FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Presbyterian 65,
Morehead State 59
Fresno State 70,
Eastern Illinois 60 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Tennessee Tech 65, Stetson 59 (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
@#24 Ole Miss 58,
Little Rock 45
PRESBYTERIAN 65, MOREHEAD STATE 59
CLINTON, S.C. - Melissa Secchiaroli scored a career-high 22 points, but the Morehead State women's basketball team fell to the Presbyterian Blue Hose 65-59 on the road Saturday despite battling for 40 minutes.
Secchiaroli added two steals to her 22 point game to lead the Eagles (2-4). Blessing King helped out with five points, 10 rebounds and two steals and Veronica Charles chipped in with nine points and three steals.
King pulled down six offensive rebounds to lead an offense that racked up second chance opportunities for Morehead State, grabbing 14 boards and turning them into nine second chance points.
Morehead State forced 20 Presbyterian turnovers. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 25 points on the offensive end of the floor. Charles' three steals led the way for Morehead State.
After jumping out to a 9-5 advantage, Morehead State went on an 8-0 run with 6:12 left in the first quarter, culminating in a three from Valentina Saric, to increase its lead to 17-5. The Eagles then lost some of that lead, but still entered the quarter break with a 23-16 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down seven shots (four by Secchiaroli) to account for 21 of its 23 points.
The Eagles could not maintain their lead in the second quarter and entered halftime trailing 45-33.
Following halftime, Morehead State kept the Blue Hose from growing their lead before going on a 7-0 run, punctuated by a basket from King, to trim its deficit to 52-47 with 1:18 to go in the third, a score which remained until the end of the third quarter. Morehead State took advantage of seven Presbyterian turnovers in the quarter, scoring eight points off of takeaways.
Morehead State could not pull any closer in the fourth, losing by a final of 65-59. Morehead State fired away from deep in the quarter, knocking down two shots to account for six of its 12 points.
FRESNO STATE 70, EASTERN ILLINOIS 60
PHOENIX - Eastern Illinois women's basketball roared out to a 20-8 start after the opening quarter but the Panthers went cold from the field in the second half as they lost to Fresno State, 70-60, on day two of the of the Grand Canyon Classic presented by Talking Stick Resort.
Miah Monahan scored six early points as EIU had an 18-4 run over the first eight minutes of the game. The run was capped by a 3-pointer by Sydney-James Desroches as EIU knocked down two 3-pointers in the opening ten minutes of action. Monahan's lay-up with 51 seconds left in the first pushed the margin to 20-8 as Monahan finished the game with 12 points.
Fresno State opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run to get the lead back to single digits. The Bulldogs would get as close as two points in the second quarter on 3-pointer by Keely Brown that came following an EIU turnover. Desroches scored with 17 seconds left in the half giving the Panthers a 35-31 lead at the break. Desroches scored seven for EIU.
Turnovers would be a factor for the Panthers as they committed 22 turnovers leading to 29 Fresno State points.
Early baskets by Monahan and Ellie Colson pushed the EIU lead to eight points. Colson scored a career high ten points going 5-of-7 from the floor.
Frenso State tied the game at 43-43 with 4:46 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Deajanae Harvey, one of nine 3-pointers the Bulldogs knocked down on the day shooting 41 percent from long range.
Harvey hit another 3-pointer with 3:14 left in the third quarter and Fresno State pushed their lead to ten on a 3-pointer by Taija Sta. Maria which closed a 21-2 run by Fresno State giving them a 55-45 lead with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.
Macy McGlone scored with 26 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the lead to eight, but EIU would get no closer during the fourth quarter. McGlone had a double-double with 19 points, 12 rebounds.
Four Fresno State players scored in double figures led by Brown with 19 points.
EIU now stands at 1-4 overall. Fresno State is 5-2.
TENNESSEE TECH 65, STETSON 59
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.- There's nothing like getting that first win of the season. Building on the momentum the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team created during Friday's contest against Missouri, the Golden Eagles led from the start and never looked back, taking a 65-59 victory over Stetson on Saturday to close out their play in the Daytona Beach Classic.
Tech (1-4) got double-digit scoring production from four players as Anna Walker led the way with 16 points, while Maaliya Owens had 12, Reagan Hurst 11 and Reghan Grimes 10. Everything that worked in the Golden Eagles' one-point loss Friday to Southeastern Conference foe Missouri seemed to click again.
A strong shooting percentage? Check. The Golden Eagles ended the night shooting 47.8 percent from the field, including 8-for-17 from 3-point range and 13-of-19 from the free-throw line.
Moving the ball? Check. Tech dished the ball around expertly, collecting 13 assists to Stetson's five, led by four from Hurst.
Great defensive effort? Check. The Golden Eagles were able to force 18 turnovers and block five shots. Yaubryon Chambers had three of those blocks, while Kiera Hill led the team with two steals.
The Golden Eagles didn't technically win the rebounding battle, but they kept pace with the aggressive Hatters (1-6), edged 28-27 on the glass. Seven of Stetson's 28 rebounds glanced out of bounds with no recovery, so Tech did have 25 in play, led by seven from Reghan Grimes.
Tech never trailed in the contest, surging out by as many as eight points early in the opening 10 minutes, buoyed by a six-point barrage from Chambers with Walker and Hurst collecting the dimes. As the first stanza closed, the Golden Eagles led 19-14.
After the Hatters were able to cut Tech's lead back down to five, the Golden Eagles then went on an 8-0 run over the next 1:20 with Owens hitting a mid-range jumper, then Hurst collecting a fast-break layup off of Hill's steal and claiming the and-one off of a drawn foul. Jennifer Sullivan then drained a three after Hill forced another turnover.
Stetson briefly got the contest back into single digits before the half until Walker got the layup and the foul with 26 seconds to go before the intermission. She connected on the extra shot, giving Tech a 36-25 lead at the half.
The Hatters made adjustments though. In the third quarter, Stetson outscored Tech 15-9 and got the game back within four points three times in the period. The Golden Eagles were able to extend its lead back out to 12 midway through the quarter, but free-throws for Stetson chipped that away as a foul on Sullivan and a technical foul against Chambers led to a 3-for-4 run for Khamya McNeal, and the Hatters chipped five points away in just eight seconds as Jamiya Turner also hit a pair.
With under a minute to go, the Hatters tried to make things interesting. Turner drained a jumper in the paint with 49 seconds left, but Hurst answered with a layup. Jordan Peete drew a foul with 37 seconds remaining and hit both. Grimes drew a foul at 24 seconds, but hit the front end of two to put Tech back up by five, with Peete sinking a layup with 14 seconds to go to make it a one-possession game.
Forced to foul, Stetson put Grimes back at the line two more times as she got three of the four resulting shots to end the contest.
McNeal ended the game with 15 points, Peete scored 14, while Turner and Jaelyn Talley each had 12.
#24 OLE MISS 58, LITTLE ROCK 45
OXFORD, Miss. - Little Rock continues to climb uphill through an extremely difficult non-conference slate, the latest a 58-45 loss Saturday at No. 24 Ole Miss. Despite another slow start offensively, the Trojans (0-5) never let the host Rebels (6-1) get too comfortable or run away with the contest. Little Rock trailed by just seven entering the final frame before Ole Miss outscored Little Rock 20-12 in the fourth period.
Faith Lee scored a game-high 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, Jayla Brooks added 10 points and five rebounds, Leilani Wimbish-Gay put up eight points and six rebounds, while Mesi Triplett added nine points. Little Rock made just 6-of-22 shots in the first half but improved to make 13-of-31 in the second.
Marquesha Davis and Snudda Collins each had 11 points to lead Ole Miss, while the Rebels posted a 40-26 advantage on the boards with Tyla Singleton grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. The Ole Miss bench also outscored Little Rock reserves by a 29-9 margin.
Ole Miss led by as many as 15 midways through the second period and Little Rock never led although the Trojans tied the game on two occasions and got as close as four points (35-31) in the final minute of the third. Little Rock trailed by just two points (42-40) at the 7:26 mark of the fourth before Ole Miss reeled off eight straight to stretch its lead to 50-40 with 4:35 to play. The Trojans would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.