SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 67, Morehead State 62
Eastern Kentucky 68, @SIUE 38
@UT Martin 86, Jacksonville State 72
@Southeast Missouri 87, Tennessee Tech 72
@Belmont 69, Austin Peay 46
@Tennessee State 96, Murray State 81
EASTERN ILLINOIS 67, MOREHEAD STATE 62
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panthers held on to defeat Morehead State with a big win on Saturday night. EIU fought through the tough defense of the Eagles and held on in overtime after a big three pointer by Jordyn Hughes. Eastern struggled at times, but Karle Pace kept them in it, much like the last game the two teams played. Pace ended with 27 points, with five coming in overtime to seal a Panther victory. The Panthers record moves up to 14-9 (8-4 OVC), while Morehead State falls to 9-15 (5-7 OVC).
The Panthers started off on fire in the first quarter. Pace put up 13 points and stripped the Eagles twice as EIU sat firmly in the drivers seat. The Panthers showed no signs of slowing down. Then came the second quarter. The Panthers and the Eagles went scoreless for six minutes before the Eagles went to the line and made a free throw. The Panthers were not so lucky, as they didn't score the entire quarter. Most teams would fold under such pressure, but the Panthers continued to battle, played good defense and prepared for the second half.
The Panthers returned to form in the third quarter; shooting 47% on the quarter and scoring 20 points to Morehead State's 12. The Panthers stormed back, with a 7 point quarter from Pace and 6 points from Morgan Litwiller. The Panthers continued to force the Eagles into tough shots and turnovers.
After the third, Eastern struggled from the field again. Additionally, the defense let Morehead State score much easier, and with some luck Morehead State had taken the lead. Pace found Lariah Washington cutting to the basket and put the ball in her hands for the game-tying basket. After a steal by Hughes, the Panthers called a timeout and wrote up a quick inbound play to Washington. Washington got the ball inside and shot, but came up just short as the Panthers and Eagles headed to overtime.
Ariel Kirkwood led Morehead State with 15 points and nine rebounds while Jazzmyn Elston had 14 and Ellie Jo Johnson added 13.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 68, SIUE 38
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Eastern Kentucky University used a 23-5 run in the third quarter to pull away in the Colonels 68-38, win over SIU Edwardsville on Saturday.
Teri Goodlett and Qay Stanton scored the first 15 points of the second half for Eastern to take a 40-27 lead over the Cougars with 4:50 remaining in the third quarter.
Stanton scored 11 of her 16 points in the third quarter.
The Colonels (9-14, 3-9 OVC) opened the game on an 8-0 run after a three-pointer by Samari Mowbray less than three minutes into the game.
SIU Edwardsville (3-20, 1-11) answered back and closed the first frame on a 7-0 run to cut into the Colonel lead 14-11, after one quarter of play.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter and the Colonels went into the locker room leading by one, 25-24.
Eastern closed the game on an 11-6 run to push its lead to 30 points.
The Colonels out-scored the Cougars 43-14 in the second half of play. Eastern forced 24 SIUE turnovers in the contest.
Eastern shot 42 percent from the field and 44 percent from the three-point line.
Goodlett posted a game-best 20 points and seven assists. Stanton chipped in 16 points and three steals. Four Colonels recorded double-digit points.
Allie Troeckler led SIUE with 12 points.
UT MARTIN 86, JACKSONVILLE STATE 72
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team overcame a sluggish start to the game before putting visiting Ohio Valley Conference foe Jacksonville State away late en route to an 86-72 victory.
The Skyhawks (15-8, 11-1 OVC) secured their fifth straight win overall and 12th consecutive victory against the Gamecocks by shooting 51.9 percent from the floor. UT Martin never trailed in the contest and held a lead as large as 19 points in a game which never seemed in doubt.
UT Martin saw four different players score in double figures for just the fourth time this season. Chelsey Perry tallied 27 points and seven rebounds in the contest while Maddie Waldrop was close behind with her second straight double-double posting 16 points and 11 rebounds. The guard tandem of Kyannah Grant and Tamiah Stanford joined the pair in double figures with 13 points each.
Jacksonville State (10-13, 6-6 OVC) struggled mightily in the first quarter offensively, scoring just nine points while shooting 26.7 percent from the field. After the rough opening period, the Gamecocks rallied by shooting well over 40 percent for the final three quarters while knocking down 12 three-pointers to stay within striking distance.
Yamia Johnson paced the Skyhawks with 32 points off the bench by knocking down 7-of-11 three-point attempts. Destiney Elliott also scored in double figures with 15 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 87, TENNESSEE TECH 72
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Tesia Thompson scored a season-high 28 points and had nine rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri (18-5, 10-2 OVC) to an 87-72 win over Tennessee Tech (16-7, 9-3 OVC) Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
SEMO handed TTU its largest loss of the season and took over sole possession of second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The win also marked the ninth-straight for the red-hot Redhawks.
The Redhawks presently have their highest standing in the OVC since 2007-08. That year the Redhawks won 12 in a row en route to winning the league's outright regular-season title.
SEMO came out on fire making eight-straight field goals in the opening minutes of the first quarter. Both teams combined for 56 points as the Redhawks took a 30-26 lead in the first quarter.
While the Redhawks started strong, so did TTU which did not miss a field goal either going into the first media timeout.
SEMO extended its lead to 47-32 at the half after outscoring the Golden Eagles, 17-6, in the second quarter.
After that, TTU couldn't recover and couldn't get within less than seven points as the Redhawks cruised to their 10th conference win.
Thompson shot 11-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 at the free throw line in 33 minutes. She also dished out four assists.
Carrie Shephard followed with 18 points, while Taelour Pruitt and LaTrese Saine added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Denisha Gardner pulled down 10 rebounds, as well. Shephard is just two 3-pointers away from breaking her own single-season record of 73 threes made.
Both Thompson and Shephard scored double figures in the first half.
SEMO outrebounded TTU, 44-28, for a +16 margin on the boards. The Redhawks shot a scorching 60.6 percent (20-of-33) from the field in the first half and finished up with a 50.7 percent (37-of-73) clip for the game. In addition, SEMO man-handled TTU, 50-24, inside the paint with 21 second chance points.
The Golden Eagles knocked down 12 three-pointers and were led by Maaliya Owens' 18 points.
BELMONT 69, AUSTIN PEAY 46
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Three players logged double-figure points to propel the Belmont Bruins past the Austin Peay Governors, 69-46, Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins extended their home winning streak to 17 games inside the Curb in their annual "Think Pink" matchup.
Junior Madison Treece led the Bruins (15-8, 10-2 OVC) with a career-high 13 points in 11 minutes on the court, while the senior tandem of Ellie Harmeyer and Maddie Wright posted 12 and 10 points respectively. Sophomore Jamilyn Kinney recorded a near double-double of nine points and a career-high tying nine assists.
Kinney also grabbed five rebounds, as Belmont dominated the boards by a 44-25 rebound margin, scored a season-high 34 bench points and shot 44 percent from the field.
No players registered double-digit points for the Governors (13-10, 4-8 OVC), as senior Nieja Crawford led with a team-best seven points. The Bruins held Austin Peay to 30 percent shooting from the floor on a 16-of-53 clip.
After three minutes of scoreless action to start the fourth quarter, Harmeyer knocked down a 3-pointer to spark a 10-0 run for Belmont. The Governors got on the board at the midway point of the period, but Kinney hit a trey the following possession to extend the Bruin lead to 13-2. Austin Peay cut down the deficit to seven points with less than a minute remaining in the quarter. However, sophomore Maddie Cook responded with a pull-up jumper to give Belmont a 19-10 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
It took the Bruins four minutes to score in the second quarter, but they went on to own the back half of the period. Starting at the 3:06 point, Belmont knocked down its last five shots of the half to notch a 13-3 run to end the quarter. The Bruins outscored the Governors 20-6 in the second period, with all of their points coming from the paint and the foul line. Belmont took a 39-16 lead into the halftime break.
At the half, the Bruins shot nearly 52 percent from the floor and nailed five shots from deep range. Kinney held a team-high nine points and seven assists after 20 minutes, as seven different players logged points.
Sophomore Conley Chinn opened the second half with a fastbreak layup off an outlet pass from Kinney. Wright nabbed four-straight points starting at the 6:27 point of the third quarter to give Belmont a 45-21 advantage. A pair of free throws from Treece and a 3-pointer from Chinn with under two minutes left boosted the Bruin lead to 58-29 going into the final quarter.
A fastbreak layup from freshman Cam Browning gave Belmont its largest lead of the game, as it took a 62-32 lead one minute into the fourth period. The Bruins would not score again until the five-minute mark courtesy of a jumpshot from Cook. Treece topped off the 69-46 victory with an and-1 with 30 second remaining.
In total, Belmont led for nearly 37 minutes of the contest, as eight different Bruins scored and 11 grabbed a rebound. Sophomore Allison Luly tallied five rebounds and an assist in her first-career start. The group of senior Maura Muensterman, Chinn, Browning and Cook each racked up five or more points on the afternoon.
TENNESSEE STATE 96, MURRAY STATE 81
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Five players scored in double-digits as the Tennessee State University women’s basketball team picked up an impressive, 96-81, win over Murray State Saturday night in the Gentry Center.
The win snapped a 12-game losing skid and earned TSU its first league win of the season.
The game was a tightly contested battle that saw several lead changes in the first half. Towards the end of the second quarter, TSU used three straight steals and scores to capture a six point lead at the break.
In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers were clicking on all cylinders. They used a 13-3 run to grab a 58-41 advantage and never relinquished the lead.
Jaden Wrightsell led TSU with a double-double of 29 points and 12 rebounds to go with six steals and three assists. Jazmine Young and Deaja Richardson each tallied 22 points while Taylor Roberts (11) and Andreana Wrister (10) also scored in double-digits. Richardson also dished out seven assists.
Murray State had four players reach double-digits led by Alexis Burpo’s 22 points. Raegan Blackburn had 16 while Macey Turley (15) and Lex Mayes (14) rounded out the top scorers.