FRIDAY'S SCORES
Virginia Tech 60,
Belmont 58
Northern Kentucky 66,
Jacksonville State 63
Northern Illinois 82,
Tennessee Tech 72
VIRGNIA TECH 60, BELMONT 58
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Belmont Bruins fell to the Virginia Tech Hokies 60-58 in the opening game of the Daytona Beach Invitational Friday afternoon at the Ocean Center.
A 3-pointer from senior Ellie Harmeyer with two seconds left in regulation cut the Hokie lead down to one point, but the Bruins (3-3) were unable to complete the comeback.
Harmeyer (10 points and 10 rebounds) finished with her third double-double of the season, as fellow senior Muara Muensterman tallied a season-best 16 points and a team-high three assists.
Three players for Virginia Tech (6-0) logged 10 or more points, with junior Aisha Sheppard leading the way with 18 points and seven rebounds.
The Hokies opened up the game with a 6-0 run through the first two minutes of the game, but a pair of free throws for Harmeyer at the 7:18 mark got Belmont on the scoreboard. A jumper from Muensterman kicked off a 5-0 run for the Bruins halfway into the first quarter. Sophomore guard Maddie Cook rounded out the first 10 minutes with a last-second jumpshot to knot the game up at 13-13 after 10 minutes of action.
Freshman Cam Browning singlehandedly gave Belmont its first lead of the game, as she scored the first five points of the second quarter to take an 18-13 lead. The two teams traded buckets for the next four minutes, until a driving layup from Cook knotted the game back up at 23-23 with 3:56 left in the half. Virginia Tech went on to score six points in the final minutes, but a deep 3-point make from Muensterman cut the Hokie halftime lead to 29-28.
At the half, Browning and Harmeyer fueled the Bruins with seven points apiece, as Cook added six points to the mix. Freshman Kiki Britzmann, sophomore Conley Chinn and Harmeyer were credited with 15 of Belmont's 20 rebounds after two quarters of play. The Bruins held Virginia Tech to a 40.6 field goal percentage on 13-of-32 shooting in the first half.
Muensterman jumpstarted Belmont's second half scoring with her second 3-point make of the afternoon at the 7:53 mark to tie the game up at 31-all. However, the Hokies rode an 11-2 run over the next six minutes. A turnaround jumper from Browning in the paint with one minute left cut down the Virginia Tech lead to 44-35 at the end of the third quarter.
Senior Maddie Wright caught the hot hand for Belmont and scored seven points in the first three minutes of the final quarter. Wright capped off her streak with a 3-pointer at the 6:49 mark to cut the Bruins' deficit to 46-44. The Hokies held a 57-50 lead with 24 seconds remaining, but Belmont still crept back in the game. Harmeyer hit a shot from beyond-the-arc to cut the Virginia Tech lead to one point with two seconds remaining. However, the Bruins were unable to foul on the Hokie inbound, as Virginia Tech notched the 60-58 victory.
Overall, six Belmont players recorded six or more points on the day, as Chinn racked up a season-high nine rebounds. Browning and Cook combined for 17 bench points for the Bruins and each tabbed season high point totals.
The Bruins return to the hardwood Saturday afternoon for a showdown with the No. 9/10 ranked Maryland Terrapins. Tip-off is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT at the Ocean Center. It will be Belmont's final game of the 2019 Daytona Beach Classic before they travel to take on Toledo Tuesday.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY 66, JACKSONVILLE STATE 63
MIAMI, Fla. - Despite three Gamecocks in double figures, the Jacksonville State women's basketball team fell late to Northern Kentucky in the opening game of the 2019 FIU Thanksgiving Classic.
The Gamecocks (3-4) led for most of the contest until a late four-minute scoring drought opened the door for a late NKU (3-4) comeback in a 66-63 setback at the Ocean Bank Center in Miami.
Junior Taylor Hawks led the way with 18 points, followed by junior Jayla Walker with a career-high 12 and redshirt-senior Chloe Long with 10. Long's seven rebounds also matched a team high along with Destiney Elliott.
Jax State started fast with baskets from Elliott, Kiana Johnson, who finished with six points, and Hawks, the Gamecocks led 11-2 in the opening minutes forcing NKU to use and early timeout. JSU grew the lead to as many as 13 in the first, but a late three-pointer for the Norse made it a 10-point game heading into the second.
The triples continued to fall for NKU in the second period as the black and gold fought their way back within four at 30-26, before Walker buried one of her three treys to extend the JSU margin back to seven. Unfortunately, a 7-0 run over the final two minutes of the half for NKU sent the teams into the locker rooms all even at 33.
In the third, Hawks and Long opened with a pair of scores each to boost Jax State back in front, 41-35, but the Horizon League foes continued to chip away. Tied at 44, Jessie Day sank a pair of free throws to stave off NKU momentarily, until the Norse grabbed their first lead of the day at 47-46 with under a minute to go in the third.
The two sides exchanged the lead eight times in the final 10 minutes. Still down one, a three by Elliott put JSU back ahead 53-51, but NKU would respond with its own deep ball to go back up 56-55 near the midway point of the quarter. With just over four minutes to play, Hawks pushed JSU out to a 59-56 advantage with a layup, but the Gamecocks would go cold from the floor as NKU made one last push.
After a series of missed opportunities on the offensive end for JSU, NKU hit seven free throws in the final minutes to edge out to its largest lead at 65-59. Hawks made two late inside shots to snap the drought, but it was too little too late for the Gamecocks.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 82, TENNESSEE TECH 72
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Tennessee Tech women's basketball came out short in the fourth quarter against Northern Illinois as the Golden Eagles fell 82-74 to open the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.
Kesha Brady led all scorers in the contest with 24 points, shooting 45 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range. Defensively, Anacia Wilkinson led Tech with a game-high 10 rebounds in the contest, while also picking up three assists, and a block. Akia Harris dished out a game-high eight assists in the contests, while netting eight points, and collecting a steal in the loss. Jordan Brock also tallied eight points in the contest, which included a pair of 3-pointers, moving her to 5th all-time at Tennessee Tech in made 3-pointers with 162 through her Golden Eagle career.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead to open the contest, however, the Huskies battled back to eventually take a one-point lead at the 3:29-mark of the first quarter, 12-11. The two squads would battle back and forth before a 19-18 NIU lead that was quickly quieted from a huge 3-point jumper from Kesha Brady to give the Golden Eagles the 21-19 lead, but NIU would close the quarter out with a two-point jumper to even the game at 21 after the opening period.
Northern Illinois opened the second quarter on a 11-2 run through the 5:32-minute mark of the period to take their largest lead of the contest, 32-23. The Golden Eagles locked in defensively as Tech scored 11 unanswered points over four minutes of clock to hold a 34-32 lead with 1:21 remaining in the half. NIU scored a layup with six seconds on the clock to bring things even at 34 at the break.
NIU netted the first score of the third quarter before outscoring the Golden Eagles 8-2 to take a six-point lead through the first three minutes of the third. Tech rallied to score seven unanswered points on a pair of layups from Taylor Lamb and Brady, as well as Brock's second 3-pointer of the contest to give the Golden Eagles the 43-42 lead with 4:47 to play in the period. The two squads would battle back-and-forth a 48-48 tie before the Huskies would close out at the third with the 52-51 advantage.
NIU opened the fourth on a 17-9 run to take a nine-point advantage with six minutes to play in the game. The Golden Eagles produced a 12-6 run to bring the contest back within a score, 75-72, but that was as close as it would get before the Huskies closed the contest on a 7-2 run to bring the game to its final, 82-74.
The Golden Eagles have a quick turnaround as they will close play in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout tomorrow at 11 a.m. against Detroit Mercy.