THURSDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 80, Binghamton 63
@Morehead State 107, Asbury (Ky.) 55
#6 Louisville 71,
@UT Martin 63 (2OT)
@Northern Illinois 61, Eastern Illinois 48
AUSTIN PEAY 80, BINGHAMTON 63
MIAMI, Fla. - Scoring early and often, Austin Peay State University women's basketball buried Binghamton early, taking a 20-point lead into the halftime, before rolling to a 80-63 win, Thursday, on the first day of the FIU Holiday Hoops Showdown.
Binghamton led once in the game, 1-0, after knocking down a free-throw on the second possession of the game. From that point on, the Govs went on a 17-7 run to establish a lead that they would not surrender for the rest of the game.
With time running down in the first quarter, Tahanee Bennell buried a three-pointer at the buzzer that would give the Governors a 23-15 lead and all of the momentum going into the second quarter. The Bearcat's knocked down a three-pointer to start the second quarter, but the Govs answered that with a 12-0 run, highlighted by a pair of Shay-Lee Kirby triples, to extend the lead to 17.
With 4:23 left in the half, Binghamton cut the lead to 13 before the Governors took off on another run. This time a 10-3 sprint to the end of the half, punctuated with a Gabby Gregory three-pointer with 23 seconds left that gave the Govs their first 20 point lead of the day.
The Governors didn't miss a beat in the second half, scoring the first seven points out of the break to extend their lead to 27 – the largest of the day. Despite the 27 point lead, the Governors never let up defensively, holding Binghamton to just 40 points through the first three quarters.
To start the fourth quarter, Binghamton finally put together their first run of the day, cutting the Governor lead to 13. But that is as close as the Bearcats could get, as the Govs responded with buckets on their next three possessions. The Govs and Bearcats traded buckets the rest of the way, as the Governors closed out a first round win at the FIU Holiday Hoops Showdown.
The Govs will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m., when they take on host-school Florida International. The Panthers defeated Grambling State, 56-55, in the first game of the day. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Govs and Panthers when they play for the FIU Holiday Hoops Showdown crown.
MOREHEAD STATE 107, ASBURY (KY) 55
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State Women's Basketball team stomped out a three-game skid as it defeated Asbury (Ky.), 107-55, in front of 2,557 fans during its annual "I'm going to college" game on Thursday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles, now 4-7 overall in the 2019-20 season, tied their season-high scoring mark as each player that logged minutes got into the scoring column, including five double-figure scorers. Freshman guard and Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week Tomiyah Alford led all scorers with a career-best 21-point effort. Alford, who made her first-career start in the game, also recorded her first-career double-double with 10 boards while also swiping six steals.
Senior Breuna Jackson finished one-point shy of her career-best total with 18 points while making 3-of-4 shots from three-point range. Freshman guard Ariel Kirkwood stuffed the stat sheet with her third-career double-double, logging 18 points and pulling down a career-best 14 rebounds. Kirkwood also dished a career-best six assists in the game and blocked three shots.
Off the bench, junior Jazzmyn Elston found a stroke from long range, knocking down 4-of-8 triples to finish with 18 points. Senior Orlandra added 12 points while grabbing eight rebounds.
On the glass, Morehead State grabbed 70 boards. Sophomore Ellie Jo Johnson joined Kirkwood and Alford with double-digit rebounds, pulling down 12. The 70 rebounds were the most for MSU since grabbing 81 against Brescia (Ky.) on Nov. 15, 2017.
From the field, the Eagles finished 44-of-95 (.463). The 44 makes and 95 attempts were both season highs for the squad.
Asbury, who plays in the River States Conference of NAIA, entered the game with a 12-2 overall record. The visting Eagles were paced by 11-point performances by Autumn Herriford and Jaclynn Ruble.
Next up, Morehead State travels to face off with No.7 Baylor on Dec. 30 at 9:00 p.m. ET. The game will mark the second consecutive season the Eagles and Lady Bears met on the hardwood.
LOUISVILLE 71, UT MARTIN 63
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team squared up with sixth-ranked Louisville and not only held its own, but possessed a lead as large as 10 and controlled the game's lead through the first 38 minutes of the contest before ultimately falling just short in double overtime by a final score of 71-63.
The Skyhawks (4-6) jumped out to an early advantage, leading by double digits in the first quarter behind a 10-0 run. After Louisville responded by cutting the margin, the Skyhawks hung tough, controlling the lead until the 2:03 mark of the fourth quarter. From there the game was up for grabs as the contest went to double overtime and saw the lead change hands seven times while featuring eight ties after halftime.
With UT Martin's intensity and defensive prowess paving the way for success by forcing 22 turnovers while recording 15 steals, it was the team's offensive shortcoming – especially at the free throw line which proved to be the difference in the game. The Skyhawks would shoot just 36.5 percent from the floor but the team's struggles at the free throw line, where the team shot just 15-of-28 (53.6 percent), limited the team's ability to put away the nationally ranked Cardinals.
Sophomore Damiah Griffin posted the best game of her Skyhawk career with her first double-double. Griffin made 8-of-13 field goal attempts while cashing in on nine free throws en route to setting new career-highs with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, the junior post duo of Maddie Waldrop (12 points, eight rebounds) and Chelsey Perry (11 points, nine rebounds) just missed out on double-doubles of their own.
No. 6 Louisville (11-1) finished non-conference play in dramatic fashion. The Cardinals would shoot just 37.3 percent from the floor despite scoring 18 of the team's points in transition. Three different players scored in double figures for the visitors as junior phenom Dana Evans played all 50 minutes while leading the team with 22 points and eight assists. Kylee Shook posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Yacine Diop rounded out the Cardinals in double figures with 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
UT Martin will look to wrap up non-conference play with a matchup at No. 20 ranked Arkansas following on Sunday, Dec. 29.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 61, EASTERN ILLINOIS 48
DEKALB, Ill. - Eastern Illinois lost the first game of the Compass Tournament to Northern Illinois. Abby Wahl recorded her first career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The tale of the tape was the free-throw differential. NIU had 17 free-throw attempts, while EIU had only had seven attempts. The Panthers fall to 5-4 on the season, while NIU moves up to 4-5.
Both teams struggled on the offensive end at the start of the game. The Panthers started to gain a little more momentum in the last three minutes of the quarter, going on an 8-0 run. Eastern shot 33.3% in the quarter, while NIU shot an abysmal 20%. Wahl led EIU in scoring in the quarter with 7 points. Kira Arthofer wrangled in four rebounds in the first quarter alone. Eastern led NIU 14-8 going into the second quarter.
The second quarter saw the Huskies making a comeback. Northern Illinois managed to get the lid off of the rim, ending the quarter shooting 41.7%. Taylor Steele kept the Panthers in the game, scoring 9 of her 11 points in the second quarter. Eastern was hindered by the second quarter turnovers, and ended the half with eight total turnovers. NIU's bench surprised the Panthers with a quick outburst, especially A'Jah Davis. At the half, Davis had 10 points in only seven minutes of play. Panthers led 31-27 at halftime.
In the third quarter, NIU continued to outscore the Panthers. Going into the media timeout, the Huskies had outscored the Panthers by 5 points. The Huskies overtook and grabbed hold of the lead. The Huskies looked like they were about to pull away with the lead, but Jennifer Nehls nailed a three pointer at the buzzer that kept the game close. At the end of the third, NIU led 45-42.
The Panthers could not get the ball in the basket, going scoreless in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Jordyn Hughes swished a three-pointer, but it was too little too late as the Panthers couldn't score. Arthofer nabbed seven total rebounds, a career high. The Panthers shot 15% in the final quarter and scored only 6 points. The final score was 61-48 in favor of NIU.
The Panthers will play in the third place game against Western Illinois tomorrow at 4:30.