SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 60, @Eastern Illinois 57
Austin Peay 61, @Southeast Missouri 50
Tennessee State 59, @Eastern Kentucky 58
@UT Martin 85, Murray State 67
Belmont 83, @Morehaed State 62
@SIUE 65, Jacksonville State 41
TENNESSEE TECH 60, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Tennessee Tech's Abby Buckner came away with a steal on an EIU inbound pass with 12 seconds left to play. Buckner passed it down court to Jordan Brock for the go-ahead layup giving TTU their second conference win of the season. The visiting Golden Eagles defeated the Panthers 60-57 Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
The Panthers fall to 2-21 overall, 1-11 OVC. TTU improves to 5-18 overall, 2-10 OVC.
Jalisha Smith scored on a layup at the 1:05 mark in the first quarter to give the Panthers the lead through most of the game. The Golden Eagles didn't take control again until Yaktavia Hickson knocked down a pair of free throws with a little under four minutes left to play. Danielle Berry and Taylor Steele scored back-to-back buckets with two minutes left giving the Panthers a 57-54 lead, but Buckner's steal with 12 second left ended the Panthers' momentum.
Karle Pace finished a game-leading 18 points, while Carmen Tellez added 10 points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Steele grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and recorded seven points in the loss.
Four players scored double-figures for the Golden Eagles. MacKenzie Coleman recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Buckner had 14 points and eight boards. Yaktavia Hickson and Jordan Brock scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
AUSTIN PEAY 61, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 50
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Austin Peay State University women's basketball team halted their two-game skid with an 11-point triumph over the Southeast Missouri, Saturday.
After a tough road loss Thursday, the Austin Peay (13-10, 6-6 OVC) defense came out aggressive against the Redhawks, forcing six turnovers in the opening quarter, and holding Southeast Missouri (11-13, 6-6 OVC) to a three minute scoring drought after their first possession.
Second quarter struggles have been a theme for Austin Peay this season, but the Govs put those behind them, shooting 47.4 percent in the second quarter and outscoring the Redhawks 24-12 in the second period. The Govs defense collected five steals in the first half, as the offense posted 18 bench points, giving the Govs a six point cushion at the halftime break.
Coming out of the half, both teams worked to create opportunities on the offensive end to no avail. The Govs won the defensive duel in the quarter, outrebounding the Redhawks 11-8 in the third period, collecting three steals and scoring 10 points.
Brianne Alexander came alive in the fourth quarter scoring 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Alexander was aggressive underneath the basket, surpassing her previous career high of 23 points set at Belmont, Jan. 20. Alexander's mentality on the offensive end was contagious defensively as the Governors held Southeast Missouri to 1-for-12 shooting to close the game.
Alexander's career high 26 points led all scorers as she pulled down seven rebounds going 8-for-9 from the stripe to pad her stat line. Brianah Ferby scored 10 of the Governors' 24 bench points, while Arielle Gonzalez-Varner pulled down a career high 12 rebounds.
Southeast Missouri was led by Ashton Luttrull with 19 points while Tesia Thompson added 16 points.
TENNESSEE STATE 59, EASTERN KENTUCKY 58
RICHMOND, Ky. - In a game that went down to the wire, the Tennessee State University women’s basketball team pulled off a thrilling victory over Eastern Kentucky, 59-58, Saturday night in McBrayer Arena.
With Tennessee State trailing, 58-57, Freshman Taylor Roberts stepped up to make two crucial free-throws to give the Lady Tigers a, 59-58, advantage with 6.1 seconds left. The Lady Tigers came up with a big stop on the other end to seal the win.
TSU improved to 5-16 (3-9 OVC) while EKU fell to 7-14 (4-8 OVC).
Roberts paced the Lady Tiger offense with 19 points to go with six rebounds while Tia Wooten added 14. Jaden Wrightsell pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds while Maxine Beard dished out five assists.
EKU was led by A’Queen Hayes’ 18 points and 14 rebounds while Abby Wright chipped in 12.
UT MARTIN 85, MURRAY STATE 67
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team would trail by as much as 18 points in the first quarter before dominating Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State in the final three quarters of play to stretch its winning streak to four games with an 85-67 victory.
The Skyhawks (12-12, 8-4 OVC) would struggle out of the gates as the Racers pushed the tempo and ultimately took an 18-point lead with 2:24 to play in the first quarter. After the sizable shortcomings to start the game, UT Martin would take control of the contest from there, not only erasing the large deficit but later pushing out a lead of their own as large as 21 points in the fourth quarter.
UT Martin would find balanced contributions from throughout the lineup with four players scoring in double figures. Sophomore guard Kendall Spray would once again steal the show, leading all scorers with 34 points while knocking down eight three-pointers for the fifth time in her young career. Freshman Chelsey Perry would also notch an impressive outing by scoring 17 points while both Emanye Robertson and Janekia Mason tallied 12 points each.
Murray State (8-15, 4-8 OVC) saw three players score in double figures, led by the play of Bria Bethea with 20 points and eight rebounds. Ke’Shunan James tallied 12 points and seven rebounds while Jasmine Borders chipped in 11 points to round out the Racers in double figures.
The Racers wasted little time jumping out to a big start on the Skyhawks. After the game would be tied at two points each, Murray State rattled off a 15-0 run over the course of the next five minutes before a three-pointer by Myah Taylor finally snapped a lengthy scoring drought. The Racers would stay aggressive down the stretch, pushing their lead out to 18 points before taking a 25-13 lead into the second quarter.
UT Martin would cut into the margin in the opening minutes of the second quarter after beginning the period on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes. The Skyhawks would battle back from the 18-point deficit and retake the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter on a layup by Robertson with just over four minutes to play. UT Martin would ultimately outscore Murray State 28-16 in the second to knot the game at 41-each at halftime.
The Skyhawks continued their strong play into the third quarter, outscoring the Racers 21-11 in the period. Highlighting the quarter was an 11-2 run over three minutes which featured three trifectas from Spray to continue to build upon the team’s lead. After 30 minutes of action, UT Martin would hold a 62-52 advantage over Murray State.
With control in hand, UT Martin put the game away down the stretch. Winning their third quarter of the game, the Skyhawks outscored the Racers 23-15 in the fourth quarter to secure an 85-67 victory.
BELMONT 83, MOREHEAD STATE 62
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Belmont women's basketball used 13 three pointers to rout Morehead State, 83-62, for its 37th consecutive OVC win Saturday night. The Bruins were led by junior forward Ellie Harmeyer's (Kenosha, Wisc.) 19 points and five threes to win their 13th straight contest.
E. Harmeyer's career-best five treys were accompanied by five other players who hit a triple.
Senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) followed with 17 points, while Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) (14 points) and Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) (12 points) rounded out the double-digit scoring efforts. Belmont dished out 26 assists with Maggard (9) and Smith (8) leading the way.
Morehead State's Eriel McKee charged the Eagles with 20 points, hitting three of the squad's four threes. McKee was joined by Miranda Crockett's 13 points as MSU shot 35 percent from the field.
The Bruins took control of the game from the get go and never looked back. They sparked an 8-2 run in the opening three minutes of the game to force Morehead State to call an early timeout. The Eagles started to claw their way back, scoring seven unanswered points to take their first and only lead, 12-11, at the 2:45 mark. It was then that E. Harmeyer began to heat up, draining her first of three treys in the first half to halt the MSU run. The Kenosha, Wisc. Native scored five consecutive points to help BU hold a four-point advantage at the break, 19-15.
Smith then took a turn, registering Belmont's first five points of the second quarter after converting an And-1 play at the line. The veteran led the team with 15 points at halftime, going 3-for-3 at the charity stripe. The Bruins hung eight points in a span of 50 seconds to go up, 29-17, hitting four-straight field goals. BU continued to separate themselves while holding Morehead State without a basket for more than four minutes. E. Harmeyer drained her third three of the day down the stretch, coupled with a triple from Muensterman to give the Bruins a 39-27 lead at intermission.
Both squads traded buckets throughout the third, but the Bruins continued to find a way to distance themselves. Maggard powered the scoring with eight points, sinking a pair of long balls along the way. She was helped by a pair of back-to-back layups from McCabe who became the fourth Bruin to reach the double-digit plateau. Morehead State strung together a pair of 6-0 runs, but the Eagles were unable to catch up. BU went up, 64-45, with one frame remaining.
The Eagles held the Bruins to just three tallies in the first four minutes before E. Harmeyer sunk back-to-back threes within a span of 40 seconds. The pair of treys marked her fourth and fifth of the game, making her 5-for-6 beyond the arc. Sophomore Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and junior Hannah Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.) joined in, each hitting a bucket from three-point range in the final two minutes to secure Belmont's victory.
SIUE 65, JACKSONVILLE STATE 41
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Thanks to a stifling defense and resourceful offense, the SIUE women's basketball team retained its winning touch Saturday night at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars throttled Jacksonville State 65-41 during the annual Pink Zone game that included numerous activities for breast cancer survivors. SIUE, winning for the 10th time in its last 12 games, improved to 13-10 overall and 10-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Jacksonville State fell to 14-9 and 9-4.
That defensive blanket the Cougars threw over Jacksonville State enabled them to shoot ahead 29-9 three minutes into the second quarter. SIUE led 32-17 at half.
Senior Donshel Beck led all scorers with 17 points. She connected of 7 of 14 shots, including 4 of 5 from three-point range.
Teammate Sydney Bauman contributed 13 points, setting a season high matching her career-best scoring effort. Gwen Adams added 10 points off the bench as the Cougars made 25 of 54 shots, including 5 of 19 from three-point land. They also converted 10 of 12 free throws and outrebounded Jacksonville State 36-35.
SIUE needed a complete effort since Jacksonville State charged back at the Cougars in the second half. The Gamecocks climbed to within 41-38 late in the third quarter. Then the Cougars responded with a furious spree.
They outscored Jacksonville State 24-3 in the final 12 ½ minutes to close out the game in high style. Bauman scored eight key points in a stretch where the Cougars went on a 16-0 run.
Jacksonville State made 15 of 55 shots, with 5 of 24 from beyond the arc. Taylor Hawks led the Gamecocks with 12 points, and she was their only player to reach double figures.