THURSDAY'S SCORES
UT Martin 65, @Eastern Kentucky 50
Southeast Missouri 67, @Morehead State 61
Belmont 59, @Tennessee Tech 47
@Jacksonville State 70 ,Tennessee State 48
@Murray State 92, Eastern Illinois 87 (OT)
@Austin Peay 74, SIUE 61
UT MARTIN 65, EASTERN KENTUCKY 50
RICHMOND, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team posted a balanced scoring attack on Thursday evening to push past Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky with a 65-50 road victory.
The Skyhawks (12-8, 8-1 OVC) overcame a sluggish start in the first quarter by stringing together a 24-3 run heading into halftime. With a 15-point advantage at the break and both teams playing even in the second, the visitors would score the team’s fourth road victory of the season.
Despite a poor shooting night, UT Martin would get it done on the defensive end by forcing 20 turnovers on 13 steals while commanding the battle of the boards. With the win, the Skyhawks finish the month of January by winning eight of their nine contests.
Junior forward Chelsey Perry paced the team with 15 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks to tally her ninth career double-double. Freshman Dasia Young scored in double figures for the second straight game with 12 points while junior Maddie Waldrop just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. As a whole, six different players scored at least five points for the Skyhawks.
Eastern Kentucky (8-12, 2-7 OVC) saw balance on the scoring leaderboard but lacked the go-to scorer as Bria Bass paced the team with 11 points off the bench.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67, MOREHEAD STATE 61
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Tesia Thompson posted a double-double 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri (15-5, 7-2) to a 67-61 win over Morehead State (8-13, 4-5) Thursday night at Johnson Arena.
SEMO snapped a four-game losing streak in its all-time series against MSU. The Redhawks also kept their winning streak alive at six-consecutive games.
The game started off in an interesting fashion as MSU was assessed an administrative technical foul due to technical difficulties with backboard lighting before the ball was thrown in the air. Thompson made both of her free throws prior to the tip.
Tied, 10-10, after the first quarter, SEMO outscored MSU, 25-13, in the next 10 minutes to build a 35-23 lead at halftime.
It was then in the third quarter when the Redhwks took control.
SEMO scored the final 11 points of the third quarter and the first nine of the fourth to string together a 20-0 run after holding a five-point cushion (39-34). Carrie Shephard capped the big surge with a jumper to give SEMO its biggest lead of the night at 39-24 with 7:44 remaining.
MSU, however, didn't go down quietly responding with an 18-2 run of its own to pull to within nine (61-52). SEMO went six minutes without a field goal and had seven turnovers in the final seven minutes of the game.
The Eagles managed to cut the Redhawks lead to 65-61 with 29 seconds left, but that was as close as they would get.
Thompson turned in a double-double for the second-straight game. She made seven field goals and 6-of-7 free throws. As a result, Thompson moved to 10th on SEMO's all-time career scoring list with 1,217 points.
Shephard followed with 18 points, including 12 from 3-point range. She had four of her team's six 3-pointers for the game.
Ariel Kirkwood led the Eagles with 25 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks.
The Redhawks outrebounded the Eagles, 42-38. and scored 16 points on second chance opportunities.
BELMONT 59, TENNESSEE TECH 47
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The senior duo of Ellie Harmeyer and Maura Muensterman meshed for 39 points to propel the Belmont Bruins past the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 59-47, Thursday night at the Eblen Hooper Center.
The Bruins (13-7, 8-1 OVC), who are now tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, led for all but 40 seconds en route to their fifth straight victory.
Harmeyer posted her third consecutive 20-point double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Muensterman recorded a career-high 17 points with five 3-pointers. Sophomore Jamilyn Kinney chipped in seven points, four rebounds and dished out a team-best five assists.
Tennessee Tech (15-5, 8-1 OVC) was fueled by the junior tandem of Jordan Brock and Kesha Brady, who were the only Golden Eagles to register double-figure points. Brock had 13 points while Brady added 11.
A Muensterman 3-pointer 30 seconds into the game sparked a 9-2 Belmont run to kick off the first quarter. Muensterman drained another deep ball to gift the Bruins a 14-6 lead with less than a minute remaining. Kinney finished the period with a driving layup under the basket with three seconds left. Belmont took a 16-9 advantage through the first 10 minutes of play in Cookeville.
It took three minutes for either team to log points in the second quarter, as Kinney broke the silence for Belmont with a jumper from the elbow at the 6:27 mark. The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to one possession, but another trey from Muensterman extended the Bruin lead to 23-15 with four minutes left. Harmeyer closed out the first half with a deep 3-pointer to give Belmont a 28-18 advantage.
The Bruins held Tennessee Tech to 6-of-23 shooting from the field in the first half, while Muensterman racked up a team-high 11 points and three 3-pointers. Belmont recorded 11 points off turnovers through 20 minutes.
Muensterman opened up the second half with her fourth 3-pointer of the contest nine seconds in. A second-chance layup from senior Maddie Wright boosted the Bruins' lead to 13 with 7:23 remaining in the third period. The Golden Eagles attempted to close the gap at four-minute mark, but Harmeyer scored five consecutive points to keep a 40-31 advantage for Belmont. A pair of free throws from freshman Kiki Britzmann capped off the third quarter, as the Bruins led 41-34 going into the final quarter.
Belmont took a double-digit advantage after a 3-pointer from Kinney at the 7:34 mark of the fourth period. With four minutes remaining, Tennessee Tech cut down the Bruin lead to six points. Belmont responded with a dominant 11-0 run in the final minutes, as sophomore Conley Chinn nailed two free throws with 57 seconds left in regulation to close out the 59-47 victory.
Overall, Belmont knocked down eight 3-pointers on the evening. Wright finished with six points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Allison Luly grabbed a team-high pair offensive rebounds. The Bruins outrebounded the Golden Eagles by a 44-30 margin and grabbed 14 offensive boards in the win.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 70, TENNESSEE STATE 48
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team reached 70 points for just the second time this season against a Division I opponent as it ran away from Tennessee State in the second half of a 70-48 victory at Pete Mathews Coliseum Thursday night.
The win moved the Gamecocks (9-11) to 5-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while the Lady Tigers remain winless in league competition. Head coach Rick Pietri also earned his 99th win at the helm of JSU's program, and will go for no. 100 on Saturday afternoon.
Redshirt-junior McKenna Lawrence led the way with a new career-high 17 points to kick-start JSU's explosive second half. She was joined in double figures by both Destiney Elliott (12) and Taylor Hawks (10). Elliott also pulled down a team-high nine boards, while Kiana Johnson grabbed seven, followed bu Chloe Long with six.
After the Gamecocks put the first two baskets on the board, TSU went on a surprising 15-2 run over the next eight minutes. A triple by Yamia Johnson, who finished with eight points, pulled JSU within six at the end of the first. TSU led for nearly 15 minutes of the opening half, but Kiana Johnson's second-chance layin with under a minute to play evened things at 26-26, which would stand as the halftime score.
Jax State doubled-up TSU in the second half, outscoring the Lady Tigers 44-22. It started with back-to-back treys by Lawrence that quickly handed JSU a six-point cushion, but JSU would extend the stretch to a 14-0 start in the third. Another 8-0 start in the final quarter was enough for JSU to seal the deal against the visitors from Nashville.
Jazmine Young led TSU in scoring with points while Jaden Wrightsell recorded her second straight double-double with 10 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.
MURRAY STATE 92, EASTERN ILLINOIS 87
MURRAY, Ky. - After Macie Gibson nailed a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, the Murray State women’s basketball team went eight-for-nine at the free throw line in the extra period to finish off Eastern Illinois, 92-87, at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
At the CFSB Center on Thursday night, the Murray State women’s basketball team battled till the overtime buzzer against Eastern Illinois to secure their 10th win of the season with a final score of 92-87. The win marks the second consecutive overtime victory over the Panthers, as Murray State defeated Eastern Illinois, 60-51, last season at home.
A slow start for the Racers turned into a back and forth scoring frenzy as Murray State outscored EIU, 26-12, at the end of the second quarter. However, the Panthers battled back to outscore Murray State, 25-13, to end the third quarter and take a one-point advantage into the fourth.
Down five with a minute to go in the fourth, Alexis Burpo weaved through defenders to grab a layup and cut EIU’s lead to three, 78-75. After the Panthers turned the ball over under their own goal, Murray State raced down the court with four seconds to go Macey Turley hit Macie Gibson who knocked down her second three of the night to tie the game at 78. In overtime, Murray State sealed the win by outscoring Eastern Illinois, 14-9, thanks, in part, to an 8-for-9 clip at the free throw line.
For the second time in as many games, the Racers had three players record double-doubles in the contest, becoming only the second Division I team this season, along with Cal, to accomplish the feat. In addition to the three double-doubles, two other players reached double figures to give the Racers five for the game.
Alexis Burpo led Murray State with 21 points and 10 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double third. Laci Hawthorne also had a double-double, notching her fourth of the season with 20 points and 13 boards. Gibson rounded out the three Racers with double-doubles on the night with 14 points and career-best 10 rebounds. Lex Mayes was 4-for-10 from 3-point range to end the night with 20 points, while Raegan Blackburn came off the bench to go 3-for-8 from beyond-the-arc to finish with 11.
Lariah Washington scored a career-high 35 points to lead Eastern Illinois.
AUSTIN PEAY 74, SIUE 61
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - IUE women's basketball shot a season-best 50 percent from the field for the game but couldn't overcome 11 Austin Peay three-pointers in a 74-61 road loss at the Winfield Dunn Center.
The Governors improved to 12-8 overall and 3-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference while the Cougars dropped to 1-8 in the OVC and 3-17 overall.
SIUE's Kaitlin Lee led the team in scoring for the third straight game. She pumped in 11 points and also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
The Cougars shot 24 of 48 from the field and 4 of 9 from three-point range. SIUE outrebounded Austin Peay 43-23, its biggest rebound margin of the season.
Austin Peay's Brandi Ferby came off the bench for a game-high 18 points and five assists. That included three of the Governors' 11 three-pointers. Ella Sawyer added 14 for the Governors. Six different Austin Peay players scored three-pointers.
SIUE was within four points at 63-59 with 3:57 to play in the fourth quarter when Austin Peay scored the next five points to go up by nine with 1:30 left.
Austin Peay also took advantage of SIUE miscues with 37 points off SIUE's 28 turnovers.