SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 72, SIUE 62
@No. 24 Belmont 80, Morehead State 56
@UT Martin 85, Eastern Illinois 57
Jacksonville State 51, @Austin Peay 50
@Murray State 80, Tennessee Tech 73
@Tennessee State 69, Eastern Kentucky 58 (OT)
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72, SIUE 62
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's basketball defeated the SIUE Cougars 72-62 on Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
Southeast opened up the game hitting its first two field goals, but also turning the ball over four times in the first four minutes. The Cougars struggled the from the field early, hitting just one of their first five attempts.
The Redhawks managed to get a couple easy fast break baskets late in the quarter while also limiting SIUE without a bucket without for over three minutes to gain a small lead.
At the end of one Southeast led 19-13.
The Redhawks opened up the second period on fire, kicking off the quarter with an 8-0 run.
Southeast came alive from three-point land, hitting three three-pointers while also getting a ton of easy buckets off of the nine SIUE turnovers in the quarter.
After Southeast missed its first shot attempt in the quarter, they hit their next eight. SIUE attempted seven shots in the second quarter and connected on just two, including zero in the last five minutes of the period.
At halftime, the Redhawks led 40-26. Adrianna Murphy had seven steals in the first half. The Redhawks shot 61 percent through the first two quarters.
Southeast began the third quarter 1-6 from the field while SIUE opened up hitting one of their first five attempts.
Both teams remained cold from field throughout the rest of the quarter, with each team shooting below 35 percent. SEMO however went on a small run at the end of the third after managing a couple trips to the free throw line to extend its lead to 20.
Southeast led SIUE 57-37 entering the fourth quarter.
The Cougars opened up the period on a 10-2 run, cutting the Redhawk lead to 12.
SEMO turned on the defense to stop the run after a timeout, holding SIUE without a field goal for over three minutes, and extending its lead back to 15 with just under five minutes left.
The Redhawks then went on a scoring drought over four minutes themselves, including five turnovers. SIUE got into a rhythm on the offensive end, scoring nine straight, cutting the lead to six at 63-57.
Southeast finally answered the Cougar run with a 4-0 of its own to extend the lead back to 10 with 1:50 remaining.
The Redhawks limited the Cougars to one field goal the final three minutes, eventually winning by 10.
Tesia Thompson led the way with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Adrianna Murphy added 15 points, four assists and a career-high eight steals.
Iyanna McCurdy chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.
Lauren White led the Cougars with21 points while Donshel Beck added 12.
BELMONT 80, MORHEAED STATE 56
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -An early run helped No. 24 Belmont women's basketball secure the outright OVC regular season title as the team defeated Morehead State, 80-56, Saturday night inside the Curb Event Center. Veterans Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) each tallied a double-double to mark the Bruins 41st consecutives conference win.
The squad saw extensive contributions from various players along with Smith (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Maggard's (14 points, 10 assists) double-double performances. Junior guard Jenny Roy came within a tally of joining the crew, registering nine points and 11 rebounds, meanwhile, senior center Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) also contributed 16 points and seven boards.
Morehead State (19-10, 10-6) hung around with the help of Eriel McKee's 22 points and Miranda Crockett's 12. Belmont (26-3, 16-0) held the Eagles to 33 percent from the floor while out rebounding them, 51-29.
Belmont's stifling defense to start the first frame helped the Bruins pour in 11 points before ever allowing an Eagle bucket. They forced back-to-back turnovers while collecting a block from McCabe during the four-minute scoreless span from Morehead State. BU went on to limit Morehead State to a quiet two points for the first eight minutes of play. A pair of buckets from sophomore forward Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.) pushed Belmont's advantage to 18-2 at the 2:41 mark. At the end of the stanza, the Eagles were held to six points as BU boasted an 18-6 lead.
The second period proved to be a little different as MSU chipped away at their 12-point deficit. BU drained two quick shots before suffering a four-minute scoring drought of its own. The Eagles cashed in on two consecutive treys while stringing together an 8-0 run that brought them within six, 26-20. Maggard halted the run with a couple of fade away jumpers that helped the Bruins maintain their lead. Junior forward Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) hit a shot from beyond the arc with less than a minute to remaining as Belmont went ahead, 35-24, at intermission.
Both squads traded buckets to start the third until Morehead State netted six unanswered points as they continued to try and catch up with Belmont. Smith ensured that the Eagles stayed a safe distance from the Bruins, hitting a timely triple to go back up by 10, 44-34. Another extended scoring drought for MSU aided BU's opportunity to tack on a few more points as Roy and Smith continued to pour it ion, putting the Bruins up, 53-36, after three frames.
Smith and junior guard Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) teamed up for quick five points as Belmont got hot in the final stanza, outscoring the Eagles, 27-20. Four consecutive three-pointers from the Bruins in a span of two minutes solidified the victory as they continued to extend their lead. Morehead State tacked on three late buckets, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome Belmont as time expired.
UT MARTIN 85, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team controlled the tempo and lead from the start before posting a dominating 85-57 victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois on Senior Night.
The Skyhawks improved to 16-12 on the season while moving into a tie for second place in the league standings with a 12-4 record. UT Martin led in nearly every statistical category on the day, winning the battle of the boards by 11 while forcing Eastern Illinois into 23 turnovers.
UT Martin saw five different players score in double figures for the fourth time this season as junior Emanye Robertson led all scorers with 17 points in the contest. Junior Myah Taylor wasn’t far behind with 14 points of her own while the trio of Kendall Spray, Chelsey Perry and Maddie Waldrop each tallied 11 points. Along with the game’s top scorers, the Skyhawks honored the pair of Ashton Feldhaus and Janekia Mason prior to the game during Senior Night festivities while the party took yet another twist after the final buzzer as Mason accepted an engagement proposal at center court.
Eastern Illinois (2-25, 1-15 OVC) saw three players score in double figures despite shooting just 36.4 percent from the floor. Taylor Steele led the squad with 14 points while Karle Pace (13 points) and Grace McRae (10 points) weren’t far off the team-lead.
Both teams struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the first quarter as the score remained tied on three separate occasions. UT Martin would finally find its flow late in the period, closing out the first on a 7-0 run to take a 21-9 advantage into the second.
The Skyhawks would later push their run out to 17 unanswered points into the second quarter before the Panthers finally snapped a lengthy scoreless streak with a jumper by Steele at the 7:03 mark. UT Martin continued to build upon its lead in the final minutes of the half, pushing its margin out to as high as 19 down the stretch to take a 37-19 lead into halftime.
The third quarter would start out much like the second as UT Martin outscored Eastern Illinois 13-2 in the opening five minutes of action. With the margin reaching as large as 31 points in the quarter, play would level off as the quarter wore on and the Skyhawks would narrowly outscore the Panthers 12-11 over the final stretch of the period.
With the only thing in doubt being the final score, UT Martin saw its margin reach 36 points with 7:33 to play in the contest. With the reserves playing the bulk of the minutes down the stretch, the Skyhawks pushed their season-long winning streak to eight games with an 85-57 victory.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 51, AUSITN PEAY 50
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - For the third-consecutive game, the Jacksonville State women's basketball team overcame a fourth-quarter deficit of at least seven points, this time on the road at Austin Peay, topping the Governors 51-50 on senior Tasha Magruder's last-second free-throws.
The Gamecocks (17-10, 11-5 Ohio Valley) matched a school-record with their 11th OVC win of the season, equaling the 2015-16 team which finished 11-5 in a 16-game schedule. This year, the OVC expanded conference play to 18 games. JSU will host nationally-ranked Belmont on Wednesday, Feb. 21, in the final home game of the season at Pete Mathews Coliseum in a contest that has been tabbed as a "Black Out" for fans.
JSU trailed 41-32 entering the final period, before rallying for its second one-point win of the past week. After Morgan Towells came away with a huge steal down one in the final minute, the Gamecocks worked the ball down low to Magruder who was fouled going up for a shot with five seconds remaining. The senior from Taneytown, Md., was just 5-for-35 (.143) from the free throw line through JSU's first 26 games. On Saturday, she was 2-for-2. First tying the game, and then lifting JSU to the lead after trailing for more than 22 minutes of the contest.
APSU advanced the ball to the frontcourt with a timeout after JSU took the lead, but its final possession was stuffed by a game-saving block from senior Tyler Phelion.
Chloe Long finished the game with a team-high 11 points and 11 rebounds in her second-career double-double game. She had critical baskets at the end of the second and third quarters which snapped separate scoring droughts for the Gamecocks. Phelion also reached double figures with 10 points, five boards and four blocks.
Although her final free throws were the biggest, Magruder ended the night with eight total points to go along with five rebounds.
The opening 20 minutes of action featured five ties and eight lead changes as JSU and APSU battled back-and-forth inside the Dunn Center. After a 12-12 score at the end of the first, JSU lead by a slim 26-25 margin at intermission.
The Gamecocks staked their largest lead of the game early in the third on Magruder's opening layup that gave JSU a three-point cushion at 28-25. From there, the Govs shut down JSU's offense with a 16-2 run to grab a 41-30 advantage late in the period.
In the fourth, Phelion got the comeback started with a triple when trailing by 10 with just over eight minutes remaining. Free throws, despite JSU missing nine total on the night, helped Jax State pull within three at 46-43 after Taylor Hawks hit a pair with 3:52 on the clock. Still down three with under a minute to play, Hawks took a defensive rebound the length of the court to make it 50-49 with 41 seconds to play.
Towells made her big steal reminiscent of the Tennessee State finish a week ago on the ensuing possession leading to Gamecocks' final drive which ended with Magruder at the charity stripe.
Brianne Alexander led the Govs with 15 points while Keisha Gregory added 13.
MURRAY STATE 80, TENNESSEE TECH 73
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers honored their seniors and took a step closer to getting a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with an 80-73 win Saturday over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. The four Racer seniors scored 60 of their team's 80 points on the night.
The Racers (10-17) improved to 6-10 in the OVC and with two games remaining have the eighth and final seed in the OVC Tournament.
It was again a big performance from Ke’Shunan James, who was unstoppable with 37 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field to go with six rebounds and three assists. Bria Bethea ripped down a career-best 12 rebounds and scored 16 points, while Abria Gulledge added 12 points and Mary Jones chipped in with a career-high five to the MSU attack.
Leading 18-11 after the first quarter, MSU opened the second with a 12-4 run and a 30-15 with 5:35 before half. One thing the Racers accomplished in the first half, was keeping Tech off the free throw line. James made a free throw at the end of the half and the Racers lead TTU 39-29 at the intermission.
When Tech cut the Racers’ lead to four points inside the 6:30 mark of the third quarter, James went to work and scored five-straight points for a 49-42 lead with 4:55 on the clock. Tech tied it with 30 seconds left in the quarter at 53-53. James hit a free throw with 7.7 left and the game went to the fourth quarter with the Racers leading 54-53.
After falling behind with 8:40 left, the Racers hit TTU with a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer from Bethea and a fast break score, plus a follow-put back by Gulledge for a 65-59 lead with 5:40 remaining. James scored her 34th and 35th points of the game with 4:01 left for a 68-61 Racer lead. Tech never mounted a rally the rest of the way thanks in large part to MSU's 21 made free throws, including eight in the final 1:06 of the contest.
Tennessee Tech had four players reach double digits in points with MacKenzie Coleman leading the way with 20 points. Yaktavia Hickson had 14 points while Jordan Brock added 12 and Akia Haris had 11.
TENNESSEE STATE 69, EASTERN KENTUCKY 58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In the final home game of the regular season, the Tennessee State University women’s basketball team defeated Eastern Kentucky, 69-58, in overtime Saturday night in the Gentry Center.
With three-minutes left in overtime, the Lady Tigers used a 9-0 run to claim a double-digit lead with less than one minute on the clock. From there, TSU never relinquished the lead. The home team outscored EKU, 16-5, in the extra period.
Senior Maxine Beard, who played in her final home game on TSU’s home court was honored during pregame. She finished the game with a career-high 19 points, three assists and two steals.
Tennessee State (6-19, 4-12 OVC) snapped a three-game skid while Eastern Kentucky (8-17, 5-11 OVC) dropped its second straight contest.
Freshman Taylor Roberts led TSU in scoring with 23 points while redshirt junior Tia Wooten recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Jaden Wrightsell pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds in the contest.
Eastern Kentucky was led in scoring by A’Queen Hayes’ 21 points while Bria Bass added 16.