FRIDAY'S SCORES
William & Mary 63,
Tennessee State 53 (Miami, Fla.)
Nicholls 63,
Eastern Illinois 55 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Missouri 66,
Tennessee Tech 65 (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
WILLIAM & MARY 63, TENNESSEE STATE 53
MIAMI - Sanaa' St. Andre and Eboni Williams combined to score 33 total points, but the Tennessee State women's basketball team fell to the William & Mary Tribe 63-53 at Ocean Bank Convocation Center Friday.
The Tigers (1-4) had three players score in double figures, led by St. Andre, who had 19 points and three steals. Williams added 14 points and Diamond Cannon chipped in as well with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Tennessee State out-rebounded William & Mary 39-35 in Friday's game, paced by Caitlin Anderson's eight boards. The Tigers also grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and scored eight second-chance points.
Tennessee State forced 22 William & Mary turnovers. The Tigers turned those takeaways into 21 points on the other end of the floor. Anderson's four steals led the way for Tennessee State.
Tennessee State struggled out of the gate, falling behind 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.
William & Mary kept adding to that lead, building a 28-19 advantage before Tennessee State went on a 10-0 run, highlighted by a bucket from Cannon, to take a 29-28 lead. The Tribe then came roaring back to take a 31-29 lead heading into halftime.
William & Mary continued to increase its lead after halftime, building a 43-30 advantage before Tennessee State went on a 9-0 run, punctuated by a basket from St. Andre, to trim its deficit to 43-39 with 1:33 to go in the third. William & Mary countered and stretched its lead to 47-42 heading into the fourth. Tennessee State played well near the basket, scoring eight of its 13 points in the paint.
Tennessee State could not pull any closer in the fourth, losing by a final of 63-53.
NICHOLLS 63, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
PHOENIX - Eastern Illinois opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run on Friday but the Panthers could not overcome a sluggish third quarter as they dropped the opening game of the Grand Canyon Classic presented by Talking Stick Resort.
The Panthers fell to Nicholls, 63-55, falling to 1-3 on the season. Nicholls improved to 4-2 with the win.
EIU led 20-19 after the opening quarter with early production from Ellie Buzzelle who knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as the team knocked down 4-of-9 from 3-point range in the opening quarter. Buzzelle finished with 13 points, one of three Panthers in double figures.
EIU would make just 3-of-16 from long range the remainder of the game including 1-for-12 in the second and third quarters falling behind 39-33 at that half and 52-39 after three quarters of action.
The Panthers opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run with Buzzelle's third 3-pointer of the day closing the lead to five points at 52-47 with 8:00 minutes left to play. After the Colonels snapped the run with a basket by Kyla Hamilton, EIU again trimmed the margin to five on a lay-up by Miah Monahan with 6:49 left in the game.
Nicholls had an answer for Monahan's lay-up and for the other two times EIU trimmed the lead to five points in the final 4:02 of regulation. The last time EIU got to within five was on a Buzzelle jumper with 1:32 left in the game.
Macy McGlone led EIU with 14 points and nine rebounds. Lalani Ellis added 11.
Hamilton had 11 points for the Colonels with Lexi Alexander leading all scorers with 17 points.
MISSOURI 66, TENNESSEE TECH 65
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.- Tennessee Tech might have lost the game Friday night against Southeastern Conference foe Missouri in the Daytona Beach Classic, but the Golden Eagles were winners in a different way as Tech put together its strongest effort of the season thus far in a tough 66-65 loss to the Tigers.
The Golden Eagles (0-4) knocked down 10 3-pointers, dominated the glass with 33 total rebounds and 14 offensive caroms, forced Missouri into 15 turnovers with nine steals and had 14 assists to the Tigers' nine.
Tech had four players score in double-digits as Maaliya Owens and Reghan Grimes each had 13 points, while Reagan Hurst and Jennifer Sullivan each had 12. The Golden Eagles were 21-of-58 from the field, 10-for-33 from 3-point range – and held a Missouri team that averaged over 10 3-pointers a game to 6-for-14 from long-range.
Missouri shot the ball well, connecting on a 51.2-percent rate from the floor, and were 16-for-18 from the free-throw line. Grace Slaughter went a perfect 8-for-8 to score a team-high 18 points, while Mama Dembele scored 16 and Hayley Frank added 10.
While Tech shot 36.2 percent from the field, the Golden Eagles were able to battle for the ball to collect 14 offensive rebounds. Peyton Carter was a glass cleaner, collecting 10 total boards, including seven on the offensive side. Tech converted those second-chance tries into 18 points.
Among Tech's nine steals, Yaubryon Chambers had three to lead all players. The Golden Eagles turned the nine takeaways into 17 points in the game.
Missouri (5-1) scored the first seven points and led by as many as eight points in the first quarter before Tech started to chip away. The Golden Eagles cut it all the way down to one point as the buzzer sounded as Sullivan knocked down a 3-pointer well past the midcourt line to make it a 16-15 Missouri lead.
Owens and Grimes scored 14 of Tech's second-quarter points with seven each, with Owens hitting a second-chance jumper at 1:06 and a fast-break layup off a steal at 48 seconds to put the Golden Eagles up three. Frank hit both of her free throws with 28 seconds left in the half to cut Tech's halftime advantage to 31-30.
Sullivan hit a pair of 3-point tries, while Hurst had five points in the third quarter. Missouri retook a six-point advantage midway through the quarter, but Tech retook the lead as Hurst completed a 3-point play as she sank a second-chance layup and the and-one to give the Golden Eagles a 48-47 lead going into the final period.
Tech scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take an 8-point, 55-47 lead with 8:14 remaining in the game, but Missouri tied the game and retook a slim edge at 3:30 left with a pair of Dembele free-throws. Carter put Tech back on top on the other end, nailing both of her charity tosses with 3:08 left, then Grimes drained a 3-pointer with 2:23 left to go up four – that ended up being Tech's last points of the contest.
Abby Feit hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 left to answer, then, at 1:02 remaining Hannah Linthacum hit a pair of free throws to go back up one. After a shot clock violation gave Tech the ball back with eight seconds left, the Golden Eagles called the timeout to advance the ball. Carter drove to the basket and kicked it out to Sullivan. The sophomore had a good look, even under pressure. The shot hit the left side of the rim, bounced to the right and rolled off as the clock expired as the Southeastern Conference squad escaped with the victory.