SATURDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 57, @Purdue Fort Wayne 49
Tennessee Tech 77, @Charleston Southern 55
North Alabama 80,
Southeast Missouri 67
#20 West Virginia 81,
Eastern Kentucky 39
Wisconsin 58,
Tennessee State 53
Washington State 64,
Jacksonville State 51
SIUE 57, Purdue Fort Wayne 49
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Allie Troeckler posted her first career double-double Saturday as SIUE women's basketball improved to a 3-1 record with a 57-49 victory at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Troeckler finished with a season-high 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. She shot 7 of 11 from the field and added a block and two steals.
Purdue-Fort Wayne, 3-4, went back and forth with the Cougars in the first period only to have SIUE score the final four points of the period after being tied 12-12. Christen King hit a jumper with 56 seconds left and Zaria Whitlock added two free throws to give SIUE a 16-12 advantage after the first break.
The Cougars continued to strengthen its lead in the second period, adding four more points to the lead to take a 28-20 lead into halftime.
Buscher said she thought the Cougars backed down a bit and missed some good offensive opportunities in the third period as the Mastodons brought it back to a four-point game at 36-32 with 10 minutes left.
ShToya Sanders led the Mastodons in scoring with 12 points for the game.
The Mastodons came within one point at 36-35 with 9:11 to play on a three-pointer by PFW's Anna Lappenkuper.
That's when SIUE's offense kicked back in gear, making a 9-2 run that put the team ahead by nine.
Micah Jones, who had a free throw at the end of the 9-2 run, was the only other Cougar in double figures with 10 points.
SIUE closed out the win by staying tough on defense, including winning the rebound battle by its biggest margin of the season 46-37. That included 17 offensive rebounds.
SIUE's next action is one week from today at Chaifetz Arena to take on Saint Louis. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
WEST VIRGINIA 81, EASTERN KENTUCKY 39
BIMINI, Bahamas – Eastern Kentucky University’s women’s basketball team used the three-pointer to stick with 20th ranked West Virginia University through the first quarter, but when the three’s stopped falling the Mountaineers pulled away for a 81-39 win at the Junkanoo Jam on Saturday.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Bria Bass gave the Colonels an early 6-5 lead. Shay Solomon’s long ball put Eastern in front by one again, 9-8, midway through the first quarter. Madison Pierce got in on the action with her first career three-pointer to tie the game, 18-18, with 2:41 remaining in the opening quarter. Catie Kaifes ended the quarter with a three to make it a five-point game, 26-21, in favor of West Virginia.
WVU scored the first 10 points of the second quarter and out-scored EKU 21-3 overall in the period.
Eastern Kentucky (0-5) made 6-of-9 from long range in the first quarter. The Colonels then went 0-for-11 from behind the arc during the second and third quarter combined. The Mountaineers pulled in front by 34 during that time.
West Virginia (4-1) came into the Junkanoo Jam averaging 89 points per game.
Kaifes scored a team-best 13 for Eastern Kentucky. Solomon had five points, seven rebounds and two assists. Tynice Martin was among five Mountaineers in double figures, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Colonels shot 29 percent from the field and finished 7-for-25 from three-point range. WVU hit on 46 percent of its shots.
EKU will be back in action on Wednesday at Western Michigan University. Tip-off in Kalamazoo is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN+.
WISCONSIN 58, TENNESSEE STATE 53
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team took Big Ten opponent Wisconsin to the wire in a 58-53 loss on day two of the Challenge in Music City Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon in Municipal Auditorium.
Tennessee State (0-6) erased a 16-point deficit but Wisconsin (5-0) made a key stop and free-throws with seconds left to secure the win.
Taylor Roberts led TSU in scoring for the second straight night with 25 points and broke the Challenge in Music City record for most points in a game. Tia Wooten recorded five steals in the game, also a tournament record.
TSU concludes tournament action tomorrow against Pittsburgh. Game time is set for 5 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.
WASHINGTON STATE 64, JACKSONVILLE STATE 51
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - In its first meeting against a member of the Pacific 12 Conference, the Jacksonville State women's basketball team came up short to Washington State on Saturday night to close out the CSUN Thanksgiving Basketball Classic in Northridge, California.
JSU (2-3) fell 64-51 to the Cougars who shot 44 percent from the field, and an even 50 percent (13-of-26) in the first half. WSU started fast hitting five of its first eight three-pointers to build an early margin that the Gamecocks worked out night to erase.
After WSU jumped out to a 15-6 lead midway through the first, redshirt-senior Destiney Elliott had five-straight points to end the period to close the gap to 15-11 after 10 minutes. The Oneonta, Ala., native would lead JSU in scoring for the second-straight night, finishing with 17.
The lead was down to three following a Chloe Long jumper in the second, but WSU responded with a 14-2 stretch to make it 32-17 with under two minute to halftime. The advantage was 16 as the teams departed for the locker rooms.
The lead grew to 24 at the media timeout of the third, 51-27, where the Gamecocks began to chip away at the deficit. Over the final 14 minutes, the Cougars were held to just 13 points. Freshman Yamia Johnson's free throws to begin the fourth brought the margin back under 20 and it was down to 57-44 following Kiana Johnson's jumper with 5:06 remaining.
The Cougars fended off JSU's ensuing possessions as the clock became the enemy in the comeback effort.
Nine of the 10 Gamecocks that saw the floor scored on Saturday. Behind Elliott's 17, senior Rayven Pearson was just shy of another double-double with nine points and 12 boards. Junior Brittany Webster had six rebounds to go along with a block.
JSU returns home next and will face Montevallo on Tuesday at the Cherokee Arena in Centre, Ala., in its final off-campus home game of the season.
NORTH ALABAMA 80, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67
NEWARK, N.J. - Southeast Missouri fell to North Alabama in its first game of the NJIT Tournament. With the loss the Redhawks fell to 1-4 on the season.
Jocelyn Taylor led Southeast Missouri with 19 points while Kennedi Allen notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Adrianna Murphy and Tesia Thompson each had 11 points.
Kenysha Coulson led UNA with 18 points.
Southeast Missouri will be back in action tomorrow against NJIT at 1 p.m. CT.
TENNESSEE TECH 77, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 55
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Tennessee Tech defeated Charleston Southern, 71-55, in the first game of the Buccaneer Classic on Saturday.
Jordan Brock had 19 points to lead the Golden Eagles while Kesha Brady came off the bench to score 16 points. Kentoria Alexander also had 16 points while Lacy Cantrell had 12 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Weknyne Dumorne led Charleston Southern with 14 points.
Tennessee Tech will face Old Dominion tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT.