2019 OVC Women's Basketball Championship Recaps - Semifinals

3/8/2019 9:11:39 AM

#1 BELMONT 62, #4 TENNESSEE TECH 48
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - For the fifth time in six seasons, the Belmont women's basketball team is playing on Championship Saturday.

With a 62-48 semifinal victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday – in which senior standout Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) eclipsed 2,000 career points – the Bruins advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title game Saturday. There they will defend their conference crown and look for a fourth straight OVC championship and berth in the ensuing NCAA Tournament.

The Bruins (25-6) will go for four at 2 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday's other semifinal at the Ford Center between No. 2 Morehead State and No. 3 UT Martin.
That game will stream live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN app.

To get to Saturday, the top-seeded Bruins had to deal with an upstart Tech team that got the best of them at home in the regular season this year. The Golden Eagles (21-10) came out firing, but the vaunted Belmont defense clamped down to hold TTU to its second lowest scoring output of the season. After starting the game 5-of-7 shooting from the field, Tech made just five of its next 27 attempts.

Maggard made two 3-pointers in the game's opening four minutes to hit 2,000 career points even, becoming just the 19th player in OVC women's basketball history to reach the milestone. She didn't score again until the second half, but then her clutch shooting helped Belmont extend its lead to as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter. She finished with 18 points overall and nine assists.

The 5-foot-5 point guard is the fourth Belmont player to ever score 2,000 points, the first in the program's NCAA era.

Wright notched her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds in a well-rounded support effort from the Bruins. Freshman Conley Chinn (Jackson, Miss.) and senior Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) each chipped in nine points – Roy also grabbed eight rebounds with four assists – and junior Maura Muensterman (Evansville, Ind.) scored eight points.

Kentoria Alexander led Tennessee Tech with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Abby Buckner also had 10 points for the Golden Eagles.

#3 UT MARTIN 68, #2 UT MARTIN 58
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -A 14-point deficit proved to be no match for the No. 3 seed University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team on Friday afternoon as the Skyhawks fought back in the second half to post a 68-58 victory in the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship semifinals over No. 2 seed Morehead State. With the win, the Skyhawks advance to the OVC Championship title game against top-seeded Belmont on Saturday.

The Skyhawks (23-8) fell behind early in the contest as the team was looking at a 14-point deficit with 8:21 to play in the second quarter. From there UT Martin began its comeback attempt by trimming the deficit to seven points at halftime before opening the second half on a 15-5 run to erase the deficit and put the squad on top. The game would remain a back-and-forth matchup until the midway point of the fourth quarter when the Skyhawks began to put the game away and ultimately pushed their margin out to 10 points in the final minute.

With the win, UT Martin advances to the OVC Championship title game for the seventh time in the past 10 years while improving the program’s record in the field to 17-6 under the direction of head coach Kevin McMillan. Additionally, the team’s 23rd win of the season ranks tied for the second-most wins in program history.

Senior Emanye Robertson steered the ship for the Skyhawks in the contest, as the All-OVC first team selection scored a game-high 26 points while tallying five rebounds and four assists. Fellow guard Zaire Hicks was strong once again with 13 points from the other guard spot while sophomore forward Maddie Waldrop tallied her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Rounding out the Skyhawks in double figures was sophomore Chelsey Perry with 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Morehead State (23-10) had its regular season come to a close despite a well-rounded effort. All-OVC guard Miranda Crockett paced the Eagles with 16 points while Mckenzie Calvert (15 points) and Darianne Seward (12 points) also scored in double figures.

UT Martin will return to action in an attempt to tally the program’s fifth OVC Basketball Championship title with a matchup against No. 1 seed Belmont on Saturday, March 9. Tipoff from the Ford Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.