SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 68, Austin Peay 56
@SIUE 94, Morehead State 77
Murray State 86, @Southeast Missouri 54
@Belmont 82, Tennessee State 44
@Tennessee Tech 61, UT Martin 51
EASTERN ILLINOS 68, AUSTIN PEAY 56
CHARLESTON, Ill. - On an afternoon in which the team honored seniors Kira Arthofer, Jordyn Hughes, and Abby Wahl, Eastern Illinois women's basketball defeated the Austin Peay Governors 68-56. With the win, the Panthers wrap up the regular season with an overall mark of 16-13 and an Ohio Valley Conference record of 11-7.
The Panthers came roaring out of the starting gate, jumping out to a 9-0 lead behind seven early points from Lariah Washington. The Governors scored their first points of the game with 4:38 to go in the first quarter, but EIU responded with a Wahl layup followed by two Taris Thornton free throws to extend the lead to 13-2. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the period, with EIU scoring on another Wahl layup at the buzzer to take an 18-7 lead after one quarter of action. Wahl picked up right where she left off, scoring the first bucket of the second quarter to extend the Panther lead to 20-7. Peay would then use an 8-2 run to pull back to within 22-15 before five straight Julia Bengtson points widened the gap back to 12. With EIU up 30-19 in the waning seconds of the first half, Austin Peay's Yamia Johnson would hit a three-pointer to cut the Panther lead to 30-22 at halftime.
Peay would continue to fight back in the third quarter, pulling to within a point at 37-36 with 5:43 to go in the period. After an Arthofer layup, two APSU free throws would again cut the lead to 1, but the Panthers never allowed the Governors to get over the hump, as an 8-0 run highlighted by four more Washington points stretched the lead to 47-38. Peay continued to make shots, but the Panthers matched them stride for stride, ending the third period with a 51-43 lead. After a 5-2 Peay spurt cut the lead to 53-48 early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers put the game on ice with a 13-1 run highlighted by six straight points from Wahl that gave them their largest lead of the game at 66-49 with 2:18 remaining. Austin Peay ended the game on a 7-2 run, but it was too little too late, as the Panthers triumphed by 12.
Wahl and Washington were the stars of the night, each finishing with 20 points. Washington reached that number on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, while Wahl also grabbed a team-high six rebounds and blocked a shot. Arthofer continued to show her ability to distribute, as she dished out a season-high 10 assists for the fourth double-digit assist game of her career. She also recorded seven points, four rebounds, four steals, and a block.
The freshmen were a factor yet again, as Bengtson scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting and Thornton scored five points at the free throw line to go along with four steals, three rebounds, and her team-leading 13th blocked shot of the season. Morgan Litwiller contributed with five points and four rebounds while Hughes scored two points and recorded three rebounds.
Austin Peay's Yamia Johnson led all players with 26 points
SIUE 94, MOREHEAD STATE 77
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE spread the wealth offensively and rolled Saturday to a 94-77 triumph over Morehead State in the Senior Day game at First Community Arena.
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SIUE Head Coach Samantha Quigley Smith talked after the game about how important the eight seniors (Mikia Keith, Gabby Nikitinaite, Mikala Hall, Allie Troeckler, Prima Chellis, Madison Hackstadt, Masyn McWilliams and Kelsie Williams) have been to the
SIUE's seniors led the way in the final home game of the season with 18 from Keith, 17 from Nikitinaite and 15 from Hall.
That more than doubled the previous season high for Hall.
Morehead State ended the season 1-27 and 0-18 in the OVC. Julan McDonald led the Eagles in scoring with 24 points.
Saturday's win lifted SIUE to a 12-17 record overall and an 8-10 mark in the OVC.
The Cougars used a big push from its bench, which scored 49 of the team's season-high 94 points. SIUE shot 31 of 75 from the field and 11 of 25 from three
MURRAY STATE 86, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 54
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Murray State women’s basketball team closed out its 2021-22 regular-season with an emphatic 86-54-win over Southeast Missouri, Saturday afternoon at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
Southeast Missouri hit a three to start the game, but that was its only lead of the contest. The Racers led by as many as 37 in the game and walked away with 32-point victory.
The win was the 21st of the season for the Racers, tying the program record for regular-season wins. The 2021-22 team is the fourth team to accomplish the feat, joining the 1987-88, 2007-08 and 2008-09 teams.
The win was the 20th of the season for Murray State, marking the first time that the Racers have won 20 or more games in a single season since 2008-09 and the seventh time overall.
The win was also the 10th road win of the season for the Racers, setting a new program record for the most in a single-season.
Katelyn Young led Murray State with 29 points by going 10-for-14 from the floor and a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Macey Turley followed Young with 12 points, while Alexis Burpo had eight. Burpo and Young also led MSU on the glass with seven rebounds apiece.
Southeast Missouri's Kennedi Watkins led the team with 10 points.
BELMONT 82, TENNESSEE STATE 44
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - For seven consecutive seasons the Belmont University women's basketball team has won 20 or more games. The Bruins clinched their seventh-straight 20-win campaign late Saturday afternoon with a convincing 82-44 senior day victory on homecoming over visiting Tennessee State University.
Behind 51 percent (33-of-65) shooting and a trio of double-figure scorers Belmont won its 10th straight, leading the entire way inside the Curb Event Center. A fast start and 44 first-half points led to the Bruins' final Ohio Valley Conference victory as Belmont knocked down nine three-pointers and assisted on 21 of its 33 made field goals.
Improving to 20-7 on the season and completing their last OVC schedule at 16-2, the Bruins led by as much as 40 and held a plus-three margin on the boards. Belmont scored 20 points on 19 Lady Tiger turnovers, got 46 points in the paint and 24 points off its bench.
Conley Chinn led the Bruins with 17 points while Destinee Wells had 16 points. Madison Bartley added 10 points.
Tennessee State's Tatyana Davis led all players with 18 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 61, UT MARTIN 51
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The backcourt duo of Seygan Robins and Shae Littleford each came away with double-digit scoring performances this evening but the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team fell by a 61-51 margin at Tennessee Tech.
Robins was responsible for a game-high 15 points off the bench, canning three of her four 3-point attempts and making all four of her tries from the free throw line. Littleford accounted for 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, marking the 13th game in double figures scoring for the freshman out of Charleston, Ill.
Ella Thompson (team-high seven rebounds), Paige Pipkin (team-best four assists) and Holly Forbes (team-high three steals) also performed well for the Skyhawks, who wrap up the regular season with a 12-17 overall record and 9-9 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Having already clinched the No. 2 seed in next week’s OVC Championship tournament, Tennessee Tech (19-9, 14-4 OVC) was led by Maaliya Owens’ 15 points. Megan Clark added 12 points while Jada Guinn (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Anna Jones (10 points, 10 rebounds) accumulated double-doubles.
Following a Golden Eagle three-pointer to open up the contest, the Skyhawks went on a 5-0 run behind a Forbes layup and Thompson trifecta. After a Littleford layup kept UT Martin on top, Tennessee Tech responded with an 8-2 run to go ahead by a 14-9 margin with three minutes to go in the quarter.
The Skyhawks answered with an 8-1 surge, thanks in large part to back-to-back layups from Raegan Johnson. A pull-up jumper from Littleford with 19 seconds remaining in the period gave UT Martin a 17-15 lead but the Golden Eagles made a three-pointer just before the buzzer to take a one-point advantage into the second quarter. The Skyhawks shot a sizzling 66.7 percent (8-of-12) while Tennessee Tech made five of its eight 3-point tries (62.5 percent) in the first 10 minutes.
The Golden Eagles scored the first five points of the second period as part of a 9-2 run. Robins converted four consecutive points (two free throws and a layup) in the span of 19 seconds for UT Martin to trim its deficit to 27-23 midway through the quarter. A triple from Littleford and two Pipkin free throws pulled the Skyhawks within a single possession (32-30) with a little under two minutes to go until the halftime break. Tennessee Tech then posted the final four points of the half to take a 36-30 lead into the locker room.
Littleford was tied for a game-high with nine points at the break while Clark and Guinn each had nine points apiece for the Golden Eagles.
The third quarter began with a 7-2 Tennessee Tech run before a pair of Kyannah Grant free throws at the 5:37 mark got UT Martin back on track. A quick 5-0 Skyhawk run that included a Johnson layup, Littleford free throw and Pipkin jumper in the paint made the score 45-39 before the Golden Eagles took an eight-point lead into the final quarter.
UT Martin kept charging in the fourth quarter thanks to a masterful performance from Robins. The sophomore from Harrodsburg, Ky. accounted for 11 of the Skyhawks’ 12 points in the quarter, scoring 11 straight points in a 4:49 stretch. That included a trio of three-pointers – the last of which occurred with 2:41 left to play as UT Martin got within five points at 56-51.
However, that was the Skyhawks’ final points of the contest as Tennessee Tech ended the game with five unanswered points.