THURSDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 60, @Jacksonville State 58
@Murray State 91, Austin Peay 65
UT Martin 72, @Eastern Kentucky 54
@Morehead State 60, Southeast Missouri 58 (OT)
Belmont 87, @Tennessee State 70
TENNESSEE TECH 60, JACKSONVILLE STATE 58
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Tennessee Tech entered Jacksonville State's Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday morning with recent history not on its side. Although the Golden Eagles had beaten the Gamecocks in two of their last three match-ups, they had not been so fortunate in Jacksonville, dropping four-straight games on the road.
Tech got off to a promising start to kick things off, ending the first quarter with a 15-13 lead.
It was a two-point lead that would end up giving the Golden Eagles the game.
Tennessee Tech knocked off Jacksonville State on Thursday by a score of 60-58, marking Tech's first win in Jacksonville since December 2012 and snapping that aforementioned four-game road losing streak. Tech improved to 3-10 in the OVC and won its second-straight road game.
Jacksonville State, previously tied for third in the conference, fell to 8-5 and lost just its second OVC contest inside its home gym.
Tech has reversed its luck in close games, defeating both Eastern Illinois last week and Jacksonville State today by a combined five points. Before playing EIU, Tech had dropped three of its last six conference games by four points or less.
Along with the win itself, the Golden Eagles can leave Alabama pleased with a number of aspects about their play.
As a team, Tech put up 60 points on a Jacksonville State squad that entered the game allowing an OVC-leading average of just 56.5 points per game. Defensively, Tech allowed just 58 points when JSU had previously averaged 62.8. The Golden Eagles also forced 17 JSU turnovers, which they converted into 16 points.
Individually, Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson put together arguably one of her best performances ever in her four years in a Tech uniform. The senior scored a season-high 21 points and added 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the year.
Today's game also ended Hickson's streak of 22-straight free throws, but she went 8 for 12 from the line to give Tech some key points at crucial spots.
MacKenzie Coleman and Jordan Brock were Tech's two other double-figure scorers, putting up 12 and 10 points respectively. The Golden Eagles also got another game of great play out of Abby Buckner, who paced the team with three steals and was the second-leading rebounder with four boards. She also added seven points and a crucial free throw to give Tech a three-point lead with 12 seconds left in the game.
Jacksonville State freshman Taylor Hawks reached double-digits for the fourth-straight ballgame, finishing with 13 points in addition to six rebounds and three assists. Two other Gamecocks came off the bench to score double figures led by sophomore Morgan Towells with 14. Chloe Long added 11 points while grabbing a team-high 10 boards in her first career double-double game.
MURRAY STATE 91, AUSTIN PEAY 65
MURRAY, Ky. - Ke’Shunan James recorded one of the single greatest performances in Murray State women’s basketball program history Thursday afternoon inside the CFSB Center as she tallied 41 points and came just one assist shy of just the third triple-double in program history as she helped lead the Racers to a 91-65 win over Austin Peay.
The 41 points from James are the fourth-most points in a single game in program history and a career-best for James who was extremely efficient in the win, shooting 15-of-20 from the floor and going 11-for-13 at the free-throw line. James added a game-high 10 rebounds on the day and tied a career-high with the nine assists.
James had 23 points by halftime on 11-of-14 shooting and took just six shots in the second half, but went 10-for-11 at the line in the final two periods.
MSU (9-15, 5-8 OVC) led for much of Thursday’s contest as the Governors (13-11, 6-7 OVC) led for just 5:30 of the game. Trailing 15-8 with 4:32 to play in the opening quarter, the Racers closed the period on a 16-5 run and led 24-20 after one and didn’t look back from there.
In the second, the Racers were able to lead by 14 points on multiple occasions and took a 45-31 advantage into halftime. In the second half, the Racers just kept building on their lead, leading 70-45 after three periods and then leading by as many as 29 late in the fourth. The 26-point victory is the largest margin of victory this season for MSU.
Abria Gulledge had a solid night, notching 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting including 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Jasmine Borders added 14 on 5-of-6 shooting and a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Bria Bethea chipped in with 10 points in the win, despite playing just 18 minutes due to foul trouble.
For the game, MSU shot 57 percent from the floor and went 8-for-17 (47 percent) from 3-point range and hit 19 free throws. The Govs shot 46.3 percent overall and were 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from three.
MSU had a slight edge in paint points at 36-32 but scored 25 points off 19 APSU turnovers while the Governors had 13 on 14 turnovers by MSU. The Racers also got out and ran in transition against the Governors, outscoring APSU 17-2 in fast break points.
Austin Peay had three players reach double-digits in points with Falon Baker lead the way with Arielle Gonzalez-Varner chipped in 11 while Brianne Alexander added 10.
UT MARTIN 72, EASTERN KENTUCKY 54
RICHMOND, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team never trailed as the squad pushed its season-long winning streak out to five games with a 72-54 road victory against Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky.
The Skyhawks (13-12, 9-4 OVC) eclipsed the .500 mark for the first time on the season after posting a dominating road victory over the Colonels. UT Martin would hold Eastern Kentucky to just eight points in the first quarter before taking a lead as large as 22 points in the second quarter. Along with the team’s strong offensive play, the Skyhawks forced the issue on defense, causing 22 turnovers on the evening.
UT Martin saw five players score in double figures for the third time this season as Kendall Spray led the squad with 19 points. Spray continued to climb the program’s single-season three-point list, knocking down five three-pointers in the contest to boost her season total to 102, ranking fourth. Meanwhile Richmond, Ky. native Ashton Feldhaus posted a nice homecoming, scoring 13 points while fellow senior Janekia Mason chipped in 12 points of her own. The freshman pair of Chelsey Perry and Maddie Waldrop both tallied 11 points each while combining for 13 rebounds to round out the Skyhawks in double figures.
Eastern Kentucky (7-15, 4-9 OVC) dropped its fifth straight outing with a rough shooting night, making just 38.5 percent of the team’s field goal attempts. Junior Abby Wright paced the Colonels with 24 points while narrowly missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds. Freshman Bria Bass also scored in double figures, notching a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
UT Martin would waste little time jumping out to a nice margin in the contest. After taking a four-point advantage at the first media break, the Skyhawks would outscore the Colonels 12-4 over the final five minutes of action in the quarter to take a 20-8 advantage into the second.
The Skyhawks would stay aggressive in the second quarter, opening the period on an 11-2 run before the first media break. With the lead out to as much as 22 points midway through the period, EKU would rebound nicely in the final minutes of the half by stringing together an 8-3 run. Despite the run by the home squad, UT Martin would take a 39-20 lead into halftime.
Eastern Kentucky looked to fight back in the third quarter, coming out of the half on an 11-2 run to start the period. After the big run to start the quarter, play would level off as UT Martin steadied the ship and kept the margin at a sizable advantage, holding a 56-43 lead after three quarters.
The score would only get as close as 12 points in the fourth quarter as UT Martin put the game away down the stretch. With the game never in reach after a strong first half, the Skyhawks would cruise down the stretch to push their winning streak out to a season-long five games with a 72-54 victory.
MOREHEAD STATE 60, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 58
MOREHEAD, Ky. - After senior forward Eriel McKee propelled the Eagles past the Redhawks on a three-point basket at the buzzer on Jan. 11, Morehead State women's basketball completed the season sweep of Southeast Missouri with a 60-58 win in overtime on Thursday night at Johnson Arena.
With its second overtime victory of 2017-18, Morehead State moves to 18-8 on the season and 9-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast Missouri's OVC record falls below .500 to 6-7, posting an 11-14 mark overall.
The Eagles overcame a modest performance shooting the ball, sinking its lowest field-goal total (20) of the conference season. Morehead State trailed the Redhawks 16-11 after the opening quarter, falling behind 22-21 at the halftime break.
The Eagles caught fire in the third, however, shooting 7-of-16 (.438) and commanding a 42-33 lead at the end of the period. But, the tables turned once more when SEMO locked in on 5-of-11 (.455) field goal attempts and a game-high seven made free throws in the fourth quarter, just as Morehead State hoisted a game-low 3-of-16 (.188) from the floor.
With the score tied at 50, Southeast Missouri's Ashton Luttrull was called for an offensive foul that gave the Eagles the ball and 20 seconds with which to work. Junior guard Miranda Crockett came out of the ensuing timeout and surveyed the court at the top of the key, finding the red-hot Darianne Seward for an attempt to recreate McKee's late-game magic from less than a month prior. Seward got off a clean look at the basket as time expired, but her floater clanged out and sent the game to overtime.
SEMO's Deja Jones nailed a go-ahead free throw with 44 seconds left in OT, putting the Redhawks ahead 58-57. Crockett took control of the ball once more after a quick timeout called by the Eagles, driving in the lane and sinking a game-winning bucket with only 30 seconds to go. Southeast Missouri could not capitalize on the resulting possession, leading to a defensive rebound and one last free throw by Seward to seal the victory.
Seward finished with a game-high 21 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a career-high seven steals. McKee dialed in 16 points, seven boards, three assists, one block, and three steals. Erin Blaine was the last of three Eagles to score in double-figures, notching 10 points, nine rebounds, and a season-high five steals. Crockett ended the night with seven points, three boards, and three dimes.
Ashton Luttrull poured in 20 for Southeast including four three-pointers.
BEMONT 87, TENNESSEE STATE 70
NASHVILLE, Tenn .- An explosive first half helps Belmont women's basketball clinch its 14th consecutive victory, defeating Tennessee State, 87-70, Thursday night inside the Gentry Center. The win marked the Bruins 38th over an Ohio Valley Conference opponent.
Senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) recorded her seventh 20-point performance of the season to lead the Bruins in scoring. She was joined by the veteran duo of Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) who scored 18 and 17 points, respectively. Junior guard Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) powered BU's rebounding efforts with 12 boards, marking her sixth game with double-digit rebounds this year. As a team, Belmont (23-3, 13-0) shot 55 percent from the floor while connecting on 10 threes and dishing 20 assists.
Tennessee State (5-17, 3-10) was led by Tia Wooten's 31 points and seven rebounds. The league's leading scorer was followed by Kaliya Griffin (14 points) and Taylor Roberts (12 points). For the fourth consecutive game, Belmont held its opponents to a shooting percentage under 40, forcing TSU to a 37 clip on the night.
Belmont came out firing on all cylinders and never let up. Both squads traded buckets in the opening minutes of the first before the Bruins began to pull away. Smith drained a three at the 4:49 mark that led to nine consecutive points from the guard to spark a 9-3 Belmont run. Collectively, the team ended the first frame hitting their final nine field goals and shooting 83 percent from the floor. They also were perfect from beyond the arc, going 3-for-3.
A quick five points from Tennessee State made it a three-point game, 26-23, to start the second before Belmont held the Tigers scoreless for the next five minutes. The Bruins would go on a 22-2 run during that span with six different players scoring. They outscored TSU, 27-13, in the second quarter alone to take a 51-29 advantage into the locker room. Roy filled up her stat line with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in the first half.
McCabe netted Belmont's first points of the second half for her 1,400th career point, becoming just the ninth player in program history to score at least 1,4000 points as a Bruin. The veteran continued to pour it in, accounting for six of Belmont's first nine points in the third stanza, making her the third player to reach double-digits. Maggard extinguished any hopes of a Tiger comeback, draining her third trey of the night to keep BU up by 20 tallies, 63-41. Wooten tried to get TSU back in the game, registering 13 points in the third quarter alone. Her efforts would come up short as BU took a 71-48 lead into the final frame.
The Bruins refused to let up in the final period as Smith sunk her fourth triple to put Belmont past the 80-point threshold for the 12th time this season. The squad continued to string together runs, pouring in seven unanswered to go up as many as 27 points on the Tigers. Despite scoring 22 points in the final frame, Tennessee State was unable to claw its way back into the game.