SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 75, @Eastern Illinois 66
@Eastern Kentucky 59, Morehead State 56
@UT Martin 72, Southeast Missouri 65
@Jacksonville State 62, Tennessee State 61
Belmont 68, @Tennessee Tech 60
@SIUE 77, Murray State 68
AUSTIN PEAY 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 66
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Behind an explosive second quarter, Austin Peay State University women's basketball team downed Eastern Illinois, Saturday, bringing a sweet end to a tough four-game road swing.
Austin Peay (14-11, 7-7 OVC) revived their offense against the Panthers, draining their first three attempts from beyond the arc. The outside shooting forced the Eastern Illinois (2-23, 1-13 OVC) defense to respect the deep threat, opening up space inside for Brianne Alexander, who scored 10 points in the opening quarter, shooting 75.0 percent from the floor.
The Govs strong defense led to abundant offensive production in the second quarter. Austin Peay outrebounded the Panthers 24-10 in the first half, including 15 defensive rebounds, collecting seven assists on 14 made field goals. The Governors secured 10 points off of five Eastern Illinois turnovers en-route to a 29-point second period, the most in a second quarter all season, allowing the Govs to take a 43-29 lead into the half.
Both teams came out sluggish after the halftime break, but the Govs persistence on the defensive end allowed them to stretch their lead to 17 points at the media timeout of the third period. Keisha Gregory picked up where she left on in the first half, scoring seven of the Govs 10 points in the third period, with Arielle Gonzalez-Varner tallying five rebounds, including four offensive boards, to give the Austin Peay offense a boost heading into the fourth period.
The Governors posted 22 points in the fourth quarter behind Gregory's nine point outing, and Falon Baker shooting 50.0 percent from behind the arc in the final 10 minutes. The Govs lead lingered around 12 points for much of the final quarter before Eastern Illinois closed the gap to nine. The Panthers could not overcome the Govs near 60.0 percent shooting percentage in the fourth quarter, as Austin Peay wrapped up their four-game road swing with a 75-66 victory.
Gregory led the Govs with a career-high 26 points and five rebounds, going 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Alexander also posted double digits for the fifth-straight game, scoring 18 points and pulling down seven rebounds.
Arielle Gonzalez-Varner once again brought a spark off the bench, racking up 10 rebounds and nine points in her 23 minutes off the bench. The Governors scored 30 points in the paint and 14 points off 10 Eastern Illinois turnovers.
Jennifer Nehls led the Panthers with 15 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Steele added 12 points while Karle Pace chipped in 11 points.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 59, MOREHEAD STATE 56
RICHMOND, Ky. - Freshman Bria Bass posted her second double-double in as many games as the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team took down rival Morehead State University, 59-56, Saturday at McBrayer Arena.
EKU used a 14-3 run late in the third quarter to take 41-38 lead with 39 seconds remaining in the period. Bass got the run started with a tip-in off the glass and Abby Wright finished it with a pair of free throws.
The Colonels used a 9-2 start to the fourth quarter to extend its lead to 50-42 with 6:10 remaining in the game. Bass scored seven of those nine points during the run. Eastern Kentucky extended its lead to nine, 54-45, midway through the fourth period, and had an eight point advantage with 2:26 left to play.
The Eagles whittled the margin to two, 58-56, on a three-pointer by Darianne Seward with 21 seconds on the clock. EKU made just 1-of-2 free throws at the other end to give MSU a chance to tie, but Breuna Jackson’s three-point attempt with nine seconds remaining missed and the Colonels secured the rebound.
Morehead State (18-9, 9-5 OVC) used an 11-2 run to take a 20-11 lead with 7:20 remaining in the first half. EKU answered with a 9-2 run of its own to cut into the lead to 22-20 with 3:25 remaining in the half. Morehead State went into the locker room leading 28-23.
Bass took over in the second half scoring 12 of her team-high 18 points. She finished the game having made 8-of-12 from the field, 2-of-5 from the three-point line and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. Wright had 15 points and four rebounds.
Morehead State was led by Erin Blaine with a team-best 18 points along with three rebounds. Eriel McKee had 16 points with six rebounds of her own.
UT MARTIN 72, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team continued its hot play, notching the team’s sixth straight win with a 72-65 home victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri.
The Skyhawks (14-12, 10-4 OVC) led for over 31 minutes in today’s contest while placing three players in double figures. UT Martin would tally 11 steals while forcing Southeast Missouri into 20 turnovers – translating into 23 points.
Senior Ashton Feldhaus led the way for the home squad, tying a career-high with 23 points while tallying four rebounds. Freshman Chelsey Perry also tallied a big afternoon, tying a career-high of her own with 21 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Kendall Spray would round out the Skyhawks in double figures with 12 points on the day.
Southeast Missouri (11-15, 6-8 OVC) battled throughout the contest by shooting 50 percent from the floor and winning the rebound battle. The Redhawks would also feature four players in double figures, led by the play of Ashton Luttrull with 18 points while Iyanna McCurdy (11 points), Deja Jones (10 points) and Martin native Kaley Leyhue (10 points) rounded out the quartet.
UT Martin wasted little time looking to carry over momentum from the team’s winning streak early as the Skyhawks held a lead as large as six points in the opening quarter of play. Spray would play a big part in the strong start, scoring 10 points in the first alone while the Skyhawks took a 16-13 lead into the second quarter.
The Redhawks looked to respond in the opening minutes of the second quarter by outscoring the Skyhawks 11-5 through the first five minutes of the period to not only eliminate the team’s deficit but build a lead of their own. SEMO posted a five-point advantage of its own before UT Martin responded before the half with a run keyed in large part by Perry who scored all 15 of her first half points in the second quarter. With the squad trailing by two possessions, Perry would score eight consecutive points to give the Skyhawks a 34-33 lead heading into halftime.
The third quarter was played tight throughout with neither team finding much breathing room. UT Martin would start the quarter strong, taking a lead as large as eight points, but Southeast Missouri would answer right back to trim the deficit to 54-51 at the final horn of the third.
The lead would change hands twice in the fourth quarter but jumper by Emanye Robertson with 7:26 to play would give UT Martin its final lead of the game which it would not relinquish. The Skyhawks would lean heavy on the play of Feldhaus down the stretch as she tied her career-high for the contest while tallying 13 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter. Backed by the play of the senior, the Skyhawks would seal the 72-65 victory.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 62, TENNESSEE STATE 61
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - After losing the lead with 7:20 remaining in the second quarter, the Jacksonville State women's basketball team trailed the remainder of the game against Tennessee State, except for the final two seconds in a stunning comeback.
Down by as many as 13 in the second half, JSU entered the fourth quarter in a 10-point hole, 51-41. A layup by freshman Taylor Hawks with 15 seconds remaining pulled JSU within one, and the ensuing free-throw from being fouled knotted the score at 61. Sophomore Morgan Towells swooped in stealing the inbounds pass and found Chloe Long who was fouled with 2.8 seconds on the clock. The Hazel Green, Ala., native hit just one of two free throws, but it was all JSU needed as Tennessee State could not get a shot off in the final possession.
The win propelled the Gamecocks (14-10, 9-5 Ohio Valley) to their ninth conference win of the season for just the fifth time since joining the OVC in 2004.
Fittingly, senior Tyler Phelion led the Gamecock scoring on Senior Day with a season-high 17. She was the only Gamecock to reach double figures as Hawks and Rayven Pearson each finished with nine. Pearson hauled in a team-best nine boards as well.
The Gamecocks jumped out to a 12-7 lead midway through the opening period and led 16-12 after the first 10 minutes of action. A 15-1 run for the visiting Lady Tigers handed the lead to TSU who held the advantage for nearly 29 minutes. TSU took a 38-25 lead into the halftime locker room, before Jax State began to chip away in the second half.
Remarkably, JSU conducted its comeback without a single three-point basket. The Gamecocks were 0-for-13 from behind the arc for the game. It marked the first time JSU was held without a single trey in a game in a span of 125 games dating back to an 0-for-4 day at Belmont on Jan. 6, 2014.
JSU scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to two. TSU's Tia Wooten hit a jumper midway through the period to end the Lady Tigers' drought. Wooten finished with 15 points, behind TSU's Kaliya Griffin who had a game-high 19.
Kiana Johnson's long jumper with under two minutes left pulled JSU back within four once against at 57-53. Phelion and Pearson helped get JSU within striking range late, before Hawks made her crucial drive in the closing seconds.
BELMONT 68, TENNESSEE TECH 60
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) posted a double-double while hanging 26 points on Tennessee Tech Saturday night as Belmont women's basketball edged the Golden Eagles, 68-60, inside the Eblen Center. The victory extend's BU's winning streak to 15 games while marking its 39th consecutive OVC win.
Smith used a 17-point third quarter to help the Bruins (24-3, 14-0) distance themselves, a feat that would prove critical down the stretch. She also compiled 11 rebounds while dishing two assists. The veteran was accompanied by Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) who poured in 12 and 11 points, respectively. Junior Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) collected six board, five assists and a pair of steals.
Tennessee Tech (6-19, 3-11) was led by Yaktavia Hickson's 17 points with a 6-for-6 performance at the line. She was followed by Akia Harris (12points) and Mackenzie Coleman (10 points) in the double-digit scoring efforts. Three difference players collected seven boards for the Golden Eagles who outrebounded the Bruins, 38-35.
The Bruins struggled to find a rhythm throughout the first half as the Golden Eagles held them to just 24 points. Tennessee Tech opened the game with a 7-2 run in the first three minutes before Belmont found an answer. The squad's final three field goals of the first stanza came in the form of a triple with junior guard Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) leading the charge. Smith and Maggard followed suit to put BU ahead, 13-9 at the break.
TTU once again got on the board first in the second period to tie it up, 13-13. McCabe went on to score the Bruins first three points before BU suffered a three-minute scoreless drought. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn. product hit a free throw at the 3:28 mark that put her atop the program's Division I era record book with 1,418 career points. A Golden Eagle technical foul gave the Bruins a pair of free shots at the line that Maggard sunk to spark the offense and put Belmont back on top, 18-17. Six lead changes in the second stanza alone left BU with a narrow, 24-23, lead heading into halftime.
Back-to-back layups from Smith gave Belmont its biggest lead of the game, 30-25, with 7:38 remaining in the third. The Golden Eagles refused to let up as they stormed back with five unanswered points of their own to knot it back up. Smith continued to power the Bruins, scoring 11 consecutive points for Belmont over the span of three minutes to once again put the team on top. Tennessee Tech continued to battle, coming within as many as four points but couldn't get past the hump. Smith finished the frame with 17 points while going 7-for-7 at the line to put BU up, 49-41.
Both squads continued to battle, trading buckets to start the fourth. A three-pointer from TTU's Harris made it a seven-point game, 57-50, in favor of Belmont with 6:33 remaining. E. Harmeyer countered with a three of her own to push BU back to a double-digit lead while holding Tennessee Tech scoreless for more than three minutes. TTU guard Jordan Brock broke the drought with a four-point play to make it, 62-54, Belmont heading into the final minutes. The Golden Eagles fought down to the final seconds, but the Bruins ultimately found a way to get it done down the stretch.
SIUE 77, MURRAY STATE 68
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Jay'Nee Alston triggered a third quarter outburst that powered the surging SIUE women's basketball team to another win Saturday.
The junior guard scored eight points during a 17-0 spree to guide the Cougars by Murray State 77-68 in an Ohio Valley Conference game at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars, completing a 4-0 home stand, improved to 15-10 overall with the Alumni Day victory. They jumped to 12-2 in the OVC and won for the 12th time in their last 14 games. Murray State fell to 9-16 and 5-9.
Alston scored 12 points to go along with four assists and was one of three Cougars to reach double figures. Donshel Beck led the way with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Lauren White logged 16 points, four assists and three rebounds. Sydney Bauman collected 12 rebounds and eight points.
SIUE led only 38-37 at halftime and withstood a 12-0 Murray State run in the second quarter. However, the Cougars then went on a run of their own. They went on a 14-0 spurt to close the third quarter and carry a 58-41 advantage into the final period. SIUE scored the first three points of the final quarter to push ahead 61-41 and never looked back.
Alston helped stoke things. Overall, SIUE made 29 of 59 shots, including 4 of 16 from three-point land. The Cougars sank 15 of 21 free throws and outrebounded the Racers 44-38.
SIUE's defense limited Murray State's Ke'Shunan James, the second-leading scorer in the OVC, to eight points. Brianna Crane led the Racers with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Janika Griffith-Wallace added 11 and Bria Bethea chipped in with 10 despite foul trouble. Bethea led MSU with eight rebounds in the loss.