SATURDAY'S SCORES
Southeast Missouri 60, @Eastern Kentucky 44
UT Martin 81, @Morehead State 64
@Jacksonville State 60, Belmont 41
Eastern Illinois 76, @Austin Peay 47
@Murray State 74, SIUE 60
@Tennessee Tech 88, Tennessee State 47
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 60, EASTERN KENTUCKY 44
RICHMOND, Ky. - Despite a slow first quarter, Southeast Missouri (16-5, 8-2) regrouped to power pass Eastern Kentucky (8-13, 2-8), 60-44, Saturday afternoon at McBrayer Arena.
SEMO trailed, 12-6, after the first quarter before scoring seven-straight points to open the second quarter and took the lead on Carrie Shephard's 3-pointer with 8:31 left to play. That stretch led to the Redhawks outscoring the Colonels, 20-9, ad they headed into the locker room with a 26-21 advantage.
After EKU pulled to within three at 28-25 in the third quarter, SEMO put together an 18-4 run that carried into the final period and the Colonels never recovered. Jocelyn Taylor's jumper in the paint stretched the Redhawks lead to 46-29 with 7:44 left to play.
The Redhawks led by as many as 19 (58-39) when Denisha Gardener scored a layup at the 2:37 mark.
Tesia Thompson contributed her third-consecutive double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Thompson also added four assists and went a near-perfect 9-of-10 at the free throw line.
Taylor followed with 12 points and tied a season-high three steals, while Gardener pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds.
Freshman I'Liyah Green recorded her fourth double-double of the season to lead the Colonels with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
SEMO's seven-game winning streak is its longest since 2007-08 (12 games).
UT MARTIN 81, MOREHAED STATE 64
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team put an exclamation point on a strong road trip with a decisive 82-64 road victory at Ohio Valley Conference foe Morehead State on Saturday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (13-8, 9-1 OVC) picked up their first road win at Morehead State since 2016 behind a strong shooting night and impressive individual performances. After trailing heading into the second quarter, UT Martin strung together an 8-0 run and never looked back by stretching the team’s margin out to as high as 25 points in the fourth quarter.
UT Martin shot 53.6 percent from the field while making 17-of-19 free throw attempts. The Skyhawks also forced 20 turnovers which led to 27 points while recording 13 steals.
Leading the way for the Skyhawks was the play of junior forward Maddie Waldrop who scored a career-high 26 points while tallying nine rebounds in the victory. Junior guard Tamiah Stanford chipped in 17 points and five assists off the bench while forward Chelsey Perry scored 14 points in just 24 minutes of action.
Morehead State (8-14, 4-6 OVC) shot 43.9 percent from the field while winning the battle of the board. Two different Eagles scored in double figures led by Tomiyah Alford with 17 points and nine rebounds while Ellie Joe Johnson tallied 16 points and six rebounds in the setback.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 60, BELMONT 41
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team stunned first-place Belmont with a 19-point victory over the Bruins on Saturday afternoon.
Jax State (10-11, 6-4 Ohio Valley Conference) put its trademark defense on full display in front of one of the hottest shooting teams in the OVC. The Bruins (13-8, 8-2 Ohio Valley Conference) entered Saturday's contest fresh off a win over previously unbeaten Tennessee Tech in league play to move into a tie for the top spot in the conference standings.
Head coach Rick Pietri has now won 100 games at the helm of the Gamecock program, but few came with such a dominating statement. JSU not only snapped a string of 12-straight losses to Belmont, but also handed BU its worse OVC loss since January 11, 2014 (UT Martin) in the process. Along with his time at South Alabama, Pietri is now one of 33 Division I women's basketball head coaches with 200 wins at one program and at least 100 at another.
Junior Taylor Hawks paced the offense with 15 points and assisted on five other JSU baskets. Destiney Sophomore Yamia Johns also reached double figures with 13 points to mark her highest mark in a game since November, while Destiney Elliott rounded out the top producers with 10 points. On the glass, Chloe Long and Jessie Day recorded 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively, while JSU tied its season high with 51 team boards.
The marquee win started with a layup by the Bruins in the first 10 seconds of the game for the opening 2-0 lead, but the Gamecocks would take a stand from that point. Hawks and Elliott buried the first of nine JSU three-pointers to open a 10-3 advantage and force an early BU timeout.
JSU's league-leading scoring defense shut down the Bruin attack, especially from the outside where JSU is one of the top three-point defenses in the nation. Belmont opened the game just 4-of-23 from the floor, and 0-for-10 from deep, as the Gamecocks led 20-12 midway through the second period. The Bruins cut it to three with a minute left at 20-17, but a triple and then long jumper by McKenna Larence added five points for Jax State before the half.
A 7-0 run for JSU to open the second half forced another quick Belmont timeout with the Gamecock up 32-17 as the momentum began to build inside Pete Mathews Coliseum. Yamia Johnson's first of back-to-back corner threes doubled up the scoreboard with JSU on top 40-20 nearing the end of the quarter.
In the fourth, an early deep ball from Lawrence brought a roar as JSU moved out to a 50-25 lead. The Bruins locked down for a 10-0 run over the next three minutes, but as time slipped away it would be as close as the visitors would get.
A breakaway layin Elliott in the final minute sealed the deal as the Gamecocks closed out the triumphant 60-41 decision.
Belmont was led by Ellie Harmeyer, who posted her sixth-straight double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Harmeyer also added three assists and a blocked shot on the day.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 76, AUSTIN PEAY 47
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Panthers were dominant in today's game against Austin Peay. The Governors couldn't handle the offensive onslaught that Eastern brought to the table today. On defense EIU forced 17 turnovers and held their leading scorer Gonzalez-Varner to only 8 points. The Panthers record moves up to 12-9 (6-4 OVC), while the Austin Peay falls to 12-9 (3-7 OVC).
The Panthers started off the game hot; shooting 61.5% from the field. Lariah Washington picked up right were she left, scoring 9 points off perfect shooting in the first quarter. The Panthers defense shut Austin Peay; shooting an abysmal 20% and scoring only 6 points on the quarter. Panthers led 22-6.
EIU continued to hold the Governors to weak shooting, as they scored 13 on the quarter shooting 31%. The Panthers shooting percentage dropped from the incredible percentage to 43%, but still scored 22 points in the quarter. Abby Wahl and Jordyn Hughes scored 5 points a piece, leading the Panthers in scoring. EIU led 44-19 going into halftime.
The Panthers slowed down in the third quarter only scoring 13 points, but Austin Peay continued to struggle with the Panthers strong defense. The Governors only scored 13 points as well, but the Panthers strong first half kept them firmly in the drivers seat. Litwiller and Wahl scored 5 in the third leading the Panthers.
Pace led the Panthers in scoring in the final quarter with 7 points, bringing her total to 19 points. The Panthers scored 19 in the final quarter and stayed dominant.
Shay-Lee Kirby led Austin Peay with 11 points while Tahanee Bennell had 10.
MURRAY STATE 74, SIUE 60
MURRAY, Ky. - Three SIUE women's basketball freshmen scored in double figures Saturday but the Cougars dropped a 74-60 contest at Murray State in the CFSB Center.
SIUE, 3-18 overall and 1-9 in the Ohio Valley Conference, fell behind 10-0 in the opening 3 1/2 minutes of play and worked from behind the whole game. The Cougars would cut the lead to one 26-25 on a Mikayla Kinnard layup off a Murray State turnover with 4:59 left in the second period.
Kinnard finished the game as SIUE's leading scorer with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.
Kaitlin Lee, a redshirt freshman, scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, compiling 12 points and missing a second double-double by a single rebound. Tori Handley scored 11 points, including all three SIUE three-pointers.
Murray State, 11-10 overall and 4-6 in the OVC, had four players in double figures led by 29 from Macey Turley.
Alexis Burpo scored a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Lex Mayes and Macie Gibson added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
SIUE's bench was strong, outscoring Murray State 31-2. The Cougars also outshot the Racers from the field (40.7-40.3 percent), but Murray State conected on eight three-pointers. Murray State also grabbed the advantage on the boards 42-33.
TENNESSEE TECH 88, TENNESSEE STATE 47
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Another strong start was not enough as Tennessee State fell to Tennessee Tech, 88-47, Saturday evening in the Eblen Center.
TSU (2-18, 0-10 OVC) played a solid first 10-minutes but only managed to score eight points in the second period. The Lady Tigers were not able to climb out of the hole.
Jazmine Young led TSU in scoring with 14 points while Jaden Wrightsell posted her third consecutive double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jasmine Broner pulled down eight rebounds.
Tennessee Tech (16-5, 9-1 OVC) had four players to score in double-digits with Mackenzie Coleman leading the way with 18. Maaliya Owens had 15 points while Megan Clark hit four three pointers for 12 points. Kesha Brady added 11.