THURSDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 65, Tennessee Tech 58
@Morehead State 97, Tennessee State 81
Belmont 77, @Eastern Kentucky 55
Jacksonville State 59, @Eastern Illinois 50
@Southeast Missouri 80, Murray State 70
@UT Martin 100, Austin Peay 66
SIUE 65, TENNESSEE TECH 58
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The SIUE women's basketball team gave Head Coach Paula Buscher a milestone win in front of a record and lively crowd Thursday afternoon at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars defeated Tennessee Tech 65-58 in an Ohio Valley Conference game for their ninth win in their last 11 games and provided Buscher with her 300th career victory.
The Cougars improved to 12-10 overall and 8-2 in the OVC by winning again on the annual Field Trip Day sponsored by Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery of Roxana, Ill. They are 3-0 on that day and this year's win came in front of a record crowd of 3,875.
Donshel Beck scored a team-best 19 points and Lauren White contributed 13 points to propel the Cougars, who came out quickly. They led 20-11 at the end of the first quarter and 35-23 at halftime before Tennessee Tech made a second-half run at them. The Golden Eagles, who cut the Cougars' lead to five points in the final minute, dropped to 4-18 overall and 1-10 in the OVC.
The SIUE players wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for Buscher on her big day. Her first collegiate win came in November 1997 when she coached at Mankato State, Minn., now Minnesota State.
Beck moved into the No. 8 spot on the SIUE career scoring list with 1,298 points.
Gwen Adams collected nine points, Elina Berzina netted eight points and White snared nine rebounds for SIUE, which made 25 of 66 shots. The Cougars were 4 of 16 on three-pointers, sank 11 of 14 free throws and were outrebounded 41-39. Tennessee Tech, led by MacKenzie's Coleman 22 points, made 19 of 54 shots, with 4 of 19 from three-point land. The Golden Eagles converted 16 of 22 free throws. They closed in on the Cougars near the end of the game, but SIUE refused to wilt, Buscher said. SIUE once led 46-28 in the second half and 48-33 after three quarters.
MOREHEAD STATE 97, TENNESSEE STATE 81
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Six players scored in double-figures, led by a season-best double-double performance from Eriel McKee, propelling Morehead State women's basketball (17-7, 8-3 Ohio Valley Conference) to a 97-81 win over Tennessee State (4-16, 2-9 OVC) on Thursday evening at Johnson Arena.
Despite hitting just 4-of-15 (.267) from three-point range, the Eagles shot over 50 percent from the field for just the fourth time all season with a 38-for-67 (.567) overall performance. Tennessee State connected on an incredible 8-of-12 (.667) clip from the perimeter, tallying 30-of-67 (.448) from the floor.
The true difference was made in the paint, where Morehead State outscored the Lady Tigers 54-36. The Eagles won the rebounding battle by a 44-28 margin, besting its opponent for the second straight contest. Morehead State had come up short in its three previous battles on the glass after losing OVC leading rebounder Tierra McGowan to injury.
McKee anchored the Eagles with contributions from every angle, logging a season-high 21 points and 11 rebounds in addition to three assists, two blocks, and two steals in 29 minutes. Erin Blaine followed with 19 points and seven boards, while Miranda Crockett notched 14 points, eight rebounds, a season-high seven assists, and a steal.
Brooke Todd recorded a career-high 14 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting, complemented by six boards, one assist, and three blocked shots. Point guards Darianne Seward and Breuna Jackson each contributed 10 points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals, though Jackson added a block to her evening.
Tia Wooten led Tennessee state with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Kaliya Griffin added 13 points, including hitting three three-pointers. Taylor Roberts chipped in 12 points while Maxine Beard recorded 11 points and a team-hight seven assists.
BELMONT 77, EASTERN KENTUCKY 55
RICHMOND, Ky. - Belmont women's basketball used an electric fourth quarter to pull away from Eastern Kentucky Thursday night inside Alumni Coliseum. Five players scored in double-digits as the Bruins defeated the Colonels, 77-55, for their 36th consecutive conference victory.
BU (21-3, 11-0) enjoyed scoring contributions from 10 players to push its winning streak to 12-straight games and remain undefeated in league play. Junior guard Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) charged the Bruins with 14 points and four assists, while senior center Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) registered her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Each of the starters posted double-digit scoring performances with Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) (11 points), Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) (10 points) and Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) (10 points) rounding out the efforts.
Eastern Kentucky (7-13, 4-7) was led by A'Queen Hayes' 17 points and 10 rebounds coupled with 13 points from Abby Wright. BU held EKU to 30 percent clip from the floor while going 22-for-72.
Senior duo McCabe and Jones accounted for Belmont's first eight points of the game, helping the Bruins jump out to a temporary 8-3 lead. Eastern Kentucky went on a 6-1 run over the next three minutes to tie it up at the first media timeout. The Colonels continued to find their stride taking their first lead, 12-11, at the 3:37 mark of the first frame before Maggard intervened. The guard hit a pull-up jumper that halted EKU from separating themselves and knotted it back up. As the stanza came to a close, EKU used a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the arc, including a buzzer beater, to claim a 20-17 advantage.
The Bruins continued to fight through a physical EKU squad throughout the second, holding the Colonels to a quiet six points. Maggard once again came up clutch for BU, scoring five unanswered to give Belmont its lead back, 24-22, with 7:50 remaining in the quarter. The run featured the squad's first and only trey of the half. Eastern Kentucky suffered a three-minute scoreless drought before Hayes cashed in on a fast break once again tying the game up, 26-26. Belmont went on to distance themselves, despite six second stanza turnovers. A three-point play from Wright put the Bruins ahead, 32-26, at intermission.
Belmont got out to another hot start in the third, sparking a 6-0 run and forcing EKU to call a timeout 90 seconds in. The squad maintained a double-digit lead for a majority of the frame, going up as many as 13 points. Maggard met the hands of Jones for a fast break that put BU up, 40-30 in the early goings. In the midst of enduring a two-minute scoreless drought, junior guard Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) hit a three for her first points of the game to get BU back on track.
The fourth quarter was owned by the Bruins as they took control from the get go, outscoring the Colonels 26-11 in the 10-minute period. Eight different players scored for Belmont in the fourth quarter, led by six from Roy. Jones got the scoring frenzy started with a three in the opening seconds, bringing her to 11 points on the night. From then on BU continued to wear EKU down, forcing seven fouls that led to eight made free throws from the Bruins. Hannah Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) and Caitlyn Yost (Lewisberg, Tenn.) tacked on four points with a pair of trips to the line down the stretch, securing Belmont's victory.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 59, EASTERN ILLINOIS 50
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team overcame just its third halftime deficit of the season to snap a seven-game road losing skid to Eastern Illinois, 59-50, on Thursday evening inside Lantz Arena.
JSU's last win inside Lantz came on exactly 11 years ago to the day in a double-overtime 103-98, shootout over the Panthers on February 1, 2007. The win matches the programs best start to Ohio Valley Conference play at 8-3, and makes head coach Rick Pietri just the third coach in program history to reach 70 wins patrolling the Gamecocks sidelines.
Senior Tyler Phelion and junior Rayven Pearson led all scorers with 13 points apiece, while freshman Taylor Hawks pitched in 11. Pearson grabbed 10 boards in a double-double effort, followed by Tasha Magruder with nine. Phelion matched a season best with four blocks for JSU.
JSU jumped out to a 16-2 lead to open the game, and led for more than 18 minute of the first half, but the Gamecocks found themselves down by three at halftime after the Panthers finished the second quarter on an 11-0 run over the final three minutes.
JSU quickly bounced back in the third. Pearson hit back-to-back free throws, before Hawks' thrip from the corner gave the Gamecocks the lead again at 30-28. JSU continued to hold the lead as it led for nearly 36 minutes total for the night, but EIU stayed closed heading into the fourth down just three, 38-35.
In the fourth, JSU turned up the heat with a 10-0 run to grab a 13-point advantage through the early part of the period, and added a stingy defense that didn't allow a fourth-quarter Panther field goal until the 3:48 mark.
A three-pointer by EIU's Karle Pace cut the deficit to eight with 1:32 remaining, but it was too little too late. Pace finished as the lone Panther in double figures with 12 points.
For a team that struggles at the line, JSU shot 63.6 percent from the stripe on Thursday, and secured its second-half rally with a 12-of-16 mark (75%) after halftime.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 80, MURRAY STATE 70
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Ke’Shunan James became just the third Racer in program history to reach 2,000 career points Thursday night at Southeast Missouri and moved into second place on the all-time career scoring list, but it was not enough as the Racers came up short against the Redhawks, 80-70.
James joins Ashley N. Hayes (2005-09) and Sheila Smith (1985-89) as the only women to reach the 2,000-point milestone. James also surpassed Hayes for second place on the all-time scoring list at MSU and now has 2,009.
After a solid first half, MSU (8-14, 4-7 OVC) led 35-32 at the break, thanks in large part to a 10-of-11 shooting clip at the free-throw line. Both teams shot 44 percent from the floor in the first two quarters. The second half was a different story as SEMO (11-12, 6-5 OVC) shot 64.3 percent in the half while the Racers shot just 38 percent.
For the game, the Racers shot 40.7 percent and SEMO shot 54.5 percent overall. Neither team shot the ball well from 3-point range as MSU was just 5-of-22 and SEMO went 3-for-8 from beyond the arc.
After the great first half at the free-throw line for the Racers, the second half was a different story as they went just 6-for-9 at the line.
The Redhawks outscored MSU 50-30 in paint points Thursday while the Racers had a 13-8 edge in second-chance points. Both squads scored 19 points off turnovers.
The Redhawks led 56-54 after three quarters thanks to a near-half court 3-pointer to end the period. SEMO then began the final period with a 6-1 run to take a 62-55 lead to begin the fourth. After a made layup from James after she followed her own missed free throw, the Racers trailed just 71-68 with 2:45 left to play. Then, however, the Redhawks scored the next seven points to go up 78-68 and essentially put the game away.
Southeast Missouri had four players reach dodule-digtis in points with Deja Jones lead the way with 20 points. Tesia Thompson added 12 points while Iyanna McCurdy had 13. Adrianna Murphy had 11 points and a team-best eight assists.
James led the way in the loss with another double-double as she scored a game-high 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. James also had a team-best four assists in the contest. Bria Bethea added 13 poitns, 12 of which came in the first half while Jasmine Borders added 11 and hit a trio of 3-pointers.
UT MARTIN 100, AUSTIN PEAY 66
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team used a barrage of three-point shooting to cruise past Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay 100-66 on Thursday night to notch its third consecutive victory.
The Skyhawks (11-12, 7-4 OVC) would knock down 13 three-pointers in the contest while shooting 53.4 percent from the floor. Behind a strong shooting performance, UT Martin would lead by as much as 39 points early in the fourth while placing four players in double figures.
Sophomore Kendall Spray continued her hot shooting on the season, scoring a game-high 25 points while knocking down 7-of-10 three-point attempts. With seven three-pointers Spray surpassed both Heather Butler (2010-11) and Jessy Ward (2014-15) on the single-season three-pointers made list by pushing her season total up to 89 made trifectas – tying her record-setting freshman season’s output.
Along with Spray’s hot shooting, junior Myah Taylor also found her shooting stroke by scoring 18 points while knocking down 5-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc off the bench. Freshman Zaire Hicks continued a trend of bench scoring by tallying 12 points on the night while junior guard Emanye Robertson tallied 11 points and seven assists.
Austin Peay (12-10, 5-6 OVC) struggled for much of the contest before breaking through for 23 points in the fourth quarter off 82 percent shooting in the period. While the fourth was strong for the Governors, they could not overcome 30 minutes of struggles as only Brianne Alexander (11 points) scored in double figures while the squad committed 22 turnovers on the night.
UT Martin would waste very little time jumping out to a big lead in the first quarter. After a quick three-pointer by the Govs to open the contest, the Skyhawks would proceed to string together an 8-0 run to force APSU to call a timeout just three minutes into the contest. Overall the Skyhawks would push their advantage out to as large as 12 points midway through the quarter before taking a 25-14 lead into the second period.
The Skyhawks would maintain control of the contest in the second quarter, pushing the team’s margin out to 23 points with just under four minutes to play in the half. Taylor would catch fire in the quarter, nailing three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to bring her first half scoring total up to 14 points. With yet another strong quarter of play, UT Martin took a 47-30 advantage into halftime.
The third quarter would hold a similar pattern as the first two as UT Martin outscored Austin Peay 25-13 in the period. Spray would play a big part in the scoring output for the Skyhawks, tallying 11 points of her own in the quarter. The Skyhawks would later push their lead out to 29 points as they took a 72-43 lead into the fourth.
UT Martin would cruise to a victory down the stretch, pushing its margin out to a season-high 39 points with 7:54 to play in the contest. With only the final score left to be decided, the Skyhawks turned to their reserves down the stretch to seal a 100-66 victory.