TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 82, Illinois-Springfield 46
@Belmont 83, Lipscomb 43
@Louisville 102,
UT Martin 62
@Arkansas 65,
Tennessee Tech 42
@Illinois State 61,
Austin Peay 49
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 82, ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD 46
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Adrianna Murphy had a double-double 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri (3-5) to a commanding 82-46 win over Illinois-Springfield (1-5) Tuesday morning at the Show Me Center.
SEMO and UIS played in front of a loud crowd of 1,650 mainly consisting of kids from area schools who attended to participate in the Redhawks special Classroom on the Court event.
The Redhawks outscored the Prairie Stars by double figures in both the first and third quarters and never trailed in the game.
SEMO led 18-8 after the first quarter as UIS made just two of its 15 field goal attempts and shot 0-of-6 from 3-point range. The Redhawks later went into the intermission ahead, 34-18. SEMO last held an opponent under 20 points in the first half vs. Bradley (18) on Nov. 25, 2017.
The Redhawks continued to pour it on in the second half and led by as many as 40 points when Taelour Pruitt buried a 3-pointer to make it 78-38 with 3:32 remaining before polishing off their third win of the season.
Murphy shot 9-of-15 from the field, was perfect from 3-point range (3-of-3) and at the free throw line (3-of-3), dished out a game-high six assists, gathered one block and had a steal in 31 minutes. It was the fifth double-double of Murphy's career.
Carrie Shephard followed with 15 points, all from downtown, while Pruitt contributed 13 off the bench.
SEMO shot a season-high 50 percent (32-of-64) from the field and made 55.9 percent (19-of-34) of its shots in the second half. The Redhawks outrebounded UIS by a +13 margin (45-32) and limited the Prairie Stars to a frigid .264 field goal percentage (14-of-53).
Additionally, Tionne Colyer made her first career start at SEMO finishing with three points, one assist and a steal in 21 minutes.
No UIS players scored in double figures. Myka Roth and Carson Vance were the closest to that mark with seven points apiece.
SEMO returns to action when it visits Missouri Valley Conference member Evansville Saturday.
BELMONT 83, LIPSCOMB 43
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - From the opening 30 seconds, as Maura Muensterman drained back-to-back 3-pointers, it felt like it might be a special night for the Belmont women's basketball team.
The hot-shooting Bruins rolled past rival Lipscomb, 83-43, on the strength of their 3-point attack Tuesday at the Curb Event Center. Belmont piled up 17 made 3-pointers to nearly match the program record during the annual Battle of the Boulevard clash.
Belmont's 17 triples, which came off the shooting stroke of nine different players, were two shy of the record set just last year. The Bruins (5-3), who snapped a two-game skid with Tuesday's win, knocked down 19 threes at the Curb during a 97-39 drubbing of Trevecca Nazarene last November.
Harmeyer was responsible for three of those triples and totaled 15 points to go with eight rebounds. But her damage wasn't all done from distance. She had a pair of layups that sparked a 21-0 run for the Bruins in the first half, a dominant stretch that lasted more than nine minutes.
Junior forward Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had a pair of threes in that barrage, which thrust Belmont ahead 30-8 midway through the second quarter. Lipscomb (2-6) never got within 20 points again.
The threes didn't stop coming as Belmont went to its bench in the second half. Freshman forward Conley Chinn (Jackson, Miss.) took over to start the fourth quarter, pouring in 11 straight points for the Bruins. That covered just 88 seconds of game time and included a pair of triples.
After Harmeyer and Chinn, Belmont got another 14 points from Wright. That's a season high for her.
The Bruins shot 47.8 percent (32-of-67) for the game and 37.8 percent (17-of-45) from three, but it wasn't just the offense that boosted Belmont to the big win. The home side dominated the boards with 49 rebounds to Lipscomb's 27 and had three players with eight or more rebounds apiece.
Freshman forward Allison Luly (Alpharetta, Ga.) had nine, as did senior guard Jenny Roy during another all-around gem of a game. She scored seven points to go with six assists and nine rebounds.
Belmont will break for final exams over the next week, returning to the court to face Chattanooga on the road Monday, Dec. 17.
LOUISVILLE 102, UT MARTIN 62
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin proved to be no match for the explosive force that was the No. 4 ranked Louisville Cardinals on Tuesday night, falling in the KFC Yum! Center 102-62.
The Skyhawks (5-3) were forced into 27 turnovers on the night while shooting just 32.4 percent from the field. While UT Martin would lead early in the contest, Louisville would quickly respond and never look back after finishing the first half on a 22-2 run. The first half would get out of hand but UT Martin came out of the break with more composure and played the second half to five-point margin before ultimately suffering the sizeable defeat.
Fourteen different players saw action for the Skyhawks, including the debut of redshirt-sophomore Tamiah Stanford after missing all of last year and the first seven game recovering from a knee injury. On the scoring front, sophomore Chelsey Perry was the only Skyhawk to score in double figures while freshman Emma Davis was close behind with nine points off the bench.
No. 4 Louisville (9-0) remained perfect on the season behind a balanced and talented scoring attack up and down the scoresheet. All-American Asia Durr paced all scorers with 25 points while Arica Carter (16 points), Bionca Dunham (14 points) and Dana Evans (11 points) also scored in double figures.
UT Martin will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 9 when closing out the team’s four-game road swing with a matchup against in-state foe Lipscomb. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
ARKANSAS 65, TENNESSEE TECH 42
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Tennessee Tech fell at Arkansas, 65-42, on Tuesday. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fell to 5-3 on the year.
Abby Buckner led Tennessee Tech with nine points to go with seven rebounds. Lacy Cantrell brought down a team-best nine rebounds. Akia Harris had five points, five rebounds and four assists.
Arkansas was led by Chelsea Dungee with 28 points.
Tennessee Tech will return to action on Dec. 18 when it hosts UNC Asheville.
ILLINOIS STATE 61, AUSTIN PEAY 49
NORMAL, Ill. - Austin Peay fell at Illinois State, 61-49, on Tuesday night. The Govenors dropped to 4-5 on the season.
Brianah Ferby led the Govs with 10 points while Nieja Crawford notched a team-best seven rebounds to go with five points. Keisha Gregory had seven points, four rebounds and two steals.
Simone Goods led Illinois State with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Austin Peay Will be back in action on Sunday when it hosts Alabama A&M.