SUNDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 56, @Xavier 55
@Jacksonville State 75, Clark Atlanta 46
@UT Martin 78, Chattanooga 51
Loyola 63,
SIUE 50
Lipscomb 74,
@Tennessee State 64
EASTERN KENTUCKY 56, XAVIER 55
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Eastern Kentucky University’s women’s basketball team trailed by 21 points in the second quarter and 16 points early in the fourth, but staged a late comeback to beat host Xavier University, 56-55, on Sunday in Cincinnati.
A free throw 12 seconds into the fourth quarter put the Musketeers on top by 16, 45-29. The Colonels (6-3) then rolled off three straight 3-pointers from Teri Goodlett, Qay Stanton and Samari Mowbray to close within seven, 45-38. Eastern’s first six field goals in the fourth quarter were 3-pointers. After Xavier took a 50-41 advantage, De’Ayra Davis and Mowbray hit the final two triples to make it a 3-point game, 50-47, with 5:18 left in the game.
A free throw and a jumper from the wing by I’Liyah Green tied the game for the first time, 52-52, with 2:06 to go. Green gave EKU its first lead, 54-52, with a lay-up at the 1:33 mark. Stanton had a steal and Green had a block on Xavier’s next two possessions. Goodlett hit 1-of-2 at the stripe with 31 seconds remaining to push the lead to three. The Musketeers missed two 3-point attempts on the other end. Stanton’s free throw with four seconds to go, made it a 4-point margin at 56-52, and proved to be the clincher.
Xavier (1-7) hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Through the first three quarters of the game, the Colonels made just 20 percent of their shots (10-for-49) from the field. In the fourth quarter, EKU torched the nets to the tune of 75 percent (9-for-12), including hitting on 6-of-8 (75 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
Green finished the game with 11 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals. She tied the school record with seven blocked shots in the game. Stanton had 13 points. Goodlett contributed seven points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
Eastern Kentucky missed its first 10 shots from the field and started 3-for-28. With the Colonels starting slow, the Musketeers used a 14-3 run from the end of the first quarter through the mid-point of the second quarter to build a 20-point advantage, 29-9.
After Xavier took its largest lead of 21, 32-11, with 3:20 remaining in the first half, Eastern scored the final seven points of the quarter. Stanton and Mowbray made back-to-back 3-pointers before EKU missed on five straight free throws. Anysa Jordan’s second free throw attempt set the halftime score at 32-18.
Eastern Kentucky shot 18 percent (6-for-34) from the field in the first half and made just 3-of-10 at the free throw line. The Musketeers made 5-of-11 from behind the arc, but connected on just 6-of-22 from inside it.
The Colonels rolled off five unanswered early in the third quarter on back-to-back baskets by Green and a free throw from Goodlett to make it an 11-point game, 34-23, but Xavier led by 15, 44-29, going into the fourth.
No Musketeers scored more than nine points in the game. A’riana Gray finished with nine points and 17 rebounds.
Eastern’s stretch of three straight road games continues at Vanderbilt next Sunday. Tip-off in Nashville is scheduled for 4 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 75, CLARK ATLANTA 46
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - - Jacksonville State assisted on 19 on its 31 made field goals as the Gamecocks ran away in the second half for a 75-46 win over Clark Atlanta at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
JSU (4-5) put the brakes on a quick two-game skid, remaining unbeaten on its home floor with the big win over the Atlanta-based Panthers (2-7). JSU gave the ball away a season-low six times while forcing 18 turnovers by CAU, leading to a 23-2 point differential off turnovers.
JSU spread the wealth as 10 of the 11 Gamecocks to play found the scoring column, the majority of which came off assists. Graduate senior Destiney Elliott had a team-high five assists, but was on the receiving end of plenty of those with a game-high 16 points and a new career-best 12 rebounds, all coming at the defensive end of the court.
Also rewriting a new career high was junior Jayla Walker with 13 points, just over a week after setting her previous mark of 12 against Northern Kentucky. Junior Kiana Johnson finished with nine, just ahead of Nekiyah Thompson and Taylor Hawks with eight apiece.
Elliott started fast with an 8-2 lead following back-to-back triples from Elliott. After Walker added a couple of jumpers, the Gamecock led 19-7 after the opening quarter. A layup by Brittany Webster made it a 23-7 advantage for JSU early in the second, but the Panthers buckled down and began to close the gap heading toward halftime. After a pair of three-pointers, CAU cut the deficit back to eight, and after another basket brought the score to 26-20 at the under-five minute break. Hawks hit a couple of jumpers down the stretch to grow JSU's lead back to double-digits heading into halftime.
Up 37-26 to begin the third, JSU struggled to put CAU away in the early minutes of the second half. The Panthers converted an old-fashion three-point-play almost four minutes into the half to bring it back to an eight-point game at 41-33, but that's as close as it would get.
A three-ball by the freshman Thompson sent JSU back up by 11 and sparked a 17-4 run to end the period and put CAU away for good going into the final quarter. The Gamecocks slowed the pace to just 17 points, its lowest of any period, in the final 10 minutes, but limited CAU to just nine to secure the 75-46 victory.
Rick Pietri's squad will take a week off from competition now, returning to the court next on Dec. 20 in a 6 p.m. showdown with Jacksonville University at The Pete.
UT MARTIN 78, CHATTANOOGA 51
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team used a stingy defensive effort and strong second quarter to cruise past in-state rival Chattanooga by a score of 78-51 on Sunday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (3-5) overcame a 15-point deficit in the opening minutes of the first quarter before rolling off a 35-9 run over the final minutes of the first and throughout the second quarter to take a 37-26 lead into halftime. UT Martin would push its lead out to 14 heading into the final quarter before pulling away late in the fourth quarter to post a 78-51 victory.
UT Martin shot a season-high 47.9 percent from the field while also notching season highs in assists, steals and forced turnovers while winning the battle of the boards. The Skyhawks would benefit off their defense, tallying 28 turnovers and 18 steals which turned into 29 points – including 19 in transition.
Reigning OVC Player of the Week Chelsey Perry led all scorers once against with her second consecutive 24-point effort while tallying eight rebounds and three steals. Trailing right behind her was sophomore Damiah Griffin who tallied a career-high with 19 points while notching eight rebounds. Freshman Dasia Young also scored in double figures for the first time in her young career with 12 points off the bench.
Chattanooga (1-9) dropped its seventh straight contest behind a tough shooting performance in which the team shot 32.6 percent from the field. After jumping out to an early lead which saw the Mocs make their four of their first five baskets, the team struggled to shoot just 25.6 percent for the final 36 minutes of the game. As a whole, the Mocs would have three players score in double figures behind Lakleyn Bouldin (14), Abbey Cornelius (11) and Bria Dial (10).
UT Martin return to action in just over a week with the program’s annual Kid Game on Monday, Dec. 16 against Lipscomb. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
LOYOLA 63, SIUE 50
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE aimed to knock Loyola from the undefeated ranks, but the Ramblers fended off the Cougars 63-50 on Sunday afternoon at the First Community Arena in the Vadalabene Center.
The Ramblers improved to 8-0. The Cougars fell to 2-6.
The Cougars, who trailed 47-35 after the third period, scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter and got to within 47-43 with 7:20 to play, but then the Ramblers took control. They scored 11 consecutive points and put the finishing touches on their victory. Loyola is 6-0 on the road this season.
Allie Troeckler gave the Cougars a bit of both traits. She scored a team-high 12 points, snared six rebounds and had two assists. Bria Stallworth contributed 10 points and Mikala Hall collected nine points and three assists.
Hall scored all of her points in the first half on a trio of three-pointers. The Cougars trailed 32-27 at half.
SIUE made 21 of 55 shots, (38.2 percent). SIUE connected on 5 of 12 attempts from 3-point range and sank 3 of 4 free throws. The Ramblers outrebounded the Cougars 41-35.
Allison Day scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to pace the visitors. Abby O'Connor (13 points), Ellie Rice (11 points) and Jala Johnson (10 points) backed Day's game-leading effort.
SIUE is idle until Sunday, Dec. 16 when the Cougars begin a seven-game road excursion with an 11 a.m. date at Illinois State. The Cougars then play a pair of games in the Georgia State Tournament before getting ready for Ohio Valley Conference action Jan. 2 at Belmont. Their first four conference contests are away from home, including Tennessee State (Jan. 4), Morehead State (Jan. 9) and Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 11). SIUE's league home opener is against Tennessee Tech (Jan. 16).
LIPSCOMB 74, TENNESSEE STATE 64
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Despite inconsistencies on the offensive end, the Tennessee State University women’s basketball team battled to the end in a, 74-64, home loss to Lipscomb Sunday afternoon in the Gentry Center.
Tennessee State (1-6) fell behind by double-digits twice and fought back each time to get back into the game. Down the stretch, however, TSU could not come up with the buckets it needed to close the gap.
Jazmine Young scored a career-high 19 points to lead TSU while Jaden Wrightsell also registered a career-high of 18 points.
Lipscomb improved to 2-7 on the season and had three players score in double-digits.
Tennessee State will be back on action on Thursday when it travels to Arizona.