THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 88, UT Martin 75
Southeast Missouri 66, @Eastern Kentucky 52
Murray State 70, @Eastern Illinois 63
@Tennessee Tech 68, Tennessee State 65
MOREHEAD STATE 88, UT MARTIN 75
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Fueled on offense by a career-high 26 points from Eriel McKee and on defense by a career-high seven blocks from Brooke Todd, Morehead State women's basketball (20-10, 11-5 Ohio Valley Conference) defeated UT Martin (16-13, 12-5 OVC) by a score of 88-75 on Thursday evening at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles' victory snaps an eight-game win streak by the Skyhawks, marking the first time Morehead State has defeated UT Martin twice in one season since 2009-10.
"I'm very proud of the team," said MSU head coach Greg Todd. "It's great to have one of our better performances at home. I thought we shared the ball very well and made some great passes."
Morehead State logged 24 assists as a team, its most versus a Division I foe this season. The Eagles both outrebounded their opponent and shot over 50 percent from the floor for the first time since Feb. 1, besting UT Martin 37-32 on the glass and connecting on 33-of-62 (.532) attempts from the field.
Morehead State outscored the Skyhawks in each quarter of the first half, taking a 40-26 lead into intermission. The Eagles edged out a 27-26 advantage in a high-powered third period, though UT Martin bounced back with a 23-21 gain in the fourth. Morehead State led for over 35 minutes of game time, including a 24-point cushion late in the third quarter.
McKee reached 26 points on 10-of-16 (.625) shooting, knocking down a career-best four three-point field goals all in the first half. The senior forward added five rebounds, two assists, and a team-high three steals to her evening.
In addition to her seven blocks, Brooke Todd notched her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 boards, complemented by three assists and a steal. The 6-foot-2 Lexington, Ky. native has logged at least five blocks in one game on eight separate occasions in her record-setting senior campaign.
Guards Miranda Crockett (14), Darianne Seward (13), and Breuna Jackson (12) rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Eagles, bringing down five rebounds apiece. Seward dished out a game-high nine assists and recorded two steals.
Freshman Chelsey Perry paced the Skyhawks with a new career-high, scoring 24 points while flirting with a double-double with nine rebounds. Sophomore Kendall Spray chipped in 11 points while the duo of Ashton Feldhaus and Myah Taylor scored 10 points each.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 66, EASTERN KENTUCKY 52
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's basketball defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 66-52 on Thursday evening at McBrayer Arena.
Eastern Kentucky opened up the game on a 6-0 run to gain the early lead. After going several minutes without scoring, Southeast finally got into a rhythm on the offensive end and tied the game at 8-8 with about four minutes remaining.
Both teams traded buckets the rest of the quarter, with EKU taking a slight advantage into the second quarter at 14-11.
SEMO held EKU scoreless the first three minutes of the second quarter, taking its first lead of the game at 17-14.
The Southeast offense continued to roll throughout the period, extending its lead to six multiple times in the quarter.
After two, the Redhawks led 27-23. SEMO shot 59 percent in the second quarter.
The second quarter shooting carried over to the third for the Redhawks as they remained hot from the field, extending their lead to 12 at one point after back to back three-pointers from Kaley Leyhue.
The Redhawks stayed hot the rest of the quarter taking advantage of a lot of easy baskets inside. Southeast also converted three "And-1" plays in the period to help maintain its lead.
Entering the fourth quarter, SEMO led 53-40.
The Redhawks opened up the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run, including Deja Jones' third "And-1" play of the second half, to extend their lead to 18.
SEMO's shooting remained hot throughout the quarter, at once point its lead climbing to 20 points.
Eastern Kentucky could not get anything going on the offensive end, starting the quarter 1-9 from the field in the fourth and only making four field goals the entire quarter.
The Redhawks' shooting dipped a little in the final period and EKU went on a small run, but it didn't make any difference in the outcome as they went on to win by 14.
Iyanna McCrudy and Deja Jones each had 13 points to lead the way for the Redhawks.
Ashton Luttrull finished with nine including a pair of three-pointers.
Eastern was led by Abby Wright’s game-high 18 points, with Bria Bass adding on 12 of her own. A’Queen Hayes contributed 11 points and a game-high 8 rebounds.
MURRAY STATE 70, EASTERN ILLINOIS 63
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Murray State women clinched a spot in next week’s OVC Tournament behind the strength of a 70-63 victory Thursday night at Eastern Illinois. MSU (11-17, 7-10 OVC) have now won two in a row and can secure the No. 7 seed with a win Saturday at Austin Peay.
Although it was a poor shooting night for the Racers, who hit just 39.7 percent from the floor and went 6-of-17 from 3-point range, MSU made seven mor?e free throws than Eastern Illinois (2-26, 1-16) did in the victory. EIU hit 45 percent from the field on the night.
MSU jumped out to an early 12-2 lead in the first quarter Thursday night before the Panthers were able to chip away and cut the lead to 19-14 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Racers hit just five field goals found themselves trailing 34-33 at halftime.
An 8-2 run to open the second half put MSU up by five, 41-36 with 6:02 to go. However, EIU would again respond to take a 44-43 lead before the two teams went to the fourth tied 46-46.
Brianna Crane scored the Racers’ first five points in the fourth quarter to make it 51-46 Racers with 8:05 left to play. MSU wouldn’t relinquish the lead from there on and pushed its lead to as many as nine points several times in the quarter. The Racers would salt the game away late at the free-throw line, making nine free throws the final three minutes of the game.
Bria Bethea led the Racers on the night with 19 points. Ke’Shunan James added 15 points, six boards and five assists while Jasmine Borders chipped in with 13 points and made a trio of 3-pointers. Crane notched her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 boards.
Both teams scored 22 points in the paint on the night and MSU had a slim 9-8 edge on second-chance points and out-rebounded the Panthers 34-32. The Racers did outscore the Panthers 14-9 on points off turnovers as EIU was forced into 18 miscues.
Eastern Illinois' Taylor Steele recorded a game-high 20 points, while Karle Pace extended her double-figure scoring streak to eight straight games with 15 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 68, TENNESSEE STATE 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - In a hard fought battle on the road, the Tennessee State University women’s basketball team dropped a tough, 68-65, decision to Tennessee Tech Thursday night in the Eblen Center.
In a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds, Tennessee State (6-20, 4-13 OVC) Tennessee Tech (7-21, 4-13 OVC) battled the entire night. TSU used a 10-0 run to outscore TTU 22-14 in the third quarter but the Golden Eagles edged the Lady Tigers, 24-14, in the final period to claim the narrow win.
Tennessee Tech's Yaktavia Hickson notched a doulbe-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Jordan Brock added 15 points.
Tennessee State's Tia Wooten posted a double-double for the 11th time this season and led TSU with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Taylor Roberts finished the game with 14 points off the bench while Maxine Beard chipped in 10.