SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 69, Eastern Kentucky 53
@UT Martin 88, Eastern Illinois 64
@Southeast Missouri 80, SIUE 57
@Murray State 83, Morehead State 75
@Belmont 61, Jacksonville State 49
Tennessee Tech 81, @Tennessee State 69
AUSTIN PEAY 69, EASTERN KENTUCKY 53
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Three pointers and forced turnovers, that has been the recipe for success this season for Austin Peay State University women’s basketball, and it was once again; as the Governors connected 12 times from three-point range and forced 27 Eastern Kentucky turnovers en route to a 69-53 win, Saturday in the Dunn Center.
After both teams went scoreless for the first 2:06 of the contest, it was the three-ball that jump started the Austin Peay (15-10, 6-8) offense once again, as Brandi Ferby knocked down the first three of her team high 17 points to get the Govs started. Two possessions later, Ferby did it again, burying another triple to give the Governors a five-point advantage from which they would never look back.
After knocking down the first two three-pointers, Brandi Ferby found herself assisting on the next one, driving the lane before kicking to Ella Sawyer for a wide-open corner three. The Govs defense took care of things for the next five minutes, holding Eastern Kentucky to just nine points in the first quarter while building a five-point advantage.
With a three-point lead and 6:42 left before the half, the Governors went on their first run of the day – a 9-0 run that took all of 48 seconds. Sawyer started the run with a three-pointer, then the Govs forced a 10-second back court violation to get the ball back, then another three from Sawyer, and finally a Tahanee Bennell triple to cap off the run.
With less than two minutes in the first half, Kasey Kidwell got in on the three-point barrage, stretching the Governors lead to 15 – the biggest of the first half. Eastern Kentucky would score once more before the half, as the Govs carried a 13-point advantage into the break.
The second half started the same way as the first, a three-point from one of the Ferby Twins, but this time it was Brianah Ferby who found the range from deep. After assisting on the Brianah Ferby triple, Gonzalez-Varner stole the Eastern Kentucky inbound pass and hit a quick layup to give the Govs an 18-point lead.
After a pair of Colonel free throws, it was once again Brandi Ferby’s turn, as she drilled her third triple of the day to give the Governors a 19-point advantage – the biggest of the game. Over the next five minutes, Eastern Kentucky slow began to chip away at the Govs lead and with 1:15 left in the quarter they had trimmed the lead down to just 11.
As soon as the Colonels cut the lead to 11, Brandi Ferby stretched it back to 14. Ferby got the hoop and the harm, before converting an old-school three-point play to give the Governors a 54-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, it was Maggie Knowles who delivered the final dagger to Eastern Kentucky. Knowles recorded two of her career high five steals in the final ten minutes, before connecting on a pair of three-pointers – the second of which stretched the lead back to 19.
But it was Brandi Ferby who capped off the scoring for the Govs, making her fourth and final three of the day to wrap up a 16-point win and the Governors first back-to-back wins in Ohio Valley Conference play this season.
Eastern Kentucky's Teri Goodlett scored a team-high 15 points to go with three steals. Green posted 14 points and eight rebounds.
UT MARTIN 88, EASTERN ILLINOIS 64
MARTIN, Tenn. - Four players scored in double figures for the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team as the Skyhawks cruised past Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois 88-64 on Saturday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (16-9, 12-2 OVC) evened the season series against the visiting Panthers while retaining a share of first place in the league standings behind a strong effort on both ends of the floor. UT Martin shot 55.2 percent from the floor while limiting Eastern Illinois to 15 points or fewer in three of the four quarters.
UT Martin saw seven players score at least six points while four eclipsed double figures. Chelsey Perry scored a game-high 22 points while narrowly missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds. Kyannah Grant posted a new career-high with 18 points while knocking down four three-pointers to rank second on the squad. Rounding out the Skyhawks in double figures was the duo of Maddie Waldrop and Brittni Moore with 14 points each.
Eastern Illinois (15-10, 9-5 OVC) played well for stretches while dominating in the paint by scoring 34 points. Karle Pace led the Panthers with 16 points in the contest while Lariah Washington tallied 12 points to round out the squad in double-figures.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 80, SIUE 57
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Tesia Thompson scored a game-high 23 points as Southeast Missouri (20-5, 12-2) blew by SIU Edwardsville (3-22, 1-13), 80-57, Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 1,223 at the Show Me Center.
The win marked SEMO's 20th of the season. It is the Redhawks first 20-win season since 2007-08 (23-9).
SEMO stormed out to an 11-3 lead in the first 4:49 of the game. The Redhawks made layups on three of their possessions during that stretch which ended on a basket by Thompson.
SIUE answered with a 9-3 run of its own and pulled to within two (14-12) on Mikala Hall's jumper with 39 seconds left in the first quarter. SEMO, however, scored the final five points and Taelour Pruitt buried a 3-pointer as the opening quarter came to a close with the Redhawks ahead, 19-12.
Pruitt knocked down another 3-pointer on SEMO's first possession of the second quarter to extend the Redhawks lead to double-digits. The Redhawks went on to take a 35-23 advantage at the half.
SEMO scored nine of the first 13 points of the third quarter to increase its lead to 17. Pruitt buried a 3-pointer and Thompson, Shephard and Roshala Scott all scored to grab the Redhawks a 44-27 lead with a little over six minutes left.
The Redhawks led by as many as 29 (78-49) with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter before polishing off their 11th-straight win.
Thompson made 10-of-17 field goals and went 3-of-3 at the free throw line as one of four double-digit scorers for SEMO. Shephard followed with 19, Pruitt added 17 and Scott posted 11. Pruitt did not miss a 3-pointer going a perfect 5-of-5, while Sophie Bussard led the Redhawks with eight rebounds.
SEMO shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the field in the fourth quarter and 47.6 percent (30-of-63) for the game. The Redhawks also outrebounded SIUE, 40-27, and grabbed 16 offensive boards.
Hall led SIUE with 13 points off the bench.
MURRAY STATE 83, MOREHEAD STATE 75
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s basketball team kept its postseason hopes alive Saturday with a convincing 83-75 win over Morehead State at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. The win, paired with results from around the league Saturday, puts the Racers currently in eighth place in the league standings and on the right side of the cutoff line for the OVC tournament.
Down by one at the end of the third, Murray State shutdown the Eagles in the fourth limiting them to just 37.5-percent shooting and 15 points. Meanwhile, the Racers shot 53.8-percent in the final stanza and scored 24 points, while also winning the turnover battle at 5-1. With 3:06 left in the fourth, Raegan Blackburn came off the bench for Murray State and hit a dagger 3-pointer, her only points of the game, that swung the momentum to the Racers and virtually sealed the win.
Saturday’s win was as much of a team performance as one could ask for with all five starters scoring in double digits. Macey Turley led Murray State in the game with 23 points, to go along with eight assists and three rebounds, while Alexis Burpo notched her fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 boards. Laci Hawthorne also tallied a double-double in the game, as she also picked up her fifth of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Lex Mayes and Macie Gibson rounded out the Racers in double-figures at 15 and 14, respectively.
Junior guard Jazzmyn Elston topped Morehead State's Women's Basketball team with 23 points and also grabbed seven rebounds.
BELMONT 61, JACKSONVILLE STATE 49
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A combined 46 points from the senior duo of Ellie Harmeyer and Maddie Wright lifted the Belmont Bruins over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, 61-49, Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center.
Harmeyer posted a career-high tying 30 points and added 12 rebounds for her 18th double-double of the season. Wright chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds to extend Belmont's (17-8, 12-2 OVC) home winning streak to 19 games.
The Gamecocks (11-14, 7-7 OVC) were led in scoring by junior Taylor Hawks, who was the only Jacksonville State player in double-figure scoring with 12 points. Hawks added eight rebounds, while the Bruins held the Gamecocks to 24 percent shooting on the day.
TENNESSEE TECH 81, TENNESSEE STATE 69
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech snapped a three-game losing streak as it defeated Tennessee State, 81-69, on Saturday night. With the win the Golden Eagles improve to 17-8 overall and 10-4 in the OVC while the Lady Tigers fall to 3-21 overall and 1-13 in league play.
Tech had four players reach double-digits in points with Kesha Brady leading the way with 21. Brady hit four three-pointers to go with three rebounds and two steals. Akia Harris just missed a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Mackenzie Coleman scored 14 points while Anacia Wilkinson added 10.
Jazmine Young led TSU with a career-high 29 points while Taylor Roberts came off the bench to score 10 points.