THURSDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 86, @Murray State 56
@Eastern Illinois 74, UT Martin 70
@Jacksonville State 68, Eastern Kentucky 54
Southeast Missouri 66, @SIUE 56
@Tennessee Tech 82, Morehead State 75 (OT)
@Austin Peay 76, Tennessee State 58
BELMONT 86, MURRAY STATE 56
MURRAY, Ky. - A combined 46 points from senior Ellie Harmeyer and sophomore Conley Chinn propelled the Belmont Bruins to a dominant 86-56 victory over the Murray State Racers at the CFSB Center Thursday afternoon.
Harmeyer posted her 12th double-double of the season with 26 points and 18 rebounds, while Chinn racked up a career-high 20 points with four 3-pointers. Overall, seven Bruins scored five or more points on the afternoon.
Belmont (11-7, 6-1 OVC) scored a season-high 86 points and dished out its second-highest assist total of the year (18). The Bruins also registered 50-plus rebounds for the third time this season and the second time in conference play.
The Racers (8-10, 1-6 OVC) were led in scoring by sophomore Macey Turley (11 points), as junior Ashley Hunter was the only other Murray State player in double-figure points.
The Bruins jumped out to a 14-4 run early on, as senior Maddie Wright and Chinn nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game. The Racers cut their deficit in half, but Belmont still held a 22-12 lead after a 3-pointer from senior Maura Muensterman at the 1:27 mark. Wright rolled in a layup as time expired and the Bruins took a 24-17 after the first quarter.
Murray State scored a quick five points to start the second quarter, as Belmont led by just two points through two minutes. Harmeyer responded by scoring 11-straight points to give the Bruins another double-digit advantage. Muensterman nailed a deep 3-pointer at the 1:26 mark, as Belmont finished the first half with a 43-31 lead.
Harmeyer, who tallied a double-double just 15 minutes into the game, recorded a team-best 17 points and 14 rebounds in the first half. Chinn scored 10 points through the first 20 minutes, as the Bruins hit six first-half 3-pointers.
Three 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half gifted Belmont an 18-point lead. A bucket from Harmeyer in the paint with 2:19 left in the third quarter put the Bruins up 63-39. Sophomore Maddie Cook hit a pull-up jumper with 30 seconds left, as Belmont held a 67-45 advantage through three quarters of play. The Bruins shot nearly 60 percent from the floor in the third period.
Following over two minutes of scoreless action to start the fourth quarter, freshman Kiki Britzmann nailed a pair of treys in consecutive possessions. A paint layup from sophomore Allison Luly gave Belmont a 76-52 advantage with five minutes left to play. Freshman Cam Browning rounded out the day with a pair of free throws with 48 seconds remaining to solidify the Bruins' 30-point road victory.
Overall, five Belmont players logged three or more assists, as it tallied season-highs in both 3-pointers made (12) and 3-point field goal percentage (44.4 percent). Muensterman finished with eight points, while Wright and Britzmann each logged seven points, six rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Jamilyn Kinney dished out a team-high six assists.
The freshman duo of Britzmann and Browning combined for 13 points and 12 rebounds, as the Bruins received a season-high 21 points from the bench.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 74, UT MARTIN 70
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The University of Tennessee of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team saw its 12-point lead in the third quarter dissipate before having its six-game winning streak come to a halt at Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois on Thursday night by a score of 74-70.
The Skyhawks (10-8, 6-1 OVC) held four double-digit margins in the third quarter but would watch the Panthers continually chip away before ultimately seeing its lead go by the wayside in the fourth quarter – an advantage which they would never retain. Eastern Illinois proved dynamic on offense, shooting nearly 63 percent in the second half while scoring 45 points.
UT Martin would rely heavily on the junior post duo of Chelsey Perry and Maddie Waldrop as the pair combined to score 51 of the team's 70 points. Perry notched her fifth 30-point game of the season with 35 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Waldrop returned to the lineup with 16 points and nine rebounds to pace the Skyhawks.
Eastern Illinois (11-7, 5-2 OVC) featured a balanced and strong offensive attack with five players in double figures. Lariah Washington led the Panthers with 16 points and seven rebounds. The quartet of Abby Wahl (13), Karle Pace (12), Morgan Litwiller (12) and Jordyn Hughes
JACKSONVILLE STATE 68, EASTERN KENTUCKY 54
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Behind graduate-senior Destiney Elliott's career scoring night, the Jacksonville State women's basketball team defeated Eastern Kentucky, 68-54, Thursday evening in a game that not as tight as the final score indicated.
Jax State (8-10, 4-3 Ohio Valley Conference) improved to 6-2 on its home court with the win, which also capped the season sweep of the Colonels (8-10, 2-5 OVC). In the process of matching its most points in a conference game this season, JSU hit double-digit three-pointers (10) in a game for the fourth time this season.
Elliott led the Gamecock offense tying a career-high with 24 points, previously reached against Harvard in last year's Thanksgiving Classic in California. Redshirt-junior Jessie Day was the second Gamecock in double figures with 10 points, joined soon after by Taylor Hawks who also finished with 10.
After scoring just 43 points total in the road win in Richmond, Ky., earlier in the month, JSU piled on 41 in the first half alone on Thursday. McKenna Lawrence began the night with a couple of early treys to send JSU out to an 8-4 lead. Elliott poured in nine in the first period alone to make it 21-13 following the opening quarter.
Hawks made the lead 12 with a triple midway through the second and followed it up with a pair of free throws to push JSU ahead, 36-22. The advantage grew to 17 before the the Colonels trimmed the margin back to 41-28 for halftime.
With just under five minutes to go in the third, EKU's Qay Staton, who led her club with 13 points, added a layup to bring the game back to within 10 at 46-36. From there, the Gamecocks held EKU scoreless the rest of the period and used an 8-0 run offensively to head to the final quarter up 54-36.
The lead only grew in the fourth for JSU, who would go win for the 10th time in the last 12 meetings against EKU. Leading by 20 most of the final stanza, the visiting Colonels drained back-to-back threes in the final minute to bring the final result to 68-54.
Qay Stanton had a team-high 13 points for the Colonels. Teri Goodlett contributed 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Catie Kaifes had nine points and a rebound off the bench.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 66, SIUE 56
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Tesia Thompson scored 17 points to lead Southeast Missouri (13-5, 5-2) to a 66-56 win over SIU Edwardsville (3-15, 1-6) Thursday night at First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center.
SEMO picked up its fourth-straight win and handed SIUE its fifth-consecutive loss.
The Redhawks trailed, 15-5, with 5:26 remaining in the first quarter, but scored the final 12 points of the period to take a 17-15 edge. Sophie Bussard made a layup to tie the game and Carrie Shephard knocked down two free throws to put the Redhawks ahead.
After that, SEMO managed to build a 37-33 halftime advantage.
The Redhawks widened their lead to 46-37 in the third quarter when Taelour Pruitt converted a 3-point play at the 5:06 mark.
Thompson's layup opened a double-digit margin (53-43) early in the fourth quarter and the Cougars couldn't narrow the Redhawks lead to less than seven the rest of the way.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Thompson posted her 13th double figure scoring game of the season and eighth in a row. She also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out two assists and collected a pair of steals.
Shephard followed close behind with 16 points on 6-of-11 field goals for her team-high 16th double-digit scoring game. Jessie Harshberger added 11 points for the Redhawks.
SEMO picked up its sixth road win of the season despite missing 13 free throws and going the entire game without a 3-pointer (0-of-11).
Kaitlin Lee led SIUE with a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds.
TENNESSEE TECH 82, MOREHEAD STATE 75
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated visiting Morehead State, 82-75, in overtime to remain undefeated in OVC play. The Golden Eagles also extended its win streak to 10 straight games.
Jordan Brock hit four three-pointers to finish with a team-high 21 points. Keisha Brady added 19 points while Mackenzie Coleman notched a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Akia Harris scored 13 points in the win.
Jazzmyn Elston came off the bench to lead Morehead State with a game-high 30 points. She was 12-of-18 from the floor, including hitting five three-pointers. Orlandra Humphries had 12 points while Breuna Jackson added 11.
AUSTIN PEAY 76, TENNESSEE STATE 58
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team fell to Austin Peay, 76-58, Thursday night in the Dunn Center.
Tennessee State (2-15, 0-7 OVC) got off to a slow start and fell behind by as many as 21 points in the first half. TSU struggled for most of the game but put together an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to cut into the lead. The Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Govs in the fourth quarter and nearly cut the deficit to single digits down the stretch but the effort came up short.
Austin Peay's Arielle Gonzalez-Varner led the team with 15 points to go with eight rebounds. Shay-Lee Kirby added 14 points.
Jazmine Young led TSU in scoring with 20 points while Taylor Roberts finished with nine.