THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 77, Tennessee Tech 56
Jacksonville State 53, @Eastern Kentucky 44
Belmont 65, @Murray State 58
@UT Martin 90, Eastern Illinois 66
@Austin Peay 74, Tennessee State 47
@Souttheast Missouri 60, SIUE 58
MOREHEAD STATE 77, TENNESSEE TECH 56
MOREHEAD,Ky. - Junior guard Aliyah Jeune poured in 26 points and Senior guard Miranda Crockett chipped in another 20 as the Morehead State women's basketball team knocked off Tennessee Tech 77-56 on Thursday evening at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles (14-6, 5-2) held Tech (14-4, 6-1) to its lowest shooting percentage of the season (.292) as they handed the visitors their first loss in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Tennessee Tech opened the game with a hot 8-for-15 (.533) start from the field with five made triples to own 23-21 advantage after the first quarter.
The tide soon shifted as the Eagles defense locked down and held TTU to a 1-for-17 (.059) shooting mark in the second quarter. The hosts held the Golden Eagles scoreless until the 3:26 mark of the stanza and gave up a season-low three points to capture a 37-26 halftime lead.
Morehead State came out with more of the same defensive intensity in the second half as Tech was held scoreless for the first 2:15 of the third quarter. The TTU offense managed to find a rhythm following the bucket and trimmed the Eagles' lead to nine points at 44-35 with 5:11 remaining in the period after three-consecutive makes. Jeune answered the Tech offensive flurry with a pull-up jumper that sparked a 13-5 run close the third.
The fourth quarter began with a 6-0 MSU run to pull the Eagles ahead by 23 points. The lead extended to as many as 24 on two separate occasions in the final period.
The Eagles finished the game 32-of-65 (.492) shooting and were 8-for-17 (.471) from beyond the arc. Jeune's 26 points led all scorers as the reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week buried a career-best tying six triples while hauling in six rebounds and dishing out five assists. Crockett's 20-point performance etched the Martinsville, Va., native's 25th consecutive game scoring in double-figures.
Reigning OVC Player of the Week Tierra McGowan, who averaged 13.5 points and 13 rebounds in two MSU wins a week ago, cleaned the glass for 13 rebounds and swatted a season-best seven shots. The Eagles won the rebounding battle over TUU 42-40.
Tennessee Tech was led by Jordan Brock with 13 points.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 53, EASTERN KENTUCKY 44
BEREA, Ky. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team was able to shake its short three-game losing skid on the road Thursday evening with a 53-44 victory over Eastern Kentucky.
Playing inside the Seabury Center on the campus of Berea College while EKU's arena was occupied, the Gamecocks (9-9, 3-4 Ohio Valley Conference) evened their overall record and knocked off the Colonels for the seventh time in the last nine meetings. EKU (2-16) remained winless in conference play with the setback.
Freshman Yamia Johnson led offensively with 15 points, 11 of which came in the second half when Jax State needed it the most. Behind Johnson, sophomore Taylor Hawks had 11 points while junior Chloe Long added a season-best 10. Senior Rayven Pearson controlled the boards with a game-high 13 rebounds to run her career total to 717, and inches closer to fifth on the school's career list.
The score was deadlocked at 10-10 after the opening period of play. The Colonels would build their largest lead of the day at 18-12 midway through the second, but JSU used a 12-3 run to retake the lead late in the half.
Up just one, a defensive stop by the Gamecocks on the final possession sent JSU to the half with a 24-23 advantage.
JSU scored the first five points of the third quarter, capped by Destiney Elliott's steal and pass up the court to find Pearson for a fastbreak layin to make it 29-23. Jax State later stretched the lead to a dozen at 37-25 late in the third, but a 6-0 run by EKU cut the lead in half heading into the fourth quarter.
It became a 7-0 run for EKU overall, until Elliott snapped JSU's drought with on a shot with one second left on the shot clock after an inbounds. Elliott's quick release hit nothing but the bottom of the net as the horn sounded.
With 6:36 remaining, EKU made it a two-point game at 39-37, forcing a JSU timeout. After a free throw from Long, Johnson hit just the second triple of the game to make it 43-37 in the closing minutes. The two sides were a combined 2-for-30 from beyond the arc before Johnson's connection, but JSU added three late triples for Johnson and Hawks to end any late chance at a Colonel comeback.
Eastern Kentucky's Shay Solomon had a team-high 12 points along with seven rebounds.
BELMONT 65, MURRAY STATE 58
MURRAY, Ky. - As they have each of the last 40-odd times Darby Maggard has attempted a free throw, her three shots from the line Thursday against Murray State slipped casually and triumphantly through the net. The final two, though, were a bit different than the rest.
Maggard's free throws helped ice the Belmont's 65-58 women's basketball win over the Racers, but they also tied and then surpassed the Ohio Valley Conference record for consecutively made freebies. Dating back to last season, the senior Bruins guard has made 45 straight free-throw attempts, which is also the second-longest active streak in the nation.
Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) passes former Murray State great Paige Guffey, who made 44 in a row during the 2008-09 season. Maggard is 25-of-25 shooting free throws this season.
Belmont, which improved to 13-5 on the year with a 6-1 mark in OVC games, was 6-of-8 at the line overall in the final quarter to fend off the Racers' late push.
Murray State (6-12, 2-5 OVC) led through most of the first quarter before Belmont caught fire in the second. The Bruins closed the half on a 14-2 stretch, eight of those points coming from Maggard. The run extended to into the third quarter and topped out at 18-2 to gave Belmont its largest lead of the game, 41-27.
But the Racers didn't go away. Murray State chipped at the deficit, drawing as near as 61-58 with 2:14 to play. When the Bruins needed it most, their defense locked into gear and held the Racers scoreless the rest of the way.
Belmont is now on a season-best five-game winning streak. Thursday's victory was by far its closest with the first four wins coming by an average of 27.5 points, none by fewer than 23.
Behind Maggard, Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wis.) was a solid 7-of-8 at the free-throw line and scored 15 points. Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) and Wright both added 10 points with the latter pulling down 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
Murray State's Evelyn Adebayo led all players with 20 points to go with 11 rebounds.
UT MARTIN 90, EASTERN ILLINOIS 66
MARTIN, Tenn. - Success from the free throw line led UT Martin to a 90-66 win over Eastern Illinois women's basketball Thursday night. The Skyhawks were 22-of-29 from the foul line while the Panthers finished with only seven attempts in the game. EIU falls to 8-10 overall and 2-5 in the OVC, while UTM improves to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in the OVC.
The Panthers came out hot in the first quarter shooting 66.7 percent from the field to take a 25-20 lead over the Skyhawks. EIU held the UTM without a field goal in the final 3:48 of the quarter, but the Skyhawks still managed to shoot 50 percent from the field.
The Skyhawks strung together a couple runs in the second quarter to take the lead over the Panthers. From the 7:03 minute mark to the 6:02 mark, UTM went on a 9-0 run to take a 33-29 lead. The Skyhawks then went on an 11-0 run to close the half leading 50-35 over the Panthers.
Carmen Tellez came out of the break scoring 11 straight points for EIU. She was 3-of-3 from the arc and scored on a fast break layup to narrow the Skyhawks lead to single-digits in the first three minutes of the third quarter. UTM managed another 8-2 run to close the quarter and lead by 13 heading into the final ten minutes.
The Skyhawks outscored the Panthers 18-7 in the final quarter leading them to their fifth OVC win of the year. UTM scored 12 second chance points as they dominated the boards 33-23. They also forced 22 EIU turnovers leading to 32 points.
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the game. The Panthers knocked down eight three-pointers shooting 34.8 percent from the arc. The Skyhawks shot 47.1 percent from the arc led by Brittni Moore who was 5-of-8 from three-point range.
Carmen Tellez finished with a team-high 14 points on 4-of-5 from the arc. Abby Wahl added 11 points and six rebounds, while Taylor Steele finished with 10 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Moore finished with a game-high 22 points, while Emayne Robertson added 17 points, three rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Chelsey Perry recorded 15 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
AUSTIN PEAY 74, TENNESSEE STATE 47
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women's basketball team earned a comfortable victory over Tennessee State, 74-47, Thursday night, at the Dunn Center.
The Governors (9-9, 4-3 OVC) rallied behind Keisha Gregory's blistering 13 first quarter points, which combined with an efficient second half, allowed the Govs to lead from the opening basket to the end of the game.
The Govs finally got off to a great start, as the Govs hit their first four shots to open up play and Gregory scoring the game's first five points. The Lady Tigers (1-18, 1-6 OVC) matched the Govs initially, but the Govs started to terrorize them on the press, forcing seven turnovers in a four-minute span. The Govs started to pull away after a Gregory three, a steal, and then another Gregory three that ignited the eager Dunn Center crowd. The Govs used a 14-1 run to close the quarter, as they led 23-9 after the first while shooting 60 percent from the field. Gregory dominated the quarter, scoring 13 points in the first period alone.
Govs fans who wanted to see former APSU volleyball standout Logan Carger make her debut in a basketball jersey were in for a treat. The 5-9 forward made her first appearance in a basketball game early in the second quarter since joining before the SIUE game. In terms of what was going on in the quarter, the Lady Tigers clamped down and played extremely tight defense, as scoring came to a complete halt. After starting 9-of-14, the Govs went just 1-of-9 from the field. The good news was that the Lady Tigers did not fare much better, as they had a stretch shooting only 1-of-13 from the field. The Govs scored a season-low seven points in the second quarter, but also allowed only a season-low six points, as they led by 14 at the half. Gregory led all scorers and rebounders at the half with 15 and nine, respectively.
Gregory easily picked up her fourth career double-double just a couple minutes into the third quarter, with the 10th board being a new season-high for the senior. The Lady Tigers hung around for a bit before Brianah Ferby and Nieja Crawford hit threes on back-to-back possessions to stretch the lead to 18 points. APSU was able to get to the free-throw line in the third quarter, going 8-of-9 after just going 3-of-4 the entire first half. The Govs ended the quarter on a 14-6 run and effectively ended the game after three periods, leading 52-32.
Both teams traded buckets to start the fourth before the Govs closed any lingering doubt with a 12-0 run which featured a couple of nice buckets from Kasey Kidwell. The Govs hit their first seven shots of the fourth quarter and the Lady Tigers started just one-of-eight. The Govs ended up blowing the Lady Tigers out, winning 74-47. The 47 points was the least allowed this season as the Govs recorded their second wire-to-wire win after Alabama A&M earlier this season.
Tia Wooten led Tennessee State with 14 points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 63, SIUE 58
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri picked up its second straight with as the Redhawks defeated visiting SIUE on Thursday. With the win Southeast Missouri improves to 9-9 overall and 4-3 in league action while SIUE falls to 9-9 and 4-3 in OVC play.
The Redhawks Tesia Thompson led all players with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She was 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the win. Carrie Shepard hit a trio of three-pointers to finish the game with 10 points. Losmie Lutaya also had 10 points to go with six rebounds.
Micah Jones led SIUE with 16 points while also bringing down six boards. Jay'Nee Alston also reached double digits with 10 points. Sydney Bauman nearly recorded a double-double with eight points and a team-best nine rebounds.