TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 70, Missouri Saint Louis 56
@Austin Peay 103, Kentucky Wesleyan 70
Quincy 70
@SIUE 65
@Eastern Illinois 88, Lindenwood 66
@Tennessee Tech 88, Cumberland 51
@Vanderbilt 88,
Jacksonville State 66
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 70, MISSOURI SAINT LOUIS 56
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Carrie Shephard recorded a career-high 26 points and six assists to lead Southeast Missouri (1-0) to a 70-56 season-opening win over Missouri-St. Louis in front of a raucous crowd at the Show Me Center Tuesday.
SEMO hosted UMSL in its annual "Classroom on the Court" game which affords area schools the opportunity to take an educational field trip to the Show Me Center. Several different schools were represented at the event which drew an attendance of 1,897.
UMSL led for the majority of the first quarter, but Shephard buried a 3-pointer to give the Redhawks the lead at the four-minute mark and the Tritons never pulled ahead again. SEMO finished the opening period on a 20-1 run to blow by UMSL which did not score in the last four minutes of the quarter.
Tesia Thompson stretched SEMO's lead to 14 on a layup and SEMO led, 44-30, at the intermission.
Shephard knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Redhawks their biggest lead at 59-34 with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter.
SEMO outscored UMSL in the first three quarters of play en route to its first season-opening victory with Rekha Patterson as its head coach.
Shephard shot 9-of-14 from the field, 5-of-7 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 at the free throw line. She matched career-highs in both field goals free throws made. Shephard logged 32 minutes.
Taelour Pruitt followed with 11 points and a career-best five steals, while freshman Sophie Bussard chipped in 10 points and seven boards. Jessie Harshberger pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive end, as well.
SEMO man-handled UMSL on the glass, outrebounding the Tritons, 54-31. The Redhawks held a commanding 18-8 advantage on the offensive end of the floor.
Alex LaPorta led all UMSL scorers with 15 points. The Tritons scored 21 of their points at the free throw line.
The Redhawks return to action when they host Evansville on the front end of a doubleheader Sunday. Start time is 2 p.m., CT.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 88, LINDENWOOD 66
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panthers defeated the Lindenwood Lions 88-66 on Tuesday night. Panthers guard, Jordyn Hughes, scored a career-high 24 points on the season opener. All-OVC preseason player, Karle Pace, scored 17 points and tallied four steals. The Panthers start off the season 1-0 against a tough Lindenwood team that is pegged to do big things in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Eastern struggled from the jump against the Lions. Lindenwood's height advantage was tough to deal with in the early minutes of the game. Lindenwood guard Devin Fuhring finished the quarter with 10 points, going 4-6 with a three-point make. Lindenwood as a team shot 4-4 from three-point range in the first quarter. Eastern never wavered however, and continued to knock down threes the entire game, ending it shooting an astounding 60% from beyond the arc.
Jordyn Hughes was absolutely on fire the entire game. Hughes played a total of 27 minutes, and besides her career high in points, netted an assist and two rebounds. Hughes shot 60% on the day and shot 4-7 from deep. Pace and Wahl each had six rebounds, while Kira Arthofer led the team with three assists. The Panthers impressed throughout the game and will look to take this momentum deeper into the season.
The Panthers will take on Indiana State on Sunday, Nov. 10 next. ISU will take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Thursday, then hit the road and visit Lantz Arena for the Sunday match-up versus the Panthers of EIU.
TENNESSEE TECH 88, CUMBERLAND 51
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated visiting Cumberland, 88-51, in the season-opener on Tuesday.
The Tech women (1-0) had solid production from the usual suspects, but as the Golden Eagles started to pull further away, the newcomers came out to play. In the second half alone, freshman Jada Guinn was a perfect 5-for-5, scoring 11 of her 13 points. Named the Special Olympics Player of the Game, she finished with five rebounds and six assists, while also shooting 6-for-8 in the game.
She was just one of five players who finished with double-digit scoring as Kesha Brady finished with 15 points, followed by Mackenzie Coleman (12), Jordan Brock (11) and newcomer Maaliya Owens (11).
Tech used a 16-2 run to open the contest and quickly build some separation, then held the visiting Phoenix to just eight points in the first quarter and 18 in the first half. Tech scored 20 or more points in each successive period.
The two biggest stats in the night for the Golden Eagles came on offensive rebounds and assists. As Tech turned its offense into a good defense, the team pulled down 21 offensive caroms to keep possession going. That allowed Tech to take 72 total shots in the contest, knocking down 34 of those for a 47.2-percent clip.
Brady ended the game with eight boards, including four on the offensive side. Taylor Lamb also collected four offensive rebounds.
Tech ended the game with 47 total rebounds.
The Golden Eagles also employed some good hands on the passing lanes, setting up well-placed shots. Tech ended the contest with 22 assists, led by Akia Harris and Guinn with six dishes each.
Tech forced 27 turnovers, as Owens and Guinn each recorded a team-high three steals. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 14 times.
The lone caveat for Tech came at the line as the Golden Eagles finished 13-of-25 from the charity stripe, led by a 7-for-11 night at the line for Brady.
For Cumberland (0-3), Ashlyn Pittman led the Phoenix with nine points, while the quartet of Kerrice Watson, Mackenzie Trouten, Abby Morgan and Kennedy Powell each added seven.
AUSTIN PEAY 103, KENTUCKY WESLEYAN 70
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay defeated Kentucky Wesleyan, 103-70, to open the 2019-20 season on Tuesday night.
The Governors had four players reach double-digits in points with Tahanee Bennell and Shay-Lee Kirby leading the way with 21 points each. Kirby hit a team-high six three pointers while Bennell made five. Ella Sawyer had 16 points while Brianah Ferby added 15.
Austin Peay is back in action on Friday when it hosts Christian Brothers at 7 p.m. CT.
VANDERBILT 88, JACKSONVILLE STATE 66
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jacksonville State fell to Vanderbilt on the road, 88-66, to open up the 2019-20 season on Tuesday.
Destiney Elliott led the Gamecocks with 18 points and seven rebounds. Elliot went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Taylor Hawks added 12 points while Nekiyah Thompson chipped in 11.
JSU will return to host Florida A&M on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
QUINCY 70, SIUE 65
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE fell to visiting Quincy, 70-65, to open up the 2019-20 season on Tuesday.
Christen King led the Cougars with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Bria Stallworth added 14 points, making seven field goals. Allie Troeckler chipped in eight points and brought down six boards.
SIUE will be back in action on Friday when it hosts Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. CT.