THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 68, Lindenwood 45
@Eastern Illinois 88, SIUE 79
Little Rock 47, @Southern Indiana 44
@Tennessee Tech 69, Morehead State 52
@Tennessee State 71, UT Martin 67
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 68, LINDENWOOD 45
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Sophie Bussard scored a game-high 14 points to lead Southeast Missouri (6-10, 1-4) to a dominating 68-45 win over Lindenwood (1-15, 1-5) Thursday night in the first meeting between the teams.
SEMO stormed out to a 17-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and never turned back en route to snapping a four-game losing streak and picking up its first Ohio Valley Conference victory.
Bussard scored seven points and Kori Tomlin added five during the early surge that ended on Bussard's layup with 3:07 left to play in the first quarter.
The Redhawks kept LU off the scoreboard for the first 8:26 before Devin Fuhring made two free throws for the Lions' first points at the 1:34 mark.
SEMO held a comfortable 21-4 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.
The Redhawks continued to pour it on the first half and shot 60 percent (9-of-15) in the second quarter to build a 20-point (41-21) halftime lead.
SEMO got a nice lift from its bench which contributed 16 points, including six by Chandler Davis and five by Kiyley Flowers before the intermission.
The Redhawks heated up to shoot 51.5 percent (17-of-33) in the first half.
Things didn't get any better for LU in the final two quarters, as their deficit fell below 20 points only once the rest of the way.
Bussard's two free throws gave SEMO its largest lead at 50-21 with 6:51 to go in the third quarter. After that, the Redhawks were ahead by 28 toward the end of that period before putting their win on ice.
Bussard missed just three shots going 4-of-7 from the field. She was a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line and earned her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season.
Kennedi Watkins followed close behind with 13 points, while Halle Smith matched Bussard with six rebounds.
For the game, SEMO shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57), its best field goal percentage against a Division I opponent this year. The Redhawks 14 turnovers are a season-low against Division I foes.
The Redhawks outrebounded LU, 34-30, and received a big 35-14 lift from their reserves.
Mary McGrath and Emily Benzschawel led the Lions with nine points each.
LU suffered its seventh-straight loss and is 0-8 on the road this season.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 88, SIUE 79
CHARLESTON, Ill. - – Eastern Illinois women’s basketball improved to 5-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play with an 88-79 win over SIUE on Thursday night at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena. It marked the second best OVC start in program history for the Panthers.
EIU held just a two point lead at the half as Ajulu Thatha kept the Cougars in contention nearly posting a double-double in the first half with 21 points and nine rebounds. Thatha finished with 32 points and 12 boards for SIUE as they trailed 43-41 at the half.
The Panthers shot 53 percent from the field in the third quarter as they gave themselves some breathing room. EIU had four players score in double figures in the win. Taris Thornton scored 16 in her first EIU start. Lariah Washington led EIU with 21 points.
Macy McGlone had 18 and Miah Monahan 13 for the Panthers who improved 13-3 on the year.
SIUE shot 59 percent in the fourth quarter as they cut the margin down to six points three different times. Sofie Lowis had 17 points for SIUE as they had four players in double figures.
SIUE fell to 3-13 overall, 2-3 in the OVC.
LITTLE ROCK 47, SOUTHERN INDIANA 44
EVANSVILLE, Ill. - Little Rock picked up a 47-44 win at Southern Indiana on Thursday to remain undefeated in OVC play. The Trojans improved to 5-0 in the league and 8-8 overall while the Screaming Eagles fell to 2-3 in conference play and 8-8 overall.
Sali Kourouma led Little Rock with 20 points to go with four rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Tia Harvey and Nikki Metcalfe each finsihed with eight points. Metcalfe made what proved to be the game-winning jumper.
USI was led by Vanessa Shafford with 10 points and eight rebounds. Ashlynn Brown had eight points and six rebounds.
TENNESSEE TECH 69, MOREHEAD STATE 52
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated visiting Morehead State, 69-52, on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles improved to 4-1 in OVC action and 10-5 overall while the Eagles fell to 2-3 in league play and 6-10 overall.
Tennessee Tech's Maaliya Owens led all players with 24 points, connecting on six three-pointers in the win. Kiera Hill had 10 points and seven rebounds. Jada Guinn recorded seven points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Morehead State was led by Veronica Charles with 14 points and five assists. Melissa Secchiaroli added 10 points and two boards in the game.
TENNESSEE STATE 71, UT MARTIN 67
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Freshmen Josie Storey and Anaya Brown each established career-highs in the scoring column this evening but the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball squad dropped a close 71-67 decision to Tennessee State at the Gentry Center.
Storey’s game-high 18 points came off a 6-of-11 performance from three-point land while Brown tallied 17 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Skyhawks (6-10, 2-3 Ohio Valley Conference), who saw all seven players score at least four points tonight. Shae Littleford added 10 points while Lexi Rubel (career-best nine rebounds) and Seygan Robins (career-high seven assists) were also heavy contributors for UT Martin, who only committed nine turnovers and shot 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from three-point land.
The Lady Tigers (7-9, 2-3 OVC) were guided by Erica Haynes-Overton’s 16 points while Kianni Westbrook (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Saniah Parker (15 points) additionally reached double figures in the scoring column. The Skyhawks trimmed a 10-point deficit down to one with under a minute to play but Tennessee State shot 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter in a contest that featured 16 lead changes and six ties.
“I’m proud of our kids – I thought all seven girls we played did a great job but our youth couldn’t sustain for 40 minutes,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “There were three little spurts where we lost our focus and that ended up costing us the ballgame. We’ve been touting the freshman class – we’ve had four different freshmen lead us in scoring this year. There were some really good things that we did today that we can learn from – we can definitely grow from this. We just have to be patient – if we ever can put four quarters together, we can do some damage.”
After Tennessee State scored the opening bucket of the game, a Storey three-pointer from the right wing got the Skyhawks on the scoreboard. UT Martin eventually used a 10-0 run – capped off with five straight points by Brown – to go on top by a 15-6 margin at the 3:54 mark. The Lady Tigers wrapped up the quarter on an 11-2 run to even the score at 17-all.
Two more ties took place in the early stages of the second quarter until a Rubel trifecta with 6:36 remaining before the halftime break flipped the score back in favor of the Skyhawks. UT Martin led by five points (26-21) after a pair of Littleford free throws at the 5:02 mark but Tennessee State made a pair of three-pointers in a 23-second span to go back on top. The lead would change hands six times over the final 4:26 before the two sides entered the half tied at 33-33.
Storey and Brown each accounted for a game-high nine points at halftime while Haynes-Overton’s seven points topped the Lady Tigers.
A pair of Storey treys got the Skyhawks going to start the third quarter. A strong take to the hoop by Sydneey Boykin at the 4:27 mark made the score 41-39 in favor of UT Martin but Tennessee State concluded the quarter on a 9-2 run, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Parker that gave the Lady Tigers a 48-43 advantage.
Diamond Cannon sank a stepback jumper to open the scoring in the fourth quarter, trimming the Skyhawk deficit to a single possession. Tennessee State responded with the next four points but UT Martin once again pulled within three after a Robins trifecta and a driving layup from Brown. Haynes-Overton scored seven points in a 97-second span to push the Lady Tiger lead out to 60-50 with just under six minutes remaining. Brown poured in five straight points before Cannon glided in for a fast break layup to whittle the Skyhawk deficit to 67-64 with 1:31 to go. Another defensive stop led to Robins draining two free throws, cutting Tennessee State’s lead to 67-66 with 54 seconds left. However, that would be as close as UT Martin would get the rest of the way.