SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Bowling Green 79,
Morehead State 65
Eastern Kentucky 63, @Memphis 60
@Jacksonville State 72, Florida A&M 67
@Belmont 72, UCF 37
JACKSONVILLE STATE 72, FLORIDA A&M 67
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State's women's basketball team held on for a 72-67 win over Florida A&M on Saturday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum to pick up its first win of the season.
The Gamecocks (1-1) were coming off a season-opening loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday, but that behind them early racing out to an early lead in the first home contest of the year. The Rattlers (0-2) proved much tougher that last season's 31-point win in Tallahassee, but were unable to slow down a revamped Gamecock offense.
The junior duo of Taylor Hawks and Kiana Johnson accounted for 33 of JSU's points. Hawks led offensively with 17 points, while Johnson poured in a new career-best 16. Both pitched in eight free-throws as JSU managed to reach the stripe 43 times, but struggled at just 38-percent shooting with only 25 made freebies. Redshirt-junior Jessie Day added 12 points as the third Gamecock to reach double figures.
For the second-straight game, Destiney Elliott gathered a team-high in rebounds with eight, just ahead of Hawks and Chloe Long with seven apiece. Elliott, who had 18 points in the opener, had eight against FAMU, but added a pair of steals and assists.
The Rattlers jumped out a 7-0 lead, but it would be mostly JSU for the remainder of the period. A three-ball by Elliott evened things up at 11, and the Gamecocks would go on to put up 22 in the first quarter to lead 22-15. FAMU cut into the deficit in the second, outscoring Jax State but eight to trim the halftime margin to just one at 34-33.
JSU slowly pulled back away in the third and reached a double-digit lead for the first time at 53-43 on a pair of Yamia Johnson free-throws. The sophomore finished with seven points in seven minutes of action.
With just under six minutes remaining in the fourth, FAMU drained a pair of free throws to pull within four at 61-57. A three-minute scoring drough for the visitors helped JSU regain an eight-point advantage, but first-year head coach Kevin Lynum's team would go away easily. A three-pointer brought the Rattlers back within five with 90 seconds remaining. After JSU missed a set of free throws with under a minute to go, FAMU hit two to pull within two at 69-67, forcing a Gamecock timeout.
On the final two possessions the JSU defense denied FAMU and the Gamecocks added three final free throws in the closing seconds courtesy of Hawks to seal the 72-67 win.
JSU remains at home where it will welcome Lipscomb to Pete Mathews Coliseum for an 11:30 a.m. tip-off on Tuesday for JSU's Kid's Day.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 63, MEMPHIS 60
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -Eastern Kentucky University’s women’s basketball team used a 30-point fourth quarter to knock off the University of Memphis, 63-60, Saturday on the road.
With Memphis (1-1) holding a 43-35 lead with 8:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, Eastern used a 21-6 run to take a 56-49 lead over the Tigers after the Bria Bass three. Memphis cut the Colonel lead to 63-60 after the Jamirah Shutes three with 12 seconds remaining in the game, but the EKU defense forced two missed shots to complete the comeback victory.
Bass led Eastern (2-0) with 13 points and eight rebounds. Teri Goodlett chipped in 12 points and three Assists, and newcomer I’Liyah Green just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Shutes led the way for the Tigers posting a game-best 23 points and 10 rebounds.
EKU knocked down 17 free throws on the night compared to only 12 for Memphis.
The Tigers took a 13-8 lead after the first quarter of play after the three by Madison Griggs. The Colonels cut into the Tigers lead and made it a three-point game, 28-25, at the half. Memphis took a five-point lead, 38-33, into the fourth quarter that set up the late magic by the Colonels.
EKU again had a balanced attack with eight Colonels scoring on the night.
The Colonels have a week off before they hit the road again to take on Butler University. Tip-off in Indianapolis is scheduled for 6 p.m.
BOWLING GREEN 79, MOREHEAD STATE 65
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After falling behind by as many as 35 points late in the third quarter, the Morehead State Women's Basketball team battled back before falling 79-65 on Saturday afternoon at the Stroh Center.
A layup by senior guard Breuna Jackson with 3:36 remaining in the third sparked the Eagles to a 36-17 run to close the game.
Morehead State fell behind early in the game as the Falcons hot shooting carried them to 45-21 halftime lead. Bowling Green made 16-of-33 (.485) field goals while also knocking down 7-of-13 (.538) three-point attempts.
In the second half, the Eagles flipped the script by making 16-of-32 shots from field.
The ultimate difference maker proved to be three-point shooting as Bowling Green knocked down 10-of-21 (.476) shots from deep while Morehead State was just 3-of-14 (.214).
Sophomore forward Ellie Jo Johnson led the Eagles in scoring with 11 points in her first-career start. Freshman guard Tomiyah Alford knocked down a triple and achieved double figure scoring in her first-career game as she tallied 10 points in 22 minutes off the bench
The Falcons were led by Caterrion Thompson who knocked down three triples and scored 20 points.
On the glass, the Eagles outrebounded Bowling Green 43-34. Freshman wing Ariel Kirkwood posted a game-best 11 boards while also swatting three shots and dropping in seven points.
Morehead State returns home for a matchup against Stetson in the Eagle Invitational Presented by Downtown BP of Morehead on Friday. The Eagles and Hatters are scheduled to tipoff at 6:00 p.m.
BELMONT 72, UCF 37
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont Bruins notched a 72-37 rout over the UCF Knights at the Curb Event Center Saturday night.
The Bruins had four players in double-figure points, as senior Maddie Wright fueled Belmont with 17 points and nine rebounds. Senior Ellie Harmeyer also notched her second-straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Senior Maura Muensterman and sophomore Conley Chinn rounded out the Bruins double-digit scorers with 11 points each.
Junior guard/forward Courtajia Sanders led the Knights with 10 points and six rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor.