WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Loyola Chicago 67,
@Eastern Illinois 51
Murray State 72, @Mississippi Valley State 66
@Western Kentucky 77,
Belmont 46
Southeast Missouri 79, @Arkansas State 67
@SIUE 85, Evansville 74
@Illinois 76,
Austin Peay 62
LOYOLA CHICAGO 67, EASTERN ILLINOIS 51
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panthers lost 67-51 to the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Wednesday afternoon. The Panthers struggled to match their red hot pace in the first quarter, after starting off shooting 61.5%. The Ramblers Janae Gonzales lit it up from beyond the arc; putting the victory out of reach for EIU. Eastern's record falls to 1-2 on the season, while the Ramblers remain undefeated.
The Panthers started off Wednesday's kids day game on fire. Eastern made 8-13 field goals, including 2-3 from three-point range. Going into the second quarter, the Panthers led 19-11 against the Ramblers. Lariah Washington, Karle Pace and Taylor Steele each had five points heading into the second. The Panthers followed the incredible outing with an offensive dud in the second quarter, shooting 25% from the field and letting up the lead.
Eastern was never able to right the ship after the second quarter, and never quite felt fully there. The offense came mostly from Pace, who scored 17, and Washington, who scored her career high 14 points. Washington also came down with the team-high six rebounds for EIU. Abby Wahl and Steele were never able to get it going against the strong interior defense of the Ramblers. Eastern was able to slow down the MVC standout, Abby O'Connor; holding her to 12 points on the game.
Loyola-Chicago took control through outscoring Eastern's bench 21-7. As a young team, that is something to be expected as a lot of bench players are inexperienced. In addition to the bench differential, the Ramblers made their money off of turnovers. The Panthers and Ramblers had nearly the same amount of turnovers, but the difference was the Ramblers pushed down the floor and was able to score.
Eastern will look to bounce back against UIC on a day trip to Chicago. The Panthers will be taking on the 0-3 UIC Flames at 2 p.m.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 77, BELMONT 46
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Despite 19 points from senior Ellie Harmeyer, the Belmont Bruins dropped 77-46 to the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers at E.A. Diddle Arena Wednesday night.
Harmeyer tacked on seven rebounds, as sophomore Conley Chinn and freshman Kiki Britzmann combined for 12 points and seven rebounds. Senior Maddie Wright grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Bruins (2-1).
Senior Dee Givens propelled Western Kentucky (2-1) with 24 points on 5-of-10 shooting from behind the 3-point line.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 79, ARKANSAS STATE 67
JONESBORO, Ark. – Tesia Thompson dropped in a game-high 26 points and Jessie Harshberger each added a career-high 21 to lead Southeast Missouri (3-0) to its third-straight win, a 79-67 victory over Arkansas State (1-2) Wednesday.
SEMO is undefeated in its first three games of a season for the first time since 2008-09.
The Redhawks, who never trailed, used a 12-0 run to build a big lead early and didn't look back.
Ahead, 8-4, SEMO extended its lead to 16 after scoring the next 12 points. Five different Redhawks scored during the surge that ended on a layup by Sophie Bussard with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.
Carrie Shephard knocked down a 3-pointer to give SEMO its largest lead at 40-21 before the Redhawks led by 11 at the half.
From then on, the closest the Red Wolves would get was eight points.
Thompson shot 9-of-16 from the field and made 8-of-12 free throws to go along with seven rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes. She picked up the eighteenth 20-point scoring game of her career.
Harshberger made 9-of-11 from the field and a near-perfect 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
Shephard followed close behind with 19 points and a team-high four 3-pointers, while Taelour Pruitt led SEMO with nine rebounds.
The Redhawks shot 44.1 percent (30-of-68) from the field and outrebounded the Red Wolves, 52-38 (+14).
Jireh Washington led ASU with 17 points.
SEMO continues its four-game road stretch when it visits Eastern Michigan on Nov. 19.
MURRAY STATE 72, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 66
ITTA BENNA, Miss. - The Murray State women’s basketball team notched its first win of the season Wednesday by defeating Mississippi Valley, 72-66, Wednesday night at the R.W. Harrison Complex in Itta Benna, Mississippi.
It was a back and forth game from the very beginning, with the Devilettes opening the game on an 11-7 run, only for the Racers to end the first quarter on an 17-3 run of their own. However, in the second quarter Mississippi Valley opened the frame by outscoring the Racers, 14 -4. Though in the waning seconds of the frame, Murray State got a huge three from Alexi Burpo and block by Cekeya Mack to take a 34-32 lead into the locker room at the break.
The second half of the game belonged to the Racers, as they shot 40-percent from the floor and 30-percent from 3-point range, while holding MVSU to 34.3 and 25.0 percent, respectively. Murray State led by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter and while the Devilettes were able to whittle the lead down to as few as six, that would be as close as they would get, sealing the win for the Racers.
Laci Hawthorne led Murray State with a double-double on the night of a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Macey Turley also had 18 points to go along with seven assists. Mack also had a big night for MSU scoring nine points, pulling down five boards and recording four blocks. Macie Gibson rounded out the double-digit scorers for the racers with 10 points, while Burpo finished with six points and six rebounds and Lex Mayes added eight and five.
The Racers will now stay out on the road and travel to Starkville where they will clash with No. 9 Mississippi State Friday at 7 p.m. on SEC Network +.
SIUE 85, EVANSVILLE 74
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Balanced scoring made the difference as the SIUE Cougars posted their first win of the season Wednesday at the First Community Arena in the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE wome's basketball had five players reach double figures as it defeated Evansville 85-74 to improve to 1-2. The Purple Aces also are 1-2.
Just about everybody make vital contributions. Freshman Mikayla Kinnard led the way with 15 points and five assists. Allie Troeckler collected 14 points and nine rebounds. Zaria Whitlock scored a career-best 13 points, and Mikia Kieth added a career-high 13 points.
Freshman Ajulua Thatha punched in 13 points and handed out five assists. Brian Stallworth (eight points) and Christen King (seven points and seven rebounds) also added to the cause.
The Cougars' defense frustrated the Purple Aces in the first half, grabbing a 46-36 lead. They held Evansville's top scorer, Abby Feit, who was averaging 21 points per game, scoreless the first half. Feit finished with 10 points.
Thatha, a freshman and one of those weapons, came to the Cougars' rescue after Evansville trimmed SIUE's lead to 75-70 with 3:13 to play. She banked in a 3-point shot and then took a charging foul to thwart the Purple Aces' comeback.
The Cougars saw a sense of urgency in the Evansville game.
The Cougars made 29 of 65 shots, including 8 of 21 from 3-point land. They converted 19 of 25 free throws and outrebounds Evansville 42-38.
SIUE is back in action Sunday against Nebraska in a 2 p.m. start. The Cougars return home next Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game with local rival Saint Louis and followed by Missouri the following Sunday.
ILLINOIS 76, AUSTIN PEAY 62
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Austin Peay fell on the road to Illinois on Wednesday night. The Govs dropped to 2-1 on the season.
APSU's Maggie Knowles knocked down four three-pointers to finish with team-best 18 points.
Arielle Gonzalez-Varner notched a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
Tahanee Bennell added 12 points, including hitting a trio of three-pointers.
Austin Peay is back in action on Monday as it travels to Mississippi Valley State.