THURSDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 83, @Murray State 61
@Belmont 66, Jacksonville State 52
@Eastern Illinois 77, UT Martin 71
@Austin Peay 100, Eastern Kentucky 65
Southeast Missouri 62, @SIUE 52
Tennessee Tech 69, @Tennessee State 59
MOREHEAD STATE 83, MURRAY STATE 61
MURRAY, Ky. - Junior guard Aliyah Jeune scored a career-high tying 28 points as the Morehead State women's basketball team defeated Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State, 81-63, on Thursday evening at the CFSB Center.
Along with Jeune's game-high 28 points, the Eagles produced three other double-digit scorers. Graduate forward McKenzie Calvert added 14, senior Miranda Crockett tallied 12, and senior Darianne Seward sank three triples on her way to a 10-point night.
Jeune's career night consisted of an 11-of-23 shooting performance from the field that included four makes from behind the arc. The Westhampton, N.J., native grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists to compliment her scoring. The game was Jeune's eighth of the 2018-19 season with 20-or-more points.
Senior forward Tierra McGowan led Morehead State on the glass nine rebounds – six of those being offensive rebounds.
Freshman guard Macey Turley paced Murray State's scoring with 14 points. Junior forward Evelyn Adebayo swiped a game-high 10 rebounds as her team absorbed the loss.
The Eagles improved to 10-4 overall while moving to 1-0 against OVC competition.
The Racers dropped to 4-8 on the season and are 0-1 in conference play.
BELMONT 66, JACKSONVILLE STATE 52
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's basketball team ran away with a 66-52 victory in its 2018-19 Ohio Valley Conference opener, the 47th consecutive win over conference opponents overall for the Bruins. Belmont (8-4, 1-0 OVC), the three-time defending OVC Tournament champion, has not lost a conference game since the 2015-16 season.
Looking to end that streak of dominance, Jacksonville State employed its typical high-pressure defense and slow-down offense to great success early on at the Curb Event Center. The Gamecocks (6-6, 0-1 OVC) led by as many as six points midway through the second quarter. Then Belmont found its rhythm.
The Bruins closed the first half on an 11-0 run – a sign of things to come – to pull into intermission with a 26-21 advantage.
Maggard and Harmeyer provided a potent 1-2 punch for the Bruins, combining for 42 points with each shooting 50 percent from the floor or better. Maggard's 19 points played the supporting role for another massive day from Harmeyer, who scored 23 to go with 11 rebounds.
In her past three games, Harmeyer is averaging 20.0 points and 10.3 rebounds.
Jacksonville State's Destiney Elliott and Yamia Johnson each scored 11 points to lead the team. Elliot also recorded team-highs of seven rebounds and four assists. Taylor Hawks addded 10 for the Gamecocks.
AUSTIN PEAY 100, EASTERN KENTUCKY 65
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women's basketball team opened Ohio Valley Conference with a statement win, hitting the century mark as they defeated Eastern Kentucky, 100-65, Thursday, at the Dunn Center.
After a hot start by both teams, the Governors (6-6, 1-0 OVC) employed a full-court press most of the game, rattling their opponents while having one of their best shooting performances of the season.
The Colonels (2-10, 0-0 OVC) made their first six shots, including four three-pointers to lead by as much as seven in the first quarter. However, coach David Midlick began to press the Colonels, as the Govs embarked on a 15-2 run to close the quarter. Keisha Gregory had three threes and 15 overall points in the first quarter, as the Govs led by six at the end of the period. The Govs also received a boost off the bench, as senior Michaela Campbell was able to play for the first time since the third game of the season against Vanderbilt.
The Govs wasted no time in stretching their lead, as they went on a quick 7-0 run to start the second quarter, forcing an EKU timeout with the Govs up 12. The Colonels kept failing on breaking the press, with numerous violations for not inbounding the ball or getting the ball across the court in the required time frame, as evident by their 17 first-half turnovers. The Govs smelled blood and Myah LeFlore finished off a three-point play to go up 17, before Kasey Kidwell found her fellow freshman Maggie Knowles for an easy layup from a perfect bounce pass in traffic. Off the back of a 28-point second quarter, the most in a second quarter of a game this season for APSU, the Govs led 57-33 at halftime.
If Keisha Gregory was the leader in the first half, then Gabby Gregory was the standout in the second as she scored all of her points in the second half, finishing with a team-high 20 in just 12 minutes. The Gregory's were not the only ones shooting well, as Arielle Gonzalez-Varner had 10 points in the third quarter as the Govs led by as much as 32 in the third quarter after hitting seven of their first eight shots.
The game was seemingly over as both teams knew the result was certain and the scoring slowed down, but not enough to keep the Govs away from the century mark. With Gabby's fifth three-pointer of the second half, the Govs reached 100 points for the first time in an OVC game since Jan. 7, 2002 against Eastern Illinois. The Austin Peay defense also came to play after the opening few minutes, forcing a season-high 28 turnovers and holding the Colonels to 3-of-21 from the three-point line after their first four threes went in. Nieja Crawford also recorded her third career double-double and grabbed at least 10 rebounds for the third straight game.
Shay Solomon posted a career-high 23 points to go along with five rebounds to lead Eastern Kentucky.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 62, SIUE 52
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southeast Missouri (6-6, 1-0) outlasted SIUE (5-7, 0-1), 62-52, to win its Ohio Valley Conference opener Thursday night at the Vadalabene Center.
Behind a game-high 22 points by Tesia Thompson, SEMO came away with its first victory in Edwardsville since February, 2014. It was also the first time the Redhawks beat SIUE on the road with Rekha Patterson as their head coach.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Thompson complemented her fifth 20-plus effort with six rebounds and eight free throws.
SEMO started strong goingt on a 12-0 run over the opening 6:45 in the game and led until late in the third quarter. The surge began with a steal and breakaway layup by Jocelyn Taylor.
Defensively, the Redhawks had two blocks and forced eight turnovers in the opening period. Those turnovers led to eight points.
SIUE put together a 7-0 run at the start of the second quarter to tie the game before Thompson made a pair of free throws. Thompson helped SEMO maintain its lead as the Redhawks made 6-of-8 free throws in the second quarter en route to a 24-19 halftime advantage.
The Cougars took their first lead of the night with seven seconds remaining in the third quarter when Nakiah Bell knocked down a 3-pointer (39-38).
Taelour Pruitt, however, banked in a buzzer beater from long range to regain a 41-39 edge for SEMO through three quarters of play.
After Jay'Nee Alston buried a 3-pointer to pull SIUE to within one (50-49) with 3:23 left in the fourth quarter, SEMO pulled away for good when it answered with a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Redhawks scored half of their points at the free throw line during that stretch and added a 3-pointer by Carrie Shephard and layup by Jocelyn Taylor. Thompson's two free throws capped the surge and gave SEMO a 60-49 lead with 46 seconds left.
Thompson outscored the rest of SEMO's starters (18 points) combined. She finished at 7-of-13 from the field. Adrianna Murphy followed with seven points and four steals.
As a team, the Redhawks shot 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the field in the second half. SEMO also forced a season-high 26 turnovers and has now forced 116 turnovers in the last month.
Bell led the Cougars with 14 points while Allie Troeckler added 11 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 69, TENNESSEE STATE 59
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated Tennessee State, 69-59, to open up Conference play Thursday at the Gentry Center.
The Golden Eagles (9-3, 1-0 OVC) were led by Jordan brock with 14 points. She shot 4-for-7 from the field, including knocking down a pair of three-pointers. Brock also went a perfect 4-for-4 from th eline. Akia Harris added 11 points for Tennessee Tech. Kentoria Alexander and Abby Buckner each brought down a team-best seven boards.
Taylor Roberts and Lauren Elliot led Tennessee State (0-13, 0-1 OVC) with 14 points each. Tia Wooten notched a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 77, UT MARTIN 71
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team opened conference play at home Thursday night with a 77-71 win over UT Martin. Five players scored in double-figures for the second straight game for the Panthers. Senior guard Grace Lennox finished with a game-leading 26 points and tallied three rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.
EIU improves to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in the OVC while UTM falls to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the OVC.
The Panthers found early success from the field in the first quarter shooting over 35 percent. Lennox and Carmen Tellez each connected on two three-pointers to carry EIU's offense in the first ten minutes. The Skyhawks closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run led by five points from Brittni Moore off the bench.
To open the second quarter, the Panthers responded with an 11-2 run of their own sparked by a jumper from Karle Pace in the first 20 second. Grace McRae connected in the paint and from the arc to finish the half with seven points. EIU led 33-27 heading into the second half.
EIU led by double-figures for most of the third quarter, but a 12-2 run by UTM in the fourth quarter would bring them within four points with a little over five minutes to play. Taylor Steele connected on two three-pointers later in the quarter to help EIU regain a double-digit lead. Two late threes from Moore and Damiah Griffin would narrow the lead again, but the Panthers secured a 77-71 win over the Skyhawks.
In addition to Lennox's double-figure scoring effort, four other EIU players scored over 10 points in their win. Carmen Tellez finished with 15 points off the bench. Grace McRae finished with her first career double-double of 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Steele also finished with 13 points for the Panthers on 4-of-8 from the arc, while Pace finished with 10 points.
UT Martin saw four different players score in double figures in the contest. Sophomore forward Maddie Waldrop tallied a season-high 15 points to lead the Skyhawks while tallying eight rebounds. The trio of senior Emanye Robertson, junior Aundrea Adams and freshman Brittni Moore also chipped in 11 points each to round out the quartet.