SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 86, SIUE 64
Morehead State 66, @Austin Peay 59
@Jacksonville State 55, Southeast Missouri 48
@Murray State 75, Eastern Kentucky 68
UT Martin 67, @Tennessee Tech 51
@Tennessee State 86, Eastern Illinois 68
BELMONT 86, SIUE 64
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont handed SIUE only its second conference loss of the season Saturday afternoon. Twelve threes helped propel BU past the Cougars, 86-64, inside the Curb Event Center.
Belmont (20-3, 10-0) celebrated 50 years of women's basketball with their 11th consecutive victory to remain undefeated in conference play. The outing marked the squad's 35th straight win over a conference opponent, the second longest streak in the nation.
Senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) led the scoring efforts with 20 points, while junior guard Darby Maggard followed close behind pouring in 19. As the guards lit up the net, senior center Sally McCabe and junior forward Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) produced a pair of double-double performances. McCabe registered 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks as E. Harmeyer collected 12 points and 10 rebounds of her own.
SIUE (11-10, 8-2) enjoyed four double-digit games from Donshel Beck (15 points), Allie Troeckler (14 points), Elina Berzina (12 points) and Lauren White (12 points). For the first time this season, the Bruins won despite being out-rebounded by their opponent as the Cougars edged them on the boards, 46-39.
The Bruins came out of the gates firing away and continued to lay it on the Cougars throughout the first half. Collectively, the team drained nine treys in the first two frames, including six in the second quarter alone. Smith ignited BU's offense, accounting for the squad's first six points on a pair of three-point plays. From there Belmont jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first eight minutes. The Bruins continued to stay hot, ending the first frame with a 13-4 run that gave them a 14-point advantage, 22-8, at the break.
Back-to-back threes from Jones and Maggard to open the second quarter put BU up by 20 with only 30 seconds expired from the clock. The squad continued to stay hot, laying on triple after triple to maintain their lead. Maggard and Smith combined for 24 first half points, draining five of the Bruins nine buckets from beyond the arc as they led, 48-31, heading into halftime.
Belmont opened the second half scoring nine unanswered points to extend their lead to as many as 26. E. Harmeyer hit the teams 10th triple of the day, marking the 12th time this season that the Bruins have tallied at least 10 threes in a single game. From there McCabe took over, collecting BU's next eight points putting the squad ahead, 61-37, at the 5:27 mark. SIUE started to find its stroke, making six of their next seven field goals, but Belmont's hot start continued to prove to be too much for the Cougars to overcome. The Bruins held a 70-52 edge after three.
For the fourth consecutive stanza, Belmont posted a 6-0 run that kept them at a comfortable distance from the Cougars. After a quick start, the Bruins endured a three-minute scoring drought that slowed their production down before E. Harmeyer sunk another three-pointer that put BU past the 80-point threshold.
MOREHEAD STATE 66, AUSTIN PEAY 59
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Led by a second straight 20-point performance from junior guard Miranda Crockett, Morehead State women's basketball (16-7, 7-3 Ohio Valley Conference) picked up its third straight victory with a 66-59 win over Austin Peay (12-9, 5-5 OVC) on Saturday evening at the Dunn Center.
Morehead State led for over 36 minutes in the 40-minute contest, building as much as an 11-point advantage midway through the third quarter. The first quarter was fueled by hot shooting from the Eagles, who knocked down 8-of-16 (.500) attempts in the period, including a 2-for-2 performance from three-point range. Morehead State led the Governors 21-17 after the opening quarter.
A nearly even second stanza saw the Eagles take a 35-30 lead into halftime, despite shooting a game-low 5-for-24 (.208) from the field. Morehead State was outscored 15-13 in the third quarter, but held on for a 48-45 overall advantage entering the fourth.
The Eagles bounced back with a game-high 5-of-8 (.625) shooting in the final period, holding Austin Peay to just 5-of-19 (.263). Both teams ultimately connected on 23 field goals on the evening, though Morehead State needed eight less attempts (59) to accomplish the feat.
Crockett led all scorers with 21 on 8-of-12 (.667) shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line, complemented by eight rebounds, two assists, one block, and a steal. Senior forward Brooke Todd logged her second double-double of the season with 10 points, 12 boards, and a game-high five blocks. The 6-foot-2 Lexington, Ky. native now totals 61 blocks on the season, surpassing Tasha Gales (57) for the most by a senior in Morehead State history.
Darianne Seward finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Eriel McKee notched 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while Erin Blaine added nine points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Brianne Alexander led Austin Peay with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Falon Bakcer had 11 points.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 55, SOUTEHAST MISSOURI 48
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team defeated visiting Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon, 55-48, to improve to 13-8 overall, and 7-3 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
The 13th win of the season for JSU (13-8, 7-3 OVC) matches the Gamecocks' win total from a season ago when Jax State posted a 13-15 overall mark. JSU just began the second-half of a newly-expanded conference schedule, and has eight regular-season games remaining.
SEMO (10-12, 5-5) lost for the first time in three games. The Redhawks shot just 27 percent (17-63), and were held to 15 points below their season average.
Freshman Taylor Hawks led JSU with 13 points. She was 4-of-4 from the stripe, leading a Gamecock unit that made 20 free throws total during the game. Senior Tyler Phelion finished with eight points, all coming in the first half, while Kiana Johnson and Gretchen Morrison tallied seven points.
SEMO's Ashton Luttrell hit a three-pointer to open the game and give the Redhawks a 3-0 lead, which would stand as its largest lead in a game that Jax State led for more than 34 minutes. Luttrell was one of three Redhawks to reach double figures, led by Tesia Thompson's 12.
Hawks quickly evened the early score at 3-3, and JSU continued on to a 10-7 advantage after the first quarter. SEMO would fight back to grab an 11-10 lead, before Leah Strain's three-pointer would spark a 10-0 JSU run over the next four minutes to go ahead by nine. The Gamecocks still led by six heading to the half with a 28-22 edge.
SEMO chipped away at the deficit in the third, pulling within three, 37-34, entering the final period. The visitors from Cape Girardeau, Mo., scored the first five points of the fourth to go up, 39-37, with under eight minutes to play.
Morrison put the Gamecocks back on top with her triple at the 7:50 mark. She later another while still up by one with just 1:22 remaining to boost Jax State ahead, 49-45. JSU's final six points would come at the charity stripe in the final 63 seconds of play.
MURRAY STATE 75, EASTERN KENTUCKY 68
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women used a 17-for-26 (65.3 percent) first-half shooting performance and an incredible 26-of-28 (92.9 percent) night at the free throw line on its way to a 75-68 victory Saturday night over Eastern Kentucky at the CFSB Center.
It was a tale of two halves Saturday night as the Racers (8-13, 4-6 OVC) shot just 4-for-24 in the second half (16.7 percent) and went 0-for-5 from behind the 3-point line after a 7-of-11 first half from behind the arc. However, MSU missed just one free throw in the second half and made 15 of its 26 freebies in the fourth quarter alone.
After a 27-23 first quarter, MSU led by as many as 13 points on multiple occasions in the first half and carried a 46-37 lead into halftime.
MSU would not relinquish the lead in the second half as the Colonels (7-12, 4-6 OVC) would get the score within two, 48-46 with 4:16 left in the third period. After that, Ke’Shunan James’ personal six-point run put the Racers back up by eight and ahead 58-51 after three. In the fourth, MSU led by as many as 11 points. A six-point deficit was as close as EKU could get in the final stanza.
James led the way with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting on the night. James also added a team-best eight rebounds and had three steals. Bria Bethea added 19 points off the bench as she shot 5-for-10 overall and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. The duo combined to go 13-for-14 at the free-throw stripe.
Janika Griffith-Wallace added 12 points on the night, the most she has scored on the season against a Division I opponent. Abria Gulledge chipped in with seven points while Brianna Crane had six points and six boards in the win.
Despite being outscored 38-14 in the paint and 18-5 on second-chance points, the Racers had a 15-12 edge in points off turnovers and made 14 more free throws than the Colonels. MSU also hit three more 3-pointers on the night.
A'Queen Hayes led Eastern Kentucky with 25 points and 11 rebounds while Abby Wright added 21 points and Bria Bass had 12 points.
UT MARTIN 67, TENNESSEE TECH 51
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team used a balanced scoring attack and 36 points in the paint to power past Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech 67-51 on Saturday evening.
The Skyhawks (10-12, 6-4 OVC) picked up its third win in four games with a strong showing throughout the contest, leading for nearly 36 minutes. UT Martin benefited from its work in the paint, scoring 36 of the team’s 67 points in the paint while shooting 47 percent from the floor. While the team was successful on the offensive end, the Skyhawks held its second straight opponent in the 50s while limiting them to just a 33 percent shooting clip from the floor.
The post trio of seniors Janekia Mason and Ashton Feldhaus along with freshman Chelsey Perry each scored in double figures. Mason and Feldhaus paced the Skyhawks with 14 points and four rebounds each while Perry tossed in 11 points and five rebounds.
Tennessee Tech (4-17, 1-9 OVC) continued its struggles, dropping its 10th game in the last 11 outings behind a rough shooting night from the floor. Despite the team’s offensive struggles, senior Yaktavia Hickson led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds while sophomore guard Akia Harris tallied 10 points and five assists.
The Golden Eagles would get out to a 5-0 lead to start the contest before going cold from the field for the duration of the first quarter. After falling behind early, UT Martin would rebound by holding TTU scoreless over the final eight minutes of the period while finishing the quarter on a 13-0 run.
UT Martin would continue its dominance through much of the first half with yet another strong second quarter. After an early bucket by Tech, UT Martin would string together a 13-2 run over five minutes of play to push its lead out as large as 17 points at the 3:57 mark of the second. The Golden Eagles would later find their stride, cutting the deficit down to single-digits with an 8-0 run of their own to make it a nine-point contest. With the two team’s respective runs in the second quarter, UT Martin would take a 29-17 advantage into halftime.
Tennessee Tech would find its rhythm in the third quarter after a tough shooting evening in the first half. After making just 6-of-27 shots in the first half, the Golden Eagles shot 46.7 percent in the third quarter while outscoring the Skyhawks 19-13 to trim the margin down to six points heading into the final period of play.
The Skyhawks would use a strong fourth quarter to seal the team’s double-figure victory by outscoring the Golden Eagles 25-15. The senior duo of Mason and Feldhaus would prove big in the period, combining to score 17 points in the fourth to control the points in the paint. With the strong finish down the stretch, the Skyhawks would secure a 67-51 victory.
TENNESSEE STATE 86, EASTERN ILLINOIS 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team used a strong third quarter to pull away in an, 86-68, victory over Eastern Illinois Saturday night in the Gentry Center.
The win snapped a five game losing skid for Tennessee State (4-15, 2-8 OVC) while Eastern Illinois fell to 2-19, 1-9 OVC.
Tia Wooten and Taylor Roberts led the Lady Tigers with 18 points each while Kaliya Griffin added 15. Wooten just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
EIU was paced by Karle Pace’s 31 points as Danielle Berry also reached double-digits with 10 points.
TSU outscored EIU, 24-11, in the third quarter and led by as many as 26 points in the victory. The Lady Tigers also made a season-high nine three-pointers in the contest.