIUE 88, TENNESSEE STATE 76
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE shot a season-best 54.7 percent from the field, including its last eight field goals of the game, Thursday as it earned a road victory 88-76 at Tennessee State.
A crowd of 3,137 made up mostly of grade school students for an 11 a.m. start at the Gentry Center saw the Cougars, 11-9 overall and 8-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, win their fourth straight game.
SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher now has 299 career victories.
The Cougars scored a season-high 88 points Thursday with 18 from Donshel Beck, 17 from Lauren White and a career-best 16 from Jay'Nee Alston that included four-three-pointers. SIUE shot 35 of 64 from the field, including 18-25 in the second half (72 percent).
SIUE was dominant in a number of areas, including points in the paint (50-28), second-chance points (21-11) as well as rebounds (44-30). Sydney Bauman, who had five points, also added a career-best six blocks.
Donshell Beck led the Cougars with 13 rebounds, recording her fourth double-double of the season.
The Cougars led by just two points (41-39) at halftime. Tia Wooten scored 16 of her game-high 29 points in the first half for the Tigers, which fell to 3-15 overall and 1-8 in the OVC.
White scored 15 points in the second half on 7-of-10 shooting over the final 20 minutes.
SIUE grabbed its first double-digit lead with 7:20 to play in the third quarter on a layup by Zaria Whitlock. The Cougars were out of their comfort zone for much of the game with a loud opposing crowd working to keep Tennessee State in the game.
MOREHEAD STATE 82, MURRAY STATE 80
MURRAY, Ky. - Exploiting the last few tics on the scoreboard once again, Morehead State women's basketball (15-7, 6-3 Ohio Valley Conference) was lifted to an 82-80 victory over Murray State (7-13, 3-6 OVC) by Miranda Crockett on Thursday evening at the CFSB Center.
The contest's first three quarters operated smoothly in the Eagles' favor, starting with a 19-12 advantage at the end of the opening period. Morehead State fed off its 14-4 first-quarter control of the paint and glided through the second, building its largest lead of the game at 14 with 2:35 to go. The Eagles held a 41-32 lead at the half.
Leading 64-52 after the third, Morehead State saw momentum swing in the final quarter. The Racers opened the period on a 20-9 run, eventually taking a 74-73 lead with 3:39 remaining. Brooke Todd answered back almost immediately with a mid-range jumper, and the teams traded baskets until the final minute.
With the game knotted at 80-80 and the shot clock turned off, Crockett drove through traffic and absorbed contact on her way to the hoop. The 5-foot-8 guard got off a floater down the middle, sinking the game-winning bucket with 2.2 seconds to spare. Morehead State held steady on Murray State's ensuing last-ditch effort, sealing its second straight victory.
Crockett led the way with 22 points on 11-of-15 (.733) shooting, six rebounds, and two steals in a game-high 38 minutes. Senior forward Eriel McKee logged 19 points, a team-high eight boards, five assists, one block, and two steals.
Erin Blaine recorded 15 points and three rebounds, while Todd tied a career-high 12 points, three boards, two assists, two blocks, and a steal. Sophomore guard Breuna Jackson tied a season-high 11 points, in addition to four rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
Murray State's Ke'Shunan James led all players with 34 points and 12 rebounds. Bria Bethea scored 24 points while Janika Griffith-Wallace added 10 points
BELMONT 59, EASTERN ILLINOIS 37
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A late run propels Belmont women's basketball past Eastern Illinois, 59-37, Thursday night inside the Curb Event Center. The victory marks the Bruins 34th consecutive win over an OVC foe and moves them to 9-0 in league play this season.
Junior guard Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) tallied her second double-double of the season, racking up 15 points and a career-best 11 rebounds. She was joined by Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) and Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) who rounded out the Bruins double-digit scoring efforts with 17 and 10 points, respectively.
The Panthers (2-18, 1-8) scoring efforts were evenly distributed with Carmen Tellez leading the way, pouring in eight. Belmont (19-3, 9-0) kept Eastern Illinois to 28 percent from the field while holding them to just two trips to the charity stripe.
A 23-2 run down the stretch helped Belmont recover from a sluggish start to the game. The Bruins were held to a season-low 22 first half points, only recording nine field goals – three of which came from beyond the arc. EIU took advantage of BU's scoring woes, never allowing the Bruins to get ahead more than three points until the end of the third quarter.
E. Harmeyer and Maggard were the sole players sporting the red and blue to score in the second quarter, netting all 11 points for Belmont to give them a 22-21 advantage at the intermission. While struggling to find a rhythm in the first 20 minutes, BU continued to make key stops on the other end of the court to limit the Panthers scoring opportunities with the help of a pair of blocks from McCabe.
The pace of the game picked up with four minutes remaining in the third stanza as Belmont finished the frame on a 10-2 run before scoring 13 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.) ignited the run with a jumper at the 3:19 mark of the third. Maggard and E. Harmeyer once again teamed up to register five points in the final minute that gave BU its largest of the advantage, 38-31, at the end of the third.
From there the Bruins took control of the game, outscoring Eastern Illinois, 21-6, in the fourth quarter. Maggard drained four second half treys while E. Harmeyer went 6-for-8 from the field on the night. The squad continued to make defensive stops as McCabe finished the game with five blocks while the team collectively outrebounded the Panthers, 46-32.
AUSTIN PEAY 59, EASTERN KENTUCKY 45
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women's basketball team defeated Eastern Kentucky, 59-45, Thursday.
Both teams were slow to get going on the offensive end in the first quarter, but the Govs defense made a statement early. Austin Peay (12-8, 5-4 OVC) forced seven turnovers in the first period, as Falon Baker turned defensive pressure into offensive production, scoring eight of the Governors 10 points.
Baker continued her tear in the second quarter, shooting 100.0 percent from the field, scoring four points and collecting a steal in seven minutes on the floor. Five Governors worked their way onto the stat sheet in the second quarter as the Govs spread the floor to get their sputtering offense going.
The Govs extended their four-point lead early in the second period, but Eastern Kentucky continued to chip away at the Governors' advantage. Colonel forward, Abby Wright, hit the only Eastern Kentucky three-point shot as time expired in the first half, sending the Govs into the halftime break clutching a two-point lead.
Out of the break, Baker and Brianah Ferby took control of the Governors' offense. Each racked up six points without a turnover, while Baker collecting a steal and two blocks in the third period. The Govs continued their third-quarter thrills, shooting 50.0 percent from the field in the third period for the fourth straight game.
The Govs took a steady five-point lead into the final period, but as Austin Peay tried to pull away, the Colonels made several mini-runs to get back into the game. As Eastern Kentucky fought back within two points, back-to-back baskets by Brianne Alexander and Ferby gave the momentum back to the Governors. Austin Peay began to pull away, and topped the Colonels, 59-45, for their first OVC win of the season.
Baker was the only Gov in double figures, scoring a career high 25 points while shooting 69.2 percent from the floor. Baker also tied a career high with two blocks and collected three steals.
Alexander and Keisha Gregory led the Govs with eight rebounds, as Alexander added nine points, and Gregory was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Abby Wright had a team-best 13 points to go along with seven rebounds for Eastern Kentucky (7-11, 4-5 OVC). A'Queen Hayes finished with 11 points and a game-best eight rebounds, two short of a third straight double-double. Madison Wood added seven points and six boards.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 70, TENNESSEE TECH 66
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's basketball defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 70-66 on Thursday night at the Eblen Center.
Southeast struck early and got off to a quick 6-0 lead taking advantage of easy buckets. Tennessee Tech's offense began to find some success about halfway through the quarter but Southeast remained in a rhythm and controlled the lead through the first quarter.
SEMO led 16-10 after one. Ashton Luttrull knocked down two three-pointers in the opening period for Southeast.
In the second period the game remained very tight, with both teams trading buckets and the lead hovering around two points for the Redhawks.
About midway through the quarter TTU went on a small run and took the lead at 21-20. Ashton Luttrull quickly regained the lead for Southeast with her third three-pointer of the game. From that point, the lead was traded back and forth the remainder of the period.
At halftime Southeast led Tennessee Tech 28-26. Luttrull had 14 points in the opening half with four three-pointers.
The Redhawks opened the third quarter with a quick 4-0 run to extend its lead to six early. Tesia Thompson became very aggressive, getting to the rim and the free throw line to help stretch the lead to nine points about halfway through the third period.
The Golden Eagles slightly chipped away at the lead the throughout remainder of the quarter with a few outside shots and breakaway lay ups to cut the lead to six heading into the fourth.
After three, the Redhawks led the Golden Eagles 48-42.
Southeast came out in the fourth quarter on fire, with Ashton Luttrull knocking down her fifth and sixth three-pointers of the game and Mandy Madden putting in the layup plus the foul. With the hot shooting, Southeast was able to extend its lead to nine with about seven minutes to play.
A three-pointer plus the foul for Jordan Brock cut the SEMO lead back to five with about five minutes remaining.
After over three minutes without scoring, Adrianna Murphy drove into the lane for a layup giving Southeast a lead at 60-54 with 3:07 remaining.
Tennessee Tech knocked down a pair of free throws at the 1:49 mark to cut the lead to three. Ashton Luttrull then answered that with a driving layup to extend the lead back to five Southeast.
The Redhawks got the stop the following possession, prompting Tennessee Tech to foul. Adrianna Murphy knocked down a pair of free throws after the foul putting Southeast up 64-57.
The next trip down Jordan Brock nailed a three-pointer cutting the Redhawks lead to four.
Tesia Thompson hit two free throws after being fouled, putting SEMO up 66-60 with 34 seconds remaining.
Southeast got the stop the following possession for the Golden Eagles, forcing TTU to foul once more. Tesia Thompson knocked down another pair of free throws to put Southeast up 68-60 with 19 seconds left.
Jordan Brock hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds left and then fouled Deja Jones right away. Jones missed both free throws, and Brock came down and hit another three for Tech with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Southeast got the ball into Deja Jones who was fouled immediately with 0.5 seconds remaining. Jones split the pair, but not enough time remained for Tech to get off a decent shot off with no timeouts remaining.
Ashton Luttrull finished the game with 20 points, including six made three pointers.
Adrianna Murphy added 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Tesia Thompson chipped in 14 points, 12 coming in the second half.
Tennessee Tech's Jordan Brock led all players with 30 points while Anacia Wilkinson came off the bench to score 12.
UT MARTIN 61, JACKSONVILLE STATE 57
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team would overcome a rough shooting night from the field to pull away with a 61-57 overtime victory at Ohio Valley Conference foe Jacksonville State on Thursday evening.
In a game which saw both teams shoot under 32 percent from the field while combining for 45 turnovers, UT Martin and Jacksonville State squared off in a contest which went back and forth throughout. The game would see the score become tied on eight occasions while featuring 10 lead changes.
The Skyhawks improved to 9-12 on the season while moving to 5-4 in league play with a big overtime victory. Trailing by three in the final minutes of regulation, senior Janekia Mason would knock down a three-point on the left wing to tie the contest and force overtime. From there UT Martin pulled away in the overtime period to notch a four-point victory.
Sophomore standout Kendall Spray took control of the contest late in the matchup, scoring a game-high 25 points – including 12 in the fourth quarter and overtime - while tallying seven rebounds. Also posting a well-rounded evening was the play of Mason, who along with the game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation, tallied 13 points. The duo was joined in double figures by junior guard Emanye Robertson with 11 points.
Jacksonville State dropped its second consecutive matchup after shooting just 26.8 percent from the floor. The Gamecocks saw just one player score in double figures as Morgan Towells scored a team-high 11 points.
Both squads struggled shooting from the floor in the contest, combining for just 24 points in the first quarter. UT Martin would turn it over seven times in the opening quarter while shooting just 28.6 percent from the floor. With the team’s offensive struggles, the Skyhawks would trail the Gamecocks 13-11 at the end of the first.
Spray would jumpstart the offense in the second quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 19 points in the period while Robertson joined in the action with five of her own. The Skyhawks would ultimately retake the lead in the quarter and push their advantage up to as high as six points late in the period before taking a 30-27 advantage into the break.
UT Martin would go dry from the field in the third quarter, scoring just three points while being held scoreless over the final 7:36 of the period. Jacksonville State would take advantage of its opponents offensive struggles, outscoring UT Martin 12-3 in the quarter to take a 39-33 lead into the fourth.
Play dragged for much of the fourth quarter as well with both teams struggling to get much going. Jacksonville State would hold the lead for much of the period until the final moments.
With UT Martin trailing by six with 2:26 to play in the game, Spray knocked down a three-pointer to make it a one possession contest setting up Mason for some late game heroics. After a pair of free throws late saw the Skyhawks trail by three points with 10 seconds to play, Mason would pop off of a curl and rise up to knock down just her second three-pointer of the season to tie the game at 49-49 and force overtime.
The Skyhawks would take advantage of their new life by scoring on the first possession of overtime on a layup by Chelsey Perry. The squad would stay aggressive, pushing the team’s lead out t