SUNDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 61, @Mercer 60
Austin Peay 50, @Chattanooga 49
@Jacksonville State 87, Fort Valley State 65
@Missouri 68,
SIUE 51
Tennessee Tech 75, @Samford 57
EASTERN KENTUCKY 61, MERCER 60
MACON, Ga. - Trailing 58-54 in overtime, Bria Bass scored five straight points including the game winning three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining to secure Eastern Kentucky's 61-60 win over Mercer on Sunday.
Mercer (1-5) scored the first five points of overtime to take a 54-49 lead with 3:40 remaining. Eastern trailed by six, 58-52, with 2:11 left in the game. That is when the Colonels scored the next nine points to secure the victory.
Eastern (3-2) used a quick start in the opening quarter, starting the game on a 10-3 run after the Teri Goodlett three-pointer and forcing a Bears timeout with 5:16 to go in the first. Eastern led 15-7 after the first quarter, but Mercer came storming back.
The Bears held Eastern to only six points in the second quarter and cut the Colonel lead to 21-19 at the half, the closest they had been since it was 10-7 in the first quarter.
EKU answered back though to start the third quarter. The Colonels pushed their lead to 11, 33-22, with 3:47 remaining in the third stanza after a layup by De'Ayra Davis. Eastern took a 33-26 lead into the fourth quarter.
Mercer scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to take its first lead of the game, 35-33, with 7:46 remaining in regulation. The two teams traded punches the rest of the fourth quarter and Mercer took a 49-47 lead with 24 seconds remaining.
With 11 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Goodlett drove right into the paint and hit a floater to tie the game at 49-49 to send the game to overtime.
Eastern held Mercer to 27 percent shooting from the field and 14 percent shooting from the three-point line.
Samari Mowbray posted a career-high 19 points and six rebounds. Bass posted her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. I'Liyah Green posted her first double-double as a Colonel with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Jaron Dougherty paced the Bears offense with a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds.
EKU starts its three game home stand on Wednesday when Alice Lloyd comes to McBrayer Arena for Kids Day. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.
AUSTIN PEAY 50, CHATTANOOGA 49
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Austin Peay defeated Chattanooga, 50-49, on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Governors improved to 5-1 on the season.
Arielle Gonzalez-Varner led the team with 18 points to go with five rebounds and two assist.
Ella Sawyer brought down a team-high eight rebounds to go with seven points and five assists.
Austin Peay is back in action on Sunday when it travels to Kentucky.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 87, FORT VALLEY STATE 65
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team kept in perfect home record intact to begin the season with an 87-65 win over Fort Valley State at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
The Gamecocks (3-3) had four players reach double figures, led by graduate-senior Destiney Elliott's 19. Junior Kiana Johnson added 17 for a new career-high, topping 16 against Florida A&M earlier this season. Taylor Hawks and Yamia Johnson also contributed 13 each for 62 of Jax State's 87 points. Elliott also led JSU with eight rebounds, while Chloe Long and McKenna Lawrence both pulled in seven boards. Freshman Winnie Kuimi made her collegiate debut against the Wildcats and finished with six points and six rebounds to pad to JSU's post play.
FVSU was even with JSU at 9-9 during the first media timeout, but the Gamecocks used a 7-0 run following the timeout to open the game up. After the lead was out to as many as 14 at 25-11, the Wildcats slowly trimmed its deficit in half to down just seven at 27-20 early in the second quarter. A jumper by K. Johnson started a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to double up FVSU at 40-20 nearing halftime. Yamia Johnson added a jumper just before the break to extend JSU to largest lead at 19.
FVSU's leading-scorer Torri Myers, who finished with 16, had the first bucket of the second half, but the Gamecocks poured in 29 points in the third to head into the final 10 minutes with a 72-49 advantage. JSU made 20-of-26 free throws on the day, several in the final period to preserve the large margin.
JSU now prepares to hit the road for Thanksgiving weekend with the FIU Thanksgiving Classic in Miami, Fla., where the Gamecocks will take on a pair of Horizon League foes in Oakland and Northern Kentucky.
MISSOURI 68, SIUE 51
COLUMBIA, Mo. - SIUE women's basketball gave Missouri a tough game early but fell to the Tigers 68-51 Sunday at Mizzou Arena.
SIUE (1-5) and Missouri (2-4) were tied 20-20 after the first period with the Cougars shooting 8 of 15 (53 percent) from the field in the opening frame.
SIUE would finish with seven three-pointers from four different players, including two each from Ajulu Thatha and Bria Stallworth.
Missouri countered with a 15-4 run in the second period that set up a double-digit lead that lasted most of the second half.
SIUE crashed the offensive boards with a season-high 23 rebounds and turned it into 16 points.
Amber Smith paced the Tigers with 15 points as Missouri shot 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field.
Allie Troeckler was the Cougars' leading scorer with 10 points. Christen King added nine points and a season-high 11 rebounds.
SIUE is now idle for 10 days before returning to First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center Dec. 4 for a 5:30 p.m. contest against Purdue Fort Wayne.
TENNESSEE TECH 75, SAMFORD 57
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Golden Eagles got back in the win column in thrilling fashion as a career day for Kesha Brady helps lead the Golden Eagles to a dominant 72-57 road victory over the Samford Bulldogs on Sunday at the Pete Hanna Center.
Brady surpassed her previous career-high of 23 points as she led the Golden Eagles offensively with an impressive 33-point performance in the win. She netted 21 points through the first half, marking the most for a Golden Eagle since Yaktavia Hickson dropped 25 against Belmont on January 21, 2017. Brady finished the day with 33 points in the contest, tying Jordan Brock's career-high of 33 last season during Tech's 99-88 win over Eastern Illinois on January 12, 2019. Brady shot a tremendous 69 percent from the field and 80 percent from 3-point range, while also knocking down all 11 of her free throws. Brady also led the Golden Eagles in boards and takeaways, tying for a game-high eight rebounds, and grabbing a team-high three steals in the contest.
The Golden Eagles had numerous players making key plays to contribute to the Golden Eagles triumphant win over the Samford Bulldogs. Anacia Wilkinson and Mackenzie Coleman were dominant in the post for the Golden Eagles as both picked up a pair of blocks. Akia Harris dished out a team-high five assists in the win.
The Golden Eagles led through most of the opening frame, however, a Bulldog jump shot with a minute to play gave the Bulldogs a 20-18 lead. Tech responded to hold the Bulldogs scoreless through the final minute to retake a 22-20 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
Tech continued the momentum into the second quarter as the Golden Eagles extended their lead back out to five at the 7:32-mark of the period, 28-23. Over the next three minutes of play, the Bulldogs produced a 6-0 run to close the gap to take a one-point lead, their first since the opening period and their final lead of the contest, 29-28. Needing a bucket, Brady responded with a huge corner three for the Golden Eagles to quickly retake the lead, 31-29, and spark an 8-4 Tech run to close out the half and send Tech into the locker room with a three-point advantage, 36-33.
The Bulldogs struggled to find an answer for Tech's shooters as the Golden Eagles opened the third period with a 12-4 run to give the Golden Eagles their first double-digit lead of the contest with only a little over three minutes to play in the third. Samford would control the final minutes of the period as they outscored Tech to cut the Golden Eagles' lead to seven heading into the final quarter, 51-44.
Coleman connected on a layup to open the fourth and a pair of huge 3-pointers from Megan Clark extended Tech's lead to its largest of the contest thus far, 59-45. The Bulldogs would close back within eight following a 9-2 run through the 3:17-minute mark of the fourth period, but that was as close as it would get. The Golden Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 11-5 through the remainder of the contest to seal the 15-point victory, 72-57.
The Golden Eagles take a break for the Thanksgiving holidays before they head to Las Vegas, Nev. for the South Point Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 29-30.