SATURDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 53, @SIUE 44
Tennessee Tech 75, @Eastern Illinois 62
@UT Martin 65, Austin Peay 61
@Belmont 71, Morehead State 62
Eastern Kentucky 61, @Tennessee State 55
@Southeast Missouri 88, Murray State 73
JACKSONVILLE STATE 53, SIUE 44
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - For the second-straight year, the Jacksonville State women's basketball team left Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a win following Saturday's 53-44 outcome.
The win brought the Gamecocks (7-10, 3-3 Ohio Valley Conference) back to .500 in league play, while the Cougars dropped to 3-14 overall and 1-5 in conference. It was the first back-to-back road wins over SIUE for Jax State since the two began meeting in 2011.
Graduate-senior Destiney Elliott led the scoring with a modest 11 points as offense wasn't the focal point of Saturday's contest. Freshman Nekiyah Thompson reached double-digit for the second-straight game finishing with 10 on 6-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. Redshirt-senior Chloe Long chipped in nine points, all in the first half.
While Long only grabbed two rebounds for the game, the slack was picked up by junior Taylor Hawks with a career-best nine boards, followed by Jessie Day with seven. The Gamecocks were still outrebounded overall, 44-37, but managed to win for the first time all season when losing the rebound battle. One of the best defenses in the league held SIUE to 28-percent shooting at home, single-digit points in two quarters and just 1-for-13 from behind the perimeter.
With just over two minutes left in the opening period, JSU led 9-6 before back-to-back threes from Elliott and Hawks helped the Gamecocks lead 15-10 after one. A second chance putback by Karleigh Sledge in the third gave JSU a nine-point cushion at 21-12 before SIUE made a short run. The Cougars pulled within four midway through the period, but the Jax State held the home team scoreless thw final five minutes of the half to take a 30-18 lead into the intermission.
JSU had another strong defensive quarter in the third and extended its lead to 15 over the next 10 minutes. A pair of free throws by Thompson with under eight minutes remaining in the final stanza made it a 13-point JSU advantage, but SIUE turned on the full-court press and began to give the Gamecocks fits. The Cougars worked the margin down to five at 44-39 late in the period until Elliott buried a momentum-killing trey to give JSU a boost. McKenna Lawrence added a late steal and runout layup in the final stages to push the advantage back to double figures briefly before the Gamecocks won 53-44
SIUE's Mikayla Kinnard scored a game-high 17 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 62
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Tennessee Tech women's basketball continues to play as a team and make critical plays down the stretch, and Saturday was no different. The Golden Eagles stifled a late Eastern Illinois rally to earn a 13-point, 75-62, victory over EIU inside Lantz Arena.
The Golden Eagles (13-4, 6-0) tied their largest winning streak from a year ago and earned their ninth-straight victory and sixth-straight win in OVC play. While, EIU fell to 10-7 overall, and received their second defeat, 4-2, in conference play.
Junior Kesha Brady produced her fifth 20-plus point performance of the season as she led the Golden Eagles with a game-high 20 points. Brady knocked down 67 percent (4-of-6) of her shots from 3-point range and netted 89 percent (8-of-9) from the line. She also led the team in assists with five in the contest.
Juniors Mackenzie Coleman and Jordan Brock joined Brady in double-figures with 15 and 14 points respectively. Coleman shot 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field and connected on her sole free throw of the game. She also led the Golden Eagles on the glass, tying for a game-high eight rebounds in the win. Brock shot 50 percent (5-of-10) from the field and 57 percent (4-of-7) from long-range.
The Golden Eagles got a lift from their bench, as they outscored the Panthers bench 20-5.
Tech struck first on a layup from Mackenzie Coleman, but the Golden Eagles battled back-and-forth early before the Panthers took a 10-6 lead at the opening media timeout of the contest. The Golden Eagles rallied to produce an 8-4 run to bring the game even at 14 after the first.
The Golden Eagles opened things up in the second. The Golden Eagles took their largest lead of the game on a Brady 3-pointer to lead by five at the media timeout of the second. The Panthers tallied five unanswered to bring the game even, 28-28, with less than three minutes remaining in the half. Tech locked in over the final three minutes of play to hold the Panthers to two points on a 10-2 run to close out the half and take an eight-point advantage into the break, 38-30.
Tech outrebounded the Panthers 18-10 during the first half, which included an 8-3 edge on the offensive glass.
EIU attempted to rally in the third, shooting 64 percent from the field, 75 percent from 3-point range, and 40 percent from the free throw line as they outscored Tech 19-17, coming within three points of tying the contest at the 1:08-minute mark, but 3-pointer from Brady with 52 seconds to play kicked Tech's lead back out to six, 55-49, heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Tech flipped the script in the final period of play. The Golden Eagles opened the quarter on an 8-4 run to take their first double-digit lead of the contest, 63-53. EIU rallied to cut the Golden Eagles lead in half and bring the game back to a two-score contest, 63-58, with 5:37 remaining in the game. That was as close as the Panthers would get. Tech responded on a 3-pointer from Brock to kick things back out to eight points and didn't look back as they outscored the Panthers 7-4 over the final three minutes of play, capping off a 12-4 run, to secure the 75-62 victory.
The Golden Eagles shot 46 percent (9-of-20) from the field, 66 percent (6-of-9) from long-range, and 83 percent (13-of-15) from the free throw line, including a 9-of-9 performance in the final period, over the final 20 minutes of play.
Eastern had three players score in the double digits with Karle Pace, Abby Wahl and Lariah Washington. Pace and Wahl each finished with 18 points a pop. Washington finished her night with 14 points and seven rebounds.
UT MARTIN 65, AUSTIN PEAY 61
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team used a 15-1 run over the final five minutes of Saturday’s contest to overcome an 18-point deficit to knock off Austin Peay and remain atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
The Skyhawks (10-7, 6-0 OVC) trailed for the first 39 minutes of the contest, facing a deficit as large as 18 points in the third quarter before scratching and clawing their way back into the contest in the fourth. UT Martin used a 15-1 run in the final 4:44 of the contest – including 13 points from junior forward Chelsey Perry – to seal the comeback attempt and remain unbeaten in OVC play.
UT Martin struggled mightily for much of the contest with 22 turnovers while shooting 27 percent over the first three quarters. The game took a turn in the fourth quarter as the Skyhawks found their touch offensive, shooting 56.3 percent from the field in the period while limiting the Govs to just 3-of-11 shooting down the stretch.
Perry made a push for her sixth OVC Player of the Week honor with yet another double-double, tallying 25 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks to lead all players in each of the three categories. Joining Perry in double figures was junior guard Tamiah Stanford with 11 points and five rebounds.
Austin Peay (10-7, 1-5 OVC) controlled the tempo for much of the contest, knocking down 12 three-pointers to push its margin out to 18 points. The Governors saw three different players score in double figures, led by 17 points and six rebounds by Maggie Knowles while Ella Sawyer (14 points) and Brianah Ferby (11 points) also eclipsed double-digits.
BELMONT 71, MOREHEAD STATE 62
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - For the second straight game, four players logged double-figure points to lift the Belmont Bruins over the Morehead State Eagles, 71-62, Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center.
The Bruins, who are an undefeated 8-0 in home contests this year, extended their winning streak to 15 games inside the Curb.
Sophomore Conley Chinn fueled Belmont (10-7, 5-1 OVC) with a career-high 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Senior Ellie Harmeyer posted her 11th double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The senior duo of Maddie Wright (12 points) and Maura Muensterman (10 points) rounded out the Bruins' double-digit scorers on the day. Muensterman also added a season-best seven boards and dished out three assists.
Three players registered 10 or more points for the Eagles (7-11, 3-3 OVC), as junior Jazzmyn Elston led with a team-high 18 points.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 61, TENNESSEE STATE 55
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - With the game tied 53-53, Eastern Kentucky University hit 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:12 of the fourth quarter to secure the road win over Tennessee State University Saturday.
Eastern (8-9, 2-4 OVC) opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 21-18 lead with 7:18 remaining in the first half. The Tigers responded with a 9-0 run to take a 27-21 lead after a Deaja Richardson three-pointer.
Tennessee State (2-14, 0-6 OVC) took a 41-39 lead over the Colonels heading into the fourth quarter. The Colonels opened the final quarter on an 8-2 run sparked by a Samari Mowbray four-point play to take a 47-43 lead with 8:07 remaining in regulation.
The Tigers led after each of the first three quarters.
Four Colonels scored in double figures on the contest. Teri Goodlett led the way for the Colonels posting a game-high 15 points and five rebounds. Mowbray and I’Liyah Green each chipped in 13 points. Bria Bass posted 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Richardson led the way for the Tigers posting 14 points off the bench.
Eastern out-rebounded TSU 45-33.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 88, MURRAY STATE 73
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Murray State women's basketball concluded its four-game road trip with a trek to Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon. Despite a 41-31 advantage at the halftime break, the Racers came up short, falling by a score of 88-73 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
While the Redhawks began the contest with a 10-0 run, the resilient Racers fought back to find themselves trailing by just two at the end of the first quarter behind 54.5% shooting from the floor.
The Racers would build on the strong end to the first by surging to a 31-23 lead, thanks to a 13-3 run, to begin the second frame. Shooting 7-11 from three-point land in the first half, Murray State carried the momentum into the halftime break - owning a 41-31 lead while holding the Redhawks to just 33.3% from the floor during the first 20 minutes.
The third quarter would belong to the Redhawks, however, as they eliminated the deficit and claimed a 62-53 lead heading into the final quarter of the afternoon.
Murray State was unable to gain any ground in the final 10 minutes, as Southeast Missouri evened the season series - prevailing by a score of 88-73 on their home floor at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
Southeast Missouri had four players reach double figures in scoring with Tesia Thompson leading the way with 22 points. Taelour Pruitt had 20 points while Carrie Shephard recorded 13 and LaTrease Saine added 12.
As a team, the Racers shot 42.9% from behind the arc, while Macey Turley led all scorers with 25 points and four assists. Alexis Burpo added a career-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds in the defeat.