SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehaed State 66, Jacksonville State 55
@UT Martin 68, SIUE 55
@Southeast Missouri 72, Eastern Illinois 57
Belmont 80, @Austin Peay 62
Tennessee Tech 81, @Eastern Kentucky 68
Tennessee State 65, @Murray State 61
MOREHEAD STATE 66, JACKSONVILLE STATE 55
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Despite firing its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season, the Morehead State women's basketball team used defense to come away with a 66-55 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles (15-6, 6-2 OVC) shot 21-of-68 (.309) from the field but forced the Gamecocks (9-10, 3-5 OVC) into 22 turnovers as they pulled off their fifth-consecutive win.
While shots weren't falling from the field, the Eagles did manage to knock down 20-of-27 (.741) free throws in the game. The Gamecocks were sunk just six makes from the charity stripe on eight attempts.
Jacksonville State claimed an early lead as a layup by forward Rayven Pearson put her squad ahead 13-9 with 3:15 remaining in the first period. A quick 9-2 spurt by Morehead State, however, put the Eagles ahead for good.
Morehead State rode a 38-26 advantage into the halftime break and grew their lead to as many as 19 points in the second half.
Trailing 60-44 with 7:40 remaining in the game, the Gamecocks offense found a spark as they used an 11-3 run to cut the Eagles' advantage to 63-55 with 1:43 to go after Jayla Walker sank a triple from atop the arc.
The MSU defense held strong despite the run and closed out the game by forcing three Jacksonville State misses down the stretch.
Senior Miranda Crockett led the Eagles in scoring with a game-high 18 points. The Martinsville, Va., native, who extended her double-figure scoring streak to 26 games, hit on a game-best 6-of-8 freebies while also corralling seven rebounds.
Three other Morehead State players joined Crockett in double-figures as junior guard Aliyah Jeune added 12, senior guard Darianne dropped in 11, and senior guard Crystal Simmons-Cozar finished with 10 points. Simmons-Cozar also logged a game-high five steals.
Reigning OVC Player of the Week Tierra McGowan managed her third consecutive game with double-digit rebounds as she pulled down 11.
The Gamecocks were led in scoring by Destiney Elliot with 17 points. Pearson pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
UT MARTIN 68, SIUE 55
MARTIN, Tenn. - After heading into halftime with the score tied, the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team outscored Ohio Valley Conference rival SIUE by 13 in the second half to secure a 68-55 home victory.
The Skyhawks improved to 14-6 in the season and 4-2 in league play with another home victory. In the friendly confines of the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center this season, the Skyhawks have posted a perfect 10-0 mark. A big reason for the Skyhawks success came on the defensive end by forcing SIUE into 21 turnovers while winning the battle of the boards for the second straight outing. Not only would the team score 23 points off the Cougars turnovers, but also 18 second chance points.
Sophomore Chelsey Perry led all scorers with 19 points while falling just short of a double-double with eight points and three blocks. Freshman Kyannah Grant continued her hot play as of late by scoring a 11 points in 16 minutes of action while sophomore Maddie Waldrop chipped in 10 points of her own to round out the Skyhawks in double figures.
SIUE dropped its second straight contest to fall to 9-10 on the season and 4-4 in league play. Guard Jay’Nee Alston served as the Cougars lone player in double figures with a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eastern Illinois women's basketball falls 72-57 on the road to Southeast Missouri Saturday afternoon in the Show Me Center. The Redhawks made defensive adjustments at halftime to stop the hot three-point shooting Panthers who connected on 6-of-9 from the arc in the first half. EIU made only two more in the second half, but finished shooting 47 percent from three point range.
EIU falls to 8-11 on the season and 2-6 in the OVC. SEMO wins their third straight to improve to 10-9 overall and 5-3 in conference.
The Panthers took an early 9-2 lead in the first quarter as the teams headed into the first media timeout. Grace Lennox, Carmen Tellez, and Taylor Steele combined for three three-pointers, while Abby Wahl tallied three steals for EIU on SEMO's four early turnovers.
The Redhawks would come out of the first quarter media time out and go on an 18-0 run holding the Panthers scoreless until the mid-way mark of the second quarter. Jalisha Smith scored at the 5:27 mark on a layup to spark EIU's offense. The Panthers trailed the Redhawks 34-26 heading into the break.
EIU went on an 11-2 run early in the third quarter to tie the game 38-38 on a free thrown from Taylor Steele at the 6:08 mark. The Panthers put up 18 points in the third quarter to narrow the Redhawks lead to five points into the final 10 minutes.
The Redhawks would hold the Panthers without a field goal in the first three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter with their only points coming from the charity stripe. Steele would connect on a layup at the 6:17 mark for EIU's first field goal of the quarter. SEMO held on to their lead not allowing EIU to get closer than the five points they trailed to start the fourth.
Steele finished with a team-high 14 points for EIU. Lennox added 12 points on 4-of-8 from the field. She also tallied three assists and two steals. Karle Pace also recorded double-figures with 10 points, while Smith fell short of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Tesia Thompson led all-scorers with 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jocelyn Taylor added 15 points, while Carrie Shepard and Adrianna Murphy scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Losmie Lutaya finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
BELMONT 90, AUSITN PEAY 67
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - In the 50-year history of Belmont women's basketball, through five decades of championship runs and all-star players, no Bruin had achieved the statistically hallowed triple-double. Until Saturday.
Senior Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) became the first ever Belmont women's basketball player to achieve the feat during Belmont's 80-62 victory over Austin Peay. She finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, an equilaterally historic stat line.
The final feather in Roy's triple-double cap came with 1:25 left in the game. Roy sent a cross-key pass to freshman Grace Smith (Raleigh, N.C.), whose baseline jumper gave Belmont its third 80-point game of the season. It also clinched Roy her third statistical category in double digits.
Austin Peay was led by Nieja Crawford with a career-high 19 points while Arielle Gonzalez-Varner had 13 points.
Belmont's do-everything guard, Roy entered the game as Belmont's active leader in double-doubles with nine. Surprisingly, none have come this season, though she's been close several times thanks to six nine-rebound games.
The Bruins (14-5, 7-1 OVC) relied on Roy's senior leadership in the second half Saturday, along with the play of Harmeyer and senior Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.). After leading by as many as 15 points early in the third quarter, Belmont saw its advantage shrink to just four on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from APSU's Nieja Crawford at the end of the frame.
The Bruins responded with an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter, a crippling stretch for the Governors.
Harmeyer scored six of her career-high-tying 26 points in the run. She also grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds in the game and set another career mark by shooting 13-of-14 at the free-throw line.
Belmont was 16-of-17 on free throws in total, including two more from Maggard, who extends her OVC-record streak to 47 consecutive makes. Maggard finished with 21 points and five made 3-pointers.
Junior Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) added 16 points and seven rebounds as the Bruins out-rebounded APSU, 43-31.
TENNESSEE TECH 81, EASTERN KENTUCKY 68
RICHMOND, Ky. – Bria Bass had a game-high 18 points along with six rebounds, but the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team fell to first place Tennessee Tech, 81-68, Saturday night at Georgetown College.
The Golden Eagles (15-4, 7-1 OVC) used a 14-2 run early in the first quarter to take a 16-5 lead after a lay-up by Kentoria Alexander with 6:06 on the clock.
EKU (2-17, 0-8 OVC) answered right back with a 13-4 of its own, capped by a layup from Paige Murphy to make it 20-18, with 2:00 left in the first stanza.
The Colonels used a big second quarter, including a 15-4 run, finished off with a pair of free throws by Bass to take 42-38 lead, and go into halftime leading the Golden Eagles 44-40.
Eastern Kentucky shot 52 percent from the field in the first half.
Tech used an 11-1 midway through the third quarter take a 59-51 lead after three straight free throws and did not look back.
Shay Solomon had 14 points, seven rebounds and a team-high five assists on the night. Murphy pitched in a career-high 11 points with three rebounds and two assists.
The Golden Eagles were led by Akia Harris and Jordan Brock who had a team-best 14 points each. Mackenzie Coleman pitched in 13 points and five rebounds. Lacy Cantrell contributed 10 points.
Eastern shot 41 percent from the field. Tennessee Tech shot 44 percent. Each team had 27 points off the bench.
TENNESSEE STATE 65, MURRAY STATE 61
MURRAY, Ky. - In a game that went down to the wire, the Tennessee State University women’s basketball team pulled out a hard-fought, 65-61, victory over Murray State Saturday night in the CFSB Center.
After falling behind by double-digits, Tennessee State (2-18, 2-6 OVC) continued to fight and cut the deficit down to single digits. The Lady Tiger stayed within striking distance and used a strong fourth quarter to secure the first road win of the season.
With 2:07 left in the game, TSU was trailing 60-55 when the Lady Tigers went on a 10-1 run to close out the game.
Redshirt sophomore Cebria Outlow exploded for a career-high 31 points to lead TSU while Tia Wooten added nine points and 13 rebounds.
Murray State (6-12, 2-5 OVC) was led in scoring by Macey Turley’s 20 points. Evelyn Adebayo recorded a double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds.