THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 66, Eastern Kentucky 65
@Belmont 68, Tennessee Tech 52
@Southeast Missouri 72, Eastern Illinois 56
@UT Martin 75, SIUE 58
Jacksonville State 63, @Tennessee State 45
@Austin Peay 70, Morehead State 65
MURRAY STATE 66, EASTERN KENTUCKY 65
MURRAY, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s women’s basketball team scored the first six points of the game and had a 12-point advantage at the end of the first quarter, but couldn’t hold off a Murray State University comeback in a 66-65 loss on Thursday.
Teri Goodlett and I’Liyah Green combined to give EKU (10-18, 4-13 OVC) a 6-0 lead. A three-pointer by Goodlett and a basket from De’Ayra Davis put the Colonels in front 15-8. Eastern scored the final seven points of the first quarter and had a 22-10 advantage at the first break.
Murray State (14-14, 7-10 OVC) scored the first seven points of the second quarter and began the frame with a 16-4 run. A jumper from Ashley Hunter with 2:46 left in the period tied the game 26-26 for the Racers. EKU had a one-point lead, 32-31, at halftime.
The game remained close throughout the second half with neither team leading by more than four points. The Colonels continued to lead by one, 47-46, at the end of the third quarter.
With the game tied at 60-60 in the fourth, Alexis Burpo hit a free throw with 2:30 to go and Raegan Blackburn made a three-pointer at the 1:41 mark to stretch the home team’s lead to four again. Catie Kaifes answered with a three-pointer to get within one and then a Bria Bass lay-up put Eastern in front by one, 65-64, with 22 seconds to play. Burpo connected on a lay-up at the other end with 10 seconds remaining to put the Racers up one.
Eastern missed a pair of shots in the final four seconds.
Goodlett led EKU with 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, including 4-of-7 from long range. Bass finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Kaifes added 13 points and six boards.
Burpo led all players with 21 points for Murray State. The Racers shot 46 percent from the field and went 6-for-9 from three-point distance. Eastern Kentucky out-rebounded MSU 38-31, but shot 39 percent.
BELMONT 68, TENNESSEE TECH 52
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A 13-3 run in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter pushed the Belmont Bruins past the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 68-52, on Senior Night in the Curb Event Center Thursday.
With the victory, the Bruins (20-8, 15-2 OVC) extended their home winning streak to 20 games, as they finished the 2019-20 season with an undefeated 13-0 record in the Curb.
Senior Ellie Harmeyer fueled the Bruins with her 21st double-double of the year with 18 points and 18 rebounds, as fellow senior Maura Muensterman added 15 points, five rebounds and three assists on the night. Sophomore Jamilyn Kinney logged a career-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep range, while sophomore Maddie Cook dished out a team-high and career-best nine assists.
Belmont, who led for over 38 minutes of the contest, logged 30 points in the paint for the third time in the last four games and outrebounded the Golden Eagles by a 50-30 margin.
Tennessee Tech (17-11, 10-7 OVC) was led by junior Mackenzie Coleman, who registered a team-best 18 points and six rebounds on a 7-of-9 clip from the field.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72, EASTERN ILLINOIS 56
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Tesia Thompson scored 24 points and Southeast Missouri (22-6, 14-3) claimed one of the top three seeds in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 72-56 win over Eastern Illinois (17-11, 11-6) Thursday.
SEMO put the finishing touches on a 12-1 record at the Show Me Center this season.
The Redhawks set the tone by going on a 13-0 run in the opening quarter to take a 24-11 lead and EIU didn't recover.
SEMO pushed its lead to 17 with 8:33 remaining in the first half before EIU used an 11-0 run to pull within six (32-26) at the half.
The Redhawks won the second half, 40-30, to polish off their 22ndwin of the year.
Thompson scored 20 or more points for the seventh consecutive game and posted her 24thdouble-digit scoring game.
Along with Thompson, Carrie Shephard (17) and Jessie Harshberger (13) also recorded double figures in the scoring column.
The Redhawks outrebounded the Panthers, 41-23.
Karle Pace led the Panthers with 16 points and three assists.
UT MARTIN 75, SIUE 58
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team used a balanced effort to keep its Ohio Valley Conference championship hopes in its own hands with a 75-58 victory over SIUE in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (19-9, 15-2 OVC) used the win to remain tied atop the OVC standings with one game to play. UT Martin took care of the ball with just eight turnovers while tallying 13 steals on the other end while forcing 17 turnovers.
UT Martin boasted a balanced scoring effort with four players in double figures. Maddie Waldrop led all scorers with 21 points, tallying her third 20-point performance this season. Chelsey Perry joined in the action with 18 points and seven rebounds while Dasia Young (13) and Brittni Moore (10) both scored in double figures.
SIUE (3-25, 1-16) saw its losing streak reach 15 games in the contest. The Cougars posted two players in double figures with Kaitlin Lee and Allie Troeckler scoring 12 points each.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 63, TENNESSEE STATE 45
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jacksonville State's women's basketball team used a 27-4 second-half run to propel itself back to the lead and on to its seventh-straight win over Tennessee State on Thursday evening.
Trying to improve its postseason seeding, JSU (13-15, 9-8 Ohio Valley Conference) outscored the host Lady Tigers (4-23, 2-15 OVC) by 38-15 overall in the final 20 minutes of the contest. The 63-45 win moves JSU one game behind Tennessee Tech, who Jax State hosts for senior day on Saturday. A win in the regular season finale would secure JSU the fifth seed in next week's OVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind., with a 10-8 league record.
Graduate Destiney Elliott led the Gamecock scoring with 18 points, while junior Kiana Johnson pitched in 10 to also reach double digits. Jax State dominated the boards with 61 total rebounds for the most in a single-game since collecting that same number against Charleston Southern on December 19, 2014. Redshirt-junior Jessie Day led the way with a career-best 17 rebounds for the most boards by a Gamecocks since Rayven Pearson grabbed 18 at Georgia State two seasons ago.
The Gamecocks jumped out to a quick 10-4 after Johnson's driving layup with just over five minutes to play in the first forced a timeout by the Lady Tigers. TSU would climb back to within two by the end of the opening period at 16-14, and regained the lead at 24-23 in the midst of an 11-2 run that sent the home team to the half up by five.
TSU scored the first two buckets of the second half to grab its largest lead of the night at 34-25, before a jumper by Elliott sparked JSU's big second-half rally. JSU completed the climb back with a floating hook shot from Long to even the score at 38, just moments before Johnson turned a steal into a run-out layup to put the Gamecocks back on top.
After the nine-point deficit early in the period, JSU strung together a 24-4 run the rest of the quarter, punctuated with Yamia Johnson's steal and Elliott's buzzer-beating three-pointer in the final seconds to send JSU to the fourth up 49-38. In total, it would become a 27-4 run for JSU into the fourth before TSU scored its first points in more than eight minutes of game time.
The lead grew to as many as 21 for the Gamecocks during the final stanza, before clinching the 63-45 victory at the Gentry Center.
Tennessee State's Jaden Wrightsell recorded 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead the team. Deaja Richardson added 10 points.
AUSTIN PEAY 70, MOREHEAD STATE 65
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay defeated visting Morehead State, 70-65, on Thursday night. With the win the Governors improved to 17-11 overall and 8-9 in OVC play while the Eagles fell to 10-19 overall and 6-11 in league action.
Austin Peay's Ella Sawyer scored a game-high 21 points, going 8-for-13 from the floor. Brandi Ferby had 12 points while Nieja Crawford added 10.
Morehead State had four players reach double digits in points with Jazzmyn Elston leading the way with a game-high 21 poinots. Elston hit a trio of three pointers in the win. Ariel Kirkwood notched a double-double with 16 points and 11 points. Ellie Johnson and Breuna Jackson each had 10 points.