WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
No. 23 Belmont 66, @Jacksonville State 35
@SIUE 67, Austin Peay 55
NO. 23 BELMONT 66, JACKSONVILLE STATE 35
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - No. 23 Belmont women's basketball silenced Jacksonville State's offense to solidify a 66-35 victory Wednesday night inside Pete Mathew coliseum. The victory pushed the Bruins winning streak to 18-straight games while marking their 42nd consecutive OVC win.
BU moves to 27-3 on the season, winning 27 games in a season for the first time in its Division I era. Senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) charged the Bruins offensive production with 17 points while dishing four assists. She was joined by junior guard Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) and senior center Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) who also put together double-digit scoring efforts, pouring in 16 and 12, respectively. Collectively, four different players compiled at least eight boards with junior guard Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wis.) and McCabe leading the way with nine. McCabe also rejected five shots on the night.
The Bruins shutdown Jacksonville State's (17-11, 11-6) offense all night, holding the gamecocks to 19 percent from the field. Tasha Magruder led the way with six points, eight rebounds and five blocks. JSU was only able to convert on 12 field goals, three of which came from behind the arc.
A sluggish start from both squads offensively left the game 9-8, in favor of the Bruins, after the first stanza. While the teams collectively combined for a mere two field goals in the opening seven minutes of the game, they both made crucial defensive stops throughout the period. Belmont forced six turnovers while McCabe rejected a trio of Gamecock shots in the first quarter, JSU collected six blocks of their own. Sophomore guard Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.) worked the Jacksonville State defenders as time expired to knock in a layup that put BU ahead by a tally.
The early goings of the second frame took the same course as both squads suffered extended scoring droughts at the start. It wasn't until four minutes in that McCabe sunk back-to-back triples to separate the Bruins from the Gamecocks, 17-10. McCabe accounted for the Bruins first 8 points of the quarter, before Belmont failed to make another field goal until two minutes remained in the half. Jones sparked a 12-2 run after swiping the ball on JSU's end of the court and converting on the three-point play on the other end. From their Maggard and Smith hit a pair of buckets from beyond the arc to give Belmont its largest lead of the game, 29-14, at intermission.
The pace picked up to start the second half as the Bruins and Gamecocks traded buckets from the beginning. A six-minute scoreless span from JSU allotted BU the opportunity to mount another run, this time pouring in 13 unanswered points to wrap up the third. Smith led the way scoring 10 points in the period, helping BU take a 49-22 lead.
Junior guard Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) became the fifth Bruin to hit a trey, throwing in two-consecutive to push BU's advantage to 57-27 with 5:24 remaining in the game. Belmont continued to distance themselves throughout the remainder of the game to secure its 27th victory of the season.
SIUE 67, AUSTIN PEAY 55
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Freshman Allie Troeckler scored a season-best 18 points and the SIUE Cougars used a rousing second half to defeat Austin Peay 67-55 on Senior Night Wednesday at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars, rallying from a 29-25 halftime deficit, swept Austin Peay and improved to 16-12 overall and 13-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference Austin Peay dropped to 15-13 and 8-9.
Troeckler, a 5-foot, 10-inch guard from Bethalto, stirred the Cougars. She scored 14 of her points in the second half and supplied solid shooting. Troeckler made 5 of 7 shots and all eight of her free throw attempts. She also collected four rebounds and three steals."
Gwen Adams scored 14 points, nine in the second half. She made all five of her foul shots and snared five rebounds.
Beck's seven points in the first six minutes of the third quarter ignited a 13-3 spree to give the Cougars a 38-32 lead. They stretched it to 52-42 with 5:44 remaining in the game, but the Governors fought back. Austin Peay narrowed the gap to 57-55 with three minutes to go. However, Jay'Nee Alston of the Cougars connected on a three-pointer with 2:36 remaining to make it 60-55, and SIUE never looked back.
Sydney Bauman punched in 12 points to go along with six rebounds. White had nine points and six assists. Beck finished with nine points and eight rebounds to complement Troeckler and Adams' efforts.
SIUE made 22 of 27 free throws, while Austin Peay was 8 of 17 from the foul line. The Cougars hit on 21 of 50 shots, including 3 of 8 from three-point land. Austin Peay, which outrebounded SIUE 42-31, made 20 of 57 shots, including 7 of 18 from beyond the arc.
Austin Peay held a four-point halftime lead mainly because the Governors outrebounding the Cougars 23-10. The visitors also accounted 10 second-chance points before the break while the Cougars had none. In the second half, both teams had 21 rebounds.
The Govs had three players reach double figures in points with Keisha Gregory leading the way with 13. Falon Baker and Brianne Alexander each had 11.