THURSDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 79, @SIUE 62
@Eastern Illinois 66, Murray State 46
Belmont 63, @Morehead State 56
Tennessee State 67, @Eastern Kentucky 64
@Jacksonville State 72, Southeast Missouri 51
UT Martin 86, @Tennessee Tech 65
AUSTIN PEAY 79, SIUE 62
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.- For the second time this season, Austin Peay State University women's basketball led wire-to-wire in an Education Day game; with six players scoring in double-figures, the Governors rolled to a 79-62 win over SIU Edwardsville, Thursday at the Vadalabene Center, as the Govs posted their third-straight win in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The early tip did not seem to be a problem for Austin Peay (16-10, 7-8), who came out red-hot in another Education Day game. After controlling the opening tip, Ella Sawyer found a wide-open Maggie Knowles in the corner, who drilled a three-pointer to give the Govs a lead that they would not relinquish for the next 40 minutes.
After a three minutes of scoreless basketball, Sawyer got the Govs back on the board with a three-pointer of her own. With 6:33 left in the first quarter, SIU Edwardsville (3-23, 1-14) finally got on the scoreboard, but the Governors answered the Cougars with their third-straight three-pointer, this one coming from Brianah Ferby.
With 5:23 left, D’Shara Booker scored on three-straight possessions for the Govs to build the first quarter lead to 10 points for the first time. But a 6-0 run from the Cougars cut the Govs 10-point advantage to just four, before another triple from Knowles ended SIUE’s biggest run of the first half. With 33 seconds left in the quarter, Knowles connected on her third triple of the day to give the Govs a five-point advantage at the end of the first frame.
Booker kicked off the second quarter for the Govs, scoring two of her 10 first half points on a turnaround jumper. With 6:52 left in the quarter, Arielle Gonzalez-Varner pulled down an offensive rebound, and hit a layup to give the Govs an 11-point lead – their biggest of the day so far.
After a steal by Gonzalez-Varner on the other end, Brandi Ferby found Shay-Lee Kirby on the wing, where she knocked down one of the Governors six first-half triples to extend the lead to 14. With 2:08 left before the half, the Governors built their biggest lead of the first half when Gonzalez-Varner jumped a passing lane and went coast-to-coast for a layup to put the Govs up 19.
But the Cougars closed out the half with four points to trim the Governors advantage to 15 at the break.
The third quarter was the closest of the day, with the Govs and Cougars going back-and-fourth for ten minutes. An Allie Troeckler layup with 1:24 brought the Cougars within a dozen points of the Govs, but a pair of layups, the first of which gave Brandi Ferby ten points in the contest, closed out the quarter and pushed the Govs lead back to 16 points.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, a three-pointer from Kirby made her the made her the third Governor in double-figures and pushed the lead to over 20 for the first time in the contest. Following another SIUE bucket from Troeckler, Sawyer became the fourth Gov in double-figures, connecting on a jumper from the elbow to give her 11 points in the contest.
On the Govs next offensive possession, Gonzalez-Varner pulled down an offensive board, kicked to Brandi Ferby, who then got it back to Gonzalez-Varner for a layup to become the fifth Governor in double-figures.
With 5:46 left in the game, Knowles became the sixth Gov to score in double-figures, drilling her fourth three-pointer of the day after Brianah Ferby grabbed an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive. With 3:51 left in the contest, Sawyer’s five assist of the day found Kasey Kidwell for a three-pointer, stretching the Govs lead to 24 – the biggest of the game.
SIUE outscored Austin Peay 11-4 over the final 3:50 of the game; but it was too little, too late for the Cougars, as the Governors extended their winning streak to three games for the first time in OVC play this season.
Mikala Hall scored a career-best 18 points to lead SIUE.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 66, MURRAY STATE 46
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The women's basketball team nabbed a spot in the OVC tournament with a 66-46 victory over Murray State Thursday. This is the first time since the 2014-15 season that EIU has played in the OVC tournament. Taylor Steele led all scorers with a season-high 17 points to go along with her four rebounds and two steals. The Panthers pushed the Racers to their limits on offense, as Murray State shot 30% from the field. The Panthers record sits at 16-10 (10-5 OVC), while Murray State drops to 12-14 (5-10 OVC).
The Panthers struggled at the start of the game with Eastern only managing to score eight points through the quarter. Despite the struggles, EIU still kept the Racers humble, as they shot 37.5% on the quarter. The Panthers as a whole had a hard time getting their feet of the ground. Steele scored 5 points in the quarter, and Lariah Washington hit a three to keep Eastern in the game, but the team still couldn't get off the ground. Murray State's Alexis Burpo scored 11 points in the quarter and Laci Hawthorne wrangled in five rebounds to keep the Panthers down. Murray State led 14-8.
Eastern turned it around in the second quarter completely; scoring 24 and holding Murray State to 9 points. The entire offense stepped up as Abby Wahl and Morgan Litwiller each scored 5 points a piece. The Panthers still struggled to keep Hawthorne off the boards, but EIU continued to dominate on offense. The Panthers shot a blistering 53% from the field in the second quarter, and slowed the Racers offense to a halt; as they shot 27%. Taylor Steele continued to be a statement player going into halftime with 11 points. Panthers pulled ahead 32-23 going into halftime.
The Panthers came out of the break ready to roll. The offense continued to turn defense into offense; scoring 13 points off of Racers turnovers. Wahl continued to dig in and put up points down low. Wahl netted 9 points by the end of the third quarter. Hawthorne had already come down with a double-double, but her efforts were falling short as Eastern was holding their lead. Panthers led going into the final quarter 46-35.
Karle Pace returned to for as she nailed a three to push the lead to a greater margin. Pace ended with 14 points, 8 of which came in the fourth quarter. Steele continued her success as well; putting up 6 points in the fourth. Washington and Wahl each finished up the game in double-digits with 11 points a pop, and Kira Arthofer put up eight assists for the second time in a month. The Panthers outscored the Racers 20-11 in the final quarter and punched their ticket to the postseason OVC tournament. Panthers won 66-46.
Alexis Burpo led Murray State with 15 points and 11 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double and sixth on the season, while Laci Hawthorne also notched her sixth double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Macie Gibson was 2-for-5 from 3-point range in the game to end the night with 13 points.
BELMONT 63, MOREHEAD STATE 56
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Three players in double-figure scoring helped the Belmont Bruins to a 63-56 road victory over the Morehead State Eagles Thursday evening at Johnson Arena.
Senior Ellie Harmeyer fueled the Bruins (18-8, 13-2 OVC) with her 19th double-double of the year, as she finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds. The OVC Player of the Week also shot an impressive 16-for-17 clip from the foul line.
Sophomore Jamilyn Kinney added 12 points and three assists, while junior Madison Treece chipped in 10 points and three rebounds. Overall, Belmont held the Eagles (9-18, 5-10 OVC) to 35 percent shooting from the field and led by a 44-36 margin on the boards.
Junior Jazzymn Elston registered a team-high 11 points for Morehead State,a while senior Breuna Jackson and freshman Ariel Kirkwood tallied 10 points apiece.
Sophomore Allison Luly scored four points out of the gate to give the Bruins a 7-3 lead in the first three minutes of the first quarter. A 3-pointer from Kinney extended the Belmont lead to 11-5 with 5:14 left in the period. The Eagles responded with an 8-0 over the next three minutes, but Kinney struck again on a fastbreak to knot the game up at 13-13. Kinney nailed a pair of free throws with one minute remaining, but Morehead State still took a 20-15 lead into the second quarter.
Freshman Cam Browning opened the second period with a paint layup at the 9:37 mark, as the Bruins held the Eagles scoreless through the first three minutes of the quarter. Belmont was unable to gain traction until the halfway mark of the period, when four-straight points from Treece put the Bruins within one possession of the lead. A pair of free throws and a 3-pointerfrom Harmeyer on consecutive possession regained the lead for Belmont, 31-28 with 35 seconds left in the half. Morehead State scored in the final seconds of the second quarter, but the Bruins held a 31-30 advantage going into the half.
At halftime, Kinney and Harmeyer combined for 16 points as Belmont held a 21-18 advantage on the boards. The Bruins held the Eagles to 38 percent shooting, but only shot 40 percent themselves. Treece chipped in five points from the bench through 20 minutes of play.
Senior Maura Muensterman capped off a small 5-0 run for the Bruins early in the second half with a 3-pointer at the 7:19 mark. An and-one from Harmeyer one minute later gifted Belmont a 38-32 advantage. Morehead State narrowed its deficit with a fastbreak layup with 2:29 remaining. Harmeyer answered with four-consecutive free throws, while the Bruins took a 46-37 lead to the final period.
A deep range 3-pointer from Kinney at the 8:15 mark of the fourth quarter boosted the Belmont advantage to 51-39. Both teams traded buckets to finish out the game, as Harmeyer and Treece combined for all but three of the Bruins' fourth-quarter points. Harmeyer put the game on ice with seven-straight free throws made in the final five minutes of the game. The Eagles hit two free throws in the last minute of the period, but Belmont still tallied the 63-56 road win.
TENNESSEE STATE 67, EASTERN KENTUCKY 64
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team picked up a hard-fought, 67-64, win over Eastern Kentucky Thursday night in McBrayer Arena.
After shaking off a slow start, TSU battled EKU for the entire game. The Lady Tigers trailed by one at halftime and managed to take their first lead of the game in the third quarter. TSU led for most of the third period but EKU closed the frame with an 8-0 run to regain the advantage.
Tennessee State stayed close but played from behind for most of the fourth quarter until a late rally pulled the Lady Tigers even, 59-59, with less than four minutes to play.
Timely plays down the stretch led to the Lady Tigers securing a 66-64 lead with 19.7 seconds remaining and the Colonels were forced to foul. After a free-throw increased TSU’s advantage to, 67-64, the Lady Tigers got a big stop on the other end to seal the win.
Jazmine Young led TSU with 23 points while Jaden Wrightsell notched her fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Deaja Richardson finished the game with 11 points and Jasmine Broner tallied seven rebounds, two blocks, two points, one assist and one steal.
Eastern Kentucky was led by Teri Goodlett’s 19 points while Bria Bass registered 13 points and nine rebounds.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 72, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 51
JACKSONVVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State women's basketball team avenged its worst conference loss of the season on Thursday, pounding Southeast Missouri, 72-51, inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.
It was the second-straight matchup for JSU (12-14, 8-7 Ohio Valley Conference) against a team sitting with a share of the lead in the conference standings. After the RedHawks (20-6, 12-3 OVC) defeated JSU by 27 earlier in the month in Cape Girardeau, Mo., the Gamecocks answered the bell with a 21-point victory of their own. The only team in the league with 20 overall wins, SEMO's offense was averaging 74.2 points per game prior to being held to the second-fewest points all season on Thursday.
A trio of Gamecocks reached double figures led by sophomore Yamia Johnson who finished with 16 after scoring 14 in the second half, shooting perfect from the field and 3-of-4 from the stripe. Graduate Destiney Elliott tallied 14 points, while junior Taylor Hawks added 13 in her 45th career double-digit game. Those three hit eight of JSU's 12 three-pointers on the night as Jax State continues to extend its new program mark for treys in a single season.
The first three came from Hawks two minutes into the contest to make it 6-0. Redshirt-senior Chloe Long, who paced JSU with eight rebounds and five assists, added a bucket later on to make it 10-0, and capped the opening run with a free throw before SEMO ever scored.
An 11-0 start was 15-8 after the first period, but a 9-0 JSU run to begin the second quickly made it a 24-8 contest after triples by McKenna Lawrence and Nekiyah Thompson. The lead was almost the same at the halftime break, but a RedHawk three just before the horn cut it to 11 at 28-17.
The barrage of deep shots was just getting started for JSU as Johnson was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the third as JSU hit seven of its nine attempts total as a team in the period to extend the lead to 26. In the fourth, JSU conservatively kept its lead intact as SEMO was allowed to breakthrough for its best offensive quarter.
JSU's 72-51 win tie for the most points scored against a Division I opponent this year (Florida A&M), and are the most in league play since last season's pink-out game against Tennessee State on Feb. 16 that saw JSU win 76-73 in overtime.
SEMO's Tesia Thompson led her team with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while no other RedHawk reached double figures.
UT MARTIN 86, TENNESSEE TECH 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball began its final road swing of the regular season on the right foot with a convincing 86-65 road victory at Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech on Thursday night in the Eblen Center.
The Skyhawks (17-9, 13-2 OVC) proved dynamic in several phases of the game while finding contributions throughout the roster. UT Martin shot 55.8 percent from the floor while winning the battle of the boards convincingly and placing four players in double figures. With the win, the Skyhawks remain tied for first place in the OVC standings.
UT Martin jumped out to an early 9-0 lead before watching the team’s margin cut to just two points heading into the second. Tennessee Tech built a nine-point run of its own to take a lead as large as five points in the second quarter before the Skyhawks rattled off a 20-0 run to close out the first half and never look back.
Despite sitting for most of the third quarter and part of the fourth with foul trouble, junior forward Chelsey Perry still managed to score around her season average with 22 points in 27 minutes. Stepping up in her absence was fellow junior forward Maddie Waldrop who posted her second double-double against Tech this season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Joining the post duo in double figures was the sophomore pair of Kyannah Grant (17 points) and Brittni Moore (12 points).
Tennessee Tech (17-9, 10-5 OVC) dropped its fourth game in the last five contests with tonight’s decision. The Golden Eagles struggled to shoot from the floor, shooting just 39.6 percent for the game. TTU would place three players in double figures as Maaliya Owens paced the squad with 15 points off the bench while Mackenzie Coleman (14 points) and Abby Buckner (11 points) also scored in double figures.