SATURDAY'S SCORES
Southeast Missouri 77, @Eastern Illinois 65
Belmont 53, @Austin Peay 52
Morehead State 69, @Jacksonville State 55
UT Martin 79, @SIUE 39
@Murray State 100, Tennessee State 62
@Tennessee Tech 87, Eastern Kentucky 82 (2OT)
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 77, EASTERN ILLINOIS 65
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Tesia Thompson turned in a double-double 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri (14-5, 6-2) to a 77-65 win over Eastern Illinois (11-8, 5-3) Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.
Thompson collected her first double-double of the season as SEMO extended its winning streak to five games.
SEMO put together a 12-0 run in the opening minutes of play and never looked back en route to completing a two-game Illinois road sweep. The Redhawks scored 22 points in the first quarter.
Taelour Pruitt's fast break basket pushed SEMO's lead to 14 points late in the opening period.
The Redhwks held a 30-15 advantage before EIU closed out the first half on a 9-0 run to pull to within six, 30-24, at the intermission.
SEMO nailed down its sixth Ohio Valley Conference victory with a 32-point third quarter. The Redhawks outscored the Panthers by 16 (32-16) in the third quarter and later led by as many as 24 before polishing off their victory.
Thompson shot 4-of-7 from the field and made 9-of-14 free throws, while dishing out six assists in 32 minutes. Thompson was one of four Redhawks with double figures in the scoring column.
Carrie Shephard led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-13 field goals and finished with five of SEMO's six 3-pointers. Taelour Pruitt and LaTrese Saine added 10 points apiece.
SEMO shot 52 percent (26-of-50) from the field for the game and held a +13 margin (44-31) on the boards. In addition, the Redhawks never trailed for the entire 40 minutes.
Eastern Illinois' Lariah Washington led the team with 17 points while Karle Pace added 14 and Morgan Litwiller had 13.
BELMONT 53, AUSTIN PEAY 52
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A game-winning layup from senior Ellie Harmeyer with 1.4 seconds remaining lifted the Belmont Bruins over the Austin Peay Governors, 53-52, Saturday afternoon at the Dunn Center.
Harmeyer fueled the Bruins (12-7, 7-1 OVC) with her fourth-straight double-double of 22 points and 17 rebounds. Harmeyer also went a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Sophomore Jamilyn Kinney chipped in eight points, as she tied her career-high in rebounds (6) and steals (3). Kinney dished out a team-high four assists, while nine different players scored on the day for Belmont.
Three players posted double-figure points for the Governors (11-8, 2-6 OVC), as freshman Ella Sawyer led Austin Peay with 15 points.
MOREHEAD STATE 69, JACKSONVILLE STATE 55
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Morehead State Women's Basketball team held Jacksonville State without a made shot for nearly 10 minutes over the third and fourth quarters as it earned a 69-55 Ohio Valley Conference victory on Saturday afternoon at Pete Matthews Coliseum.
After finding themselves trailing 33-27 at halftime, the Eagles adjusted on both ends of the floor to earn their first win on the Gamecocks floor since 2016.
In the fourth quarter, Morehead State's defense stymied the hosts to 1-for-12 (.083) shooting. The Gamecocks' single made basket in the final quarter is a season-low allowed in a quarter for the Eagles this season.
Coupled with the collective defensive effort, senior Breuna Jackson lit up the scoreboard with 16 second-half-points. Jackson, a senior from Nashville, Tenn., matched a career-best 19 in the game as she was 7-of-14 from the field.
Senior Orlandra Humphries notched her third double-double in four games as she posted 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Freshman guard Ariel Kirkwood scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked three shots, and swiped three steals to put together an impressive stat line.
Jacksonville State had its scoring efforts led by guard Taylor Hawks' 17 points. The Gamecocks fall to 8-12 overall and their OVC mark to 4-4.
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for Morehead State and improves its overall record to 8-11 while evening its league record at 4-4.
UT MARTIN 79, SIUE 39
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team got back to its winning ways with a dominating 40-point victory over Ohio Valley Conference rival SIUE on Saturday afternoon with a 79-39 win in the First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center.
The Skyhawks (11-8, 7-1 OVC) posted an impressive effort on both sides of the ball. UT Martin limited SIUE to shoot just 23.8 percent from the field while forcing 17 turnovers. On the offensive side, the Skyhawks shot 50 percent from the field while tallying 19 assists on 25 made field goals.
UT Martin would outscore SIUE in every quarter while stretching out the team's margin with a 17-point run in the second period. The team's 39 points allowed ranked as the lowest scoring output by an opponent this season.
Junior forward Chelsey Perry paced the Skyhawks offensively with 25 points, five rebounds, five steals and three blocks. Freshman Dasia Young posted a nice performance, tallying 15 points and five rebounds to wrap up the Skyhawks in double figures while nine of the team's 11 players reached the scoring column.
SIUE (3-16, 1-7 OVC saw its struggles continue without the team's top offensive threat for the fourth straight game. Kaitlin Lee led the Cougars for the second straight game in double figures with 11 points and six rebounds to rank as team highs in both categories.
MURRAY STATE 100, TENNESSEE STATE 62
MURRAY, Ky. - For the 28th time in program history, the Murray State women’s basketball team reached the century mark, as it cruised past Tennessee State, 100-62, Saturday night at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers opened the game on a 20-7 run and never looked back in a contest that saw all five starters reach double figures and three of them notch double-doubles. The Racers also notched 30-plus points in two separate quarters after having only reached the same milestone once prior to Saturday.
Laci Hawthorne led Murray State Saturday with 21 points and a career-high 14 points for her third double-double of the season. Macey Turley recorded the first double-double of her career as she had 15 points and 10 assists, while Alexis Burpo recorded her second, but first with assists as she finished with 17 points and 10 assists. Macie Gibson was two rebounds away from her own-double double as she has 14 points and eight boards, while Lex Mayes had 17 points including a 5-for-10 performance from 3-point range.
The 100-point performance was the first for Murray State since scoring 113 against Oakland City last season. It was also the Racers first 100-point performance against a Division 1 opponent since scoring 102 against Alabama A&M in the 2014-15 season and first against an OVC foe since scoring 100 against Jacksonville State in the 2006-07 season.
Tennessee State's Jaden Wrightsell led the team with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
TENNESSEE TECH 87, EASTERN KENTUCKY 82
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated Eastern Kentucky, 87-82, in double overtime. The Golden Eagles extended it win streak to 11 straight.
Tennessee Tech (15-4, 8-0 OVC) took a 76-73 lead with 28 seconds remaining in regulation after a three-pointer by Jordan Brock. However, the Colonels had some heroics in them. With eight seconds, remaining in regulation Qay Stanton crossed over to her left and buried a three-pointer from the right wing to tie the game at 76-76, and send the game to overtime.
Eastern Kentucky (8-11, 2-6 OVC) jumped out to an early 80-76 lead in OT after the Colonels scored the first four points of the frame. Tech responded with a 4-0 run of its own after a Kesha Brady layup to tie the game back at 80-80.
The Colonels had a shot to win it at the end of the first overtime. Teri Goodlett had a shot from the short corner and a foul was called but after the clock expired sending the game into double OT.
TTU scored the first five points in double overtime to take an 85-80 lead and did not give up the lead the rest of the way.
The Golden Eagles took a 38-32 lead with 2:02 remaining in the first half on a pair of free throws by Brady. Eastern responded with an 8-0 run after a layup at the buzzer by Bria Bass to give the Colonels the 40-38 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Tennessee Tech opened the second half on a 15-5 run to take a 53-45 lead over the Colonels with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles took their biggest lead of the game at 59-49, but the Colonels closed the quarter on an 8-4 run to head into the final quarter trailing, 63-57.
Eastern shot 48.6 percent from the field on the night. Tennessee Tech shot 44.3 percent from the field.
Goodlett led the way for the Colonels posting game-highs with 20 points and 12 assists. Bass had 19 points and six rebounds off the bench. I’Liyah Green posted a career-high 16 points and six rebounds.
Akia Harris posted a team-best 19 points for the Golden Eagles. Brady had 18 and Brock chipped in 17.