MONDAY'S SCORES
@Ball State 97,
Tennessee Tech 64
@Marquette 84,
UT Martin 51
Missouri State 52, @
Little Rock 47
@Oklahoma State 100,
SIUE 59
@Tennessee State 53,
Wilberforce
47
@IUPUI 77,
Eastern Illinois 72
Tulsa 89, @
Lindenwood 80
@
Southern Indiana 67, Wright State 63
@
Western Illinois 81, Mount Mercy 57
BALL STATE 97, TENNESSEE TECH 64
MUNCIE, Ind. - Yaubryon Chambers had a solid debut for the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team on Monday, collecting 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting – one point shy of her career-high set as a member of the Vanderbilt roster.
However, Ball State saw six players score in double figures, with Bowling Green transfer Nyla Hampton proving to be a wrecking ball on defense, collecting eight steals, as the host Cardinals defeated Tech 97-64 on Monday morning.
BSU (1-0) forced Tech into 26 total turnovers in the contest, those converted into 31 points for the home team. Ball State also shot 63.2 percent from the field. Alex Richard led the Cardinals with 18 points on a 7-of-9 effort, while Mid-American Conference preseason first-teamer Ally Becki was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field – 2-for-2 from long-range – for 16 points, while also dishing out seven assists.
Maaliya Owens and Kiera Hill both finished the game with 11 points – Hill finishing out a 5-for-6 day. Peyton Carter also wrapped up in double-digits as she scored 10 points.
Tech’s victory against Ball State last season hinged on the free-throw line, but the Golden Eagles didn’t have the same success this time around, shooting 7-for-12 at the charity stripe. The Cardinals got 24 visits to the line, knocking down 16 shots. Tech was whistled for 25 total fouls with Annie Rauch drawing seven and Richard six.
The Golden Eagles did edge the Cardinals on rebounds 29-25 as Reghan Grimes and Carter paced Tech with five boards each, while Ana Barreto led BSU with seven caroms. Ball State converted all five of its offensive rebounds for 10 points.
While Ball State’s shooting percentage was scorching, Tech didn’t have a bad day shooting by any stretch, hitting 51 percent from the floor.
With the two teams feeling each other out in the first quarter, the Golden Eagles kept pace for the most part trailing 19-14 after the first 10 minutes, then tied the game early in the second quarter at 19. However, the Cardinals outscored Tech 24-9 the rest of the period, then 29-20 in the third and 25-16 in the fourth.
MARQUETTE 84, UT MARTIN 51
MILWAUKEE - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team could not overcome a scorching shooting night from BIG EAST power Marquette, falling on the road 84-51 in the squad's season opener.
The Skyhawks (0-1) went toe-to-toe with the Golden Eagles through the first media timeout before the home squad pulled away and never looked back down the stretch. UT Martin could not contain the shooting attack of the Marquette as the team finished the game shooting 51.7 percent from the floor while knocking down nine three pointers.
UT Martin saw two players score in double figures in the contest with redshirt-freshman Kenley McCarn leading the team with 15 points – including 13 points in the second half. Sophomore forward Anaya Brown also had a nice game, tallying 14 points and six rebounds in the opener.
Marquette filled up the stat sheet with a balanced scoring attack as six players scored in double figures. Mackenzie Hare led the team with 17 points while Jordan King and Skylar Forbes added 14 points each. Rose Nkumu contributed a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists while Liza Karlen also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
MISSOURI STATE 52, LITTLE ROCK 47
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock women's basketball team came close to pulling off a classic case of possum Monday, playing dead until the last minute before snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Instead, Missouri State sank four clutch free throws in the final minute to hand the Trojans a 52-47 loss in their season opener at the Jack Stephens Center.
Jayla Brooks converted a steal into a fast break layup with 1:08 to play, pulling the Trojans (0-1) within a point at 48-47, but missed a pair of shots in the final minute, forcing them to send the Lady Bears (1-0) to the line, where the visitors would seal the deal. Ironically, Missouri State had made just 8-of-19 free throws before calmly sinking four of their last five.
Preseason All-Conference selection Faith Lee led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed four rebounds. Jordan Holman added 10 points and five boards in her first game as a Trojan. Little Rock was without returning starters Tia Harvey (All-OVC) and Jaiyah Harris-Smith, who missed the game with injuries.
Little Rock never led in the contest and trailed by as many as 14 midway through the second period. The Trojans started slow and fell behind 17-5 after one frame, shooting just 20 percent (2-of-10) in the opening stanza and 29 percent (4-of-14) in the second. Fortunately, the Trojans were able to stay close, outscoring the Lady Bears in the second to pull within 26-19 at the break.
Missouri State increased its lead to 41-32 after three periods but were held to just 11 percent shooting (1-of-9) in the fourth, helping the Trojans chip away at the lead until Brooks' layup with 68 seconds to go.
Lee and Holman combined to make 12-of-22 shots from the floor (55 percent) but the rest of the team connected on just 4-of-23 attempts (17 percent). Brooks was the next high scorer with 8 points and added four steals and three assists.
OKLAHOMA STATE 100, SIUE 59
STILLWATER, Okla. - Freshmen Ava Stoller and Ava Gugliuzza paced SIUE women's basketball with a pair of double-digit scoring efforts, but the Cougars opened the 2023-24 season with a 100-59 loss at Oklahoma State on Monday night.
Gugliuzza led the Cougars with 13 points, going 5-10 from the field and 2-7 from beyond the arc. Stoller shot 4-7 and 4-5 at the charity stripe for a dozen points.
SIUE shot 40 percent (21-52) overall in the contest and 21 percent (4-19) from three-point territory. Oklahoma State, who appeared as the eight seed in the 2023 Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, shot 51 percent (39-76) from the floor and capitalized on 16-20 opportunities at the free throw line.
The Cowgirls outrebounded the Cougars 38-31 on the glass while taking advantage of 21 SIUE turnovers. Stoller and sophomore Macy Silvey led the Cougars with five board apiece. Lezhauria Williams added eight points in her SIUE debut while Olivia Clayton added six. Molly Sheehan, KK Rodriguez, and Sofie Lowis contributed five points each.
Oklahoma State's scoring was led by Anna Gret Asi's 20 points. Six Cowgirls wrapped the season opener in double-figures.
TENNESSEE STATE 53, WILBERFORCE 47
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State women's basketball team got a 23-point showing from the bench on the way to a 53-47 season opening win against the Wilberforce Bulldogs at home Monday.
The Tigers (1-0) had two players score in double figures, led by Eboni Williams, who had 15 points and four steals. Aaniya Webb added 14 points off of the bench and Lyric Cole added four points, nine rebounds, and three steals.
Cole pulled down four offensive rebounds to pace an offense that racked up second-chance opportunities for Tennessee State, grabbing 12 boards and turning them into five second-chance points.
The Tennessee State defense held Wilberforce shooters to only 38.6 percent from the field. The Bulldogs did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only seven offensive rebounds and scored two second-chance points. In comparison, Tennessee State pulled down 23 defensive rebounds.
TSU started out the scoring by going on a 7-0 run to take an early lead with 7:23 left in the first quarter. The Tigers then lost some of that lead, but still entered the quarter break with a 12-6 advantage. Tennessee State capitalized on 10 Wilberforce turnovers in the period, turning them into seven points on the other end of the floor.
Tennessee State kept its first-quarter lead intact before going on an 8-0 run starting at the 4:30 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Caitlin Anderson, to increase its lead to 24-13. The Tigers kept that lead for the remainder of the period and enjoyed a 27-16 advantage heading into halftime. Tennessee State was strong from deep in the period, knocking down two three-point shots to account for six of its 15 points.
After intermission, Tennessee State held on to its advantage and owned a 45-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Tennessee State took advantage of eight Wilberforce turnovers in the quarter, scoring five points from takeaways.
Tennessee State kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run, finished by Williams' layup, to grow the lead to 51-38 with 5:25 to go in the contest. The Bulldogs narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Tigers still cruised the rest of the way for the 53-47 win. Tennessee State took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring six of its eight points in the paint.
IUPUI 77, EASTERN ILLINOIS 72
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Freshman Lalani Ellis scored 21 points to lead four Eastern Illinois players in double figures but the Panthers could not overcome a big day at the foul line by IUPUI as EIU dropped its season opener on Monday night in Indianapolis, 77-72.
Ellis scored 13 of her points in the opening half as EIU trailed 41-36 at the break.
IUPUI would make 28 trips to the foul line in the game knocking down 16 including two by Katie Davidson with 12 seconds remaining the helped the Jaguars clinch the win.
EIU trailed by ten points at 75-65 after Davidson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, the second with 3:07 left in the game. EIU went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to 75-72 with 17 seconds left in the game on a jumper by Macy McGlone as she finished with 14 points.
Charita "Tiny" Lewis added 13 points and Taris Thornton ten to round out the Panthers double figure scorers.
Davidson led all scorers with 32 points as three IUPUI players finished in double figures.
TULSA 89, LINDENWOOD 80
EVANSVILLE, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's basketball team (0-1, 0-0 OVC) fell to Tulsa (1-0, 0-0 AAC) by a score of 89-80 on Monday night from Hyland Arena.
Lindenwood got off to a slow start and trailed 18-4 near the halfway point of the first quarter. The Lions began to settle in and chip away at the deficit, going on a 17-7 run over the final five minutes and were down just six after the first quarter. During the run, Reagan Rapert chipped in seven points.
The Golden Hurricanes maintained a comfortable lead to begin the second quarter, but Lindenwood kept battling. The Lions went on a quick 14-6 run near the end of the middle frame, aided by seven points from Kaylen Evans and after she hit a pair of free throws, Lindenwood took a 41-40 lead. Tulsa would get a late bucket to take a one-point advantage into the half. In the first half, Lindenwood shot 45 percent from the field and 89 percent from the line.
The two teams traded buckets throughout the opening minutes of the third. Tulsa was able to grab some momentum and took a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the quarter, setting up for a good finish.
Tulsa came out on fire in the fourth as the Golden Hurricane lead ballooned to 11 at 76-65 with just over seven minutes to go in the game. Lindenwood was never able to get the game back into single digits until the very end of the game, as Tulsa picked up the 89-80 victory in the season opener for both squads.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 67, WRIGHT STATE 63
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - In a contest that came down to the wire, University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball opened its 2023-24 season with a 67-63 win at Screaming Eagles Arena against Wright State University on Monday night.
Southern Indiana (1-0) looked to begin the new basketball season and a three-game homestand on the right foot against Wright State (0-1). In USI's first possession of the game, graduate guard Tori Handley (Jeffersonville, Indiana) made a dribble-drive pull-up jumper to score the Screaming Eagles' first points of the season. Midway into the first, Wright State went ahead by three, 6-3, before USI answered with a straightaway three-pointer from senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) to tie the game. With just under five minutes left in the first period, the Raiders went up by five, 14-9, but the Eagles responded with five unanswered points to even the game at 14 to close out the opening quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, USI received a boost off the bench from senior guard Lexie Green (Indianapolis, Indiana), who scored five points in the first couple of minutes. The scoring came to a lull in the middle of the second, as the defense picked up. Then USI went on an 8-0 run, surging to a 29-21 advantage. Junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) tallied a pair of baskets during the run, including a baseline reverse layup. Wright State closed the gap to four before junior guard Takiya Howard (Chicago, Illinois) drained a triple in the final seconds before halftime, giving Southern Indiana a 34-27 lead at the intermission.
The Eagles came out of halftime with a fast start, especially down low in the post. Senior forward Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana) made back-to-back buckets for USI, impressing in her Screaming Eagles debut. Southern Indiana's lead grew as large as 15, 49-34, in the middle of the third after another bucket by Webb and another three by Howard. Late in the third period, Wright State knocked down two threes to pull within nine, 53-44, heading into the final quarter.
The Raiders continued to chip away in the early minutes of the fourth period. Wright State utilized the three-point shot and a 14-3 run in the middle of the fourth to come back and tie the game at 58. As the two sides battled down the stretch, Handley canned a three from the corner to put USI up by four, 63-59, with under three minutes remaining. Wright State then hit another three to bring it back within one, 63-62. With a minute left and the game tied after a free throw by the Raiders, Raley made a big layup to give USI the two-point lead, 65-63. Southern Indiana made two late free throws to close out the 67-63 season-opening victory.
For the game, the Eagles shot nearly 45 percent from the floor (26-58), 6-11 from beyond the arc (6-11), and just over 64 percent at the charity stripe (9-14). Wright State finished with 38 percent shooting overall (24-63), 37 percent from three (10-27), and nearly 36 percent at the foul line (5-14). USI outrebounded Wright State 45-31. Individually, Webb led USI with 13 points in her USI debut while also grabbing eight rebounds. Howard and Raley each scored nine points, and Shafford totaled eight points with nine rebounds. Wright State had three players score in double figures.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 81, MOUNT MERCY 57
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois Women's Basketball picks up win number one with a wire-to-wire victory over the Mount Mercy Mustangs inside Western Hall. WIU started out slow on Monday night before erupting for an 81-57 win. The Leathernecks move to 1-0 on the season.
The offense started slow on opening night for WIU, as they did not score until the 7:45 mark in the first quarter. After that, it was all offense. Anna Deets opened the scoring with a free throw as WIU led early 1-0. WIU continued on the offensive foot as Allie Meadows and Alissa Dins scored, giving WIU a 5-0 lead. With 3:42 left in the first quarter, Raegan McCowan checked in, and it was her show. The Leatherneck guard knocked down four buckets and a free throw for nine points in her opening quarter of collegiate basketball, helping WIU to a 20-9 first-quarter lead.
The Leathernecks carried their momentum in the second quarter as McCowan got back-to-back baskets to fall, pushing WIU ahead by 14 (31-17) with 2:42 to go. WIU would lock it down on the defensive side of the ball, only allowing four points in the last two and a half minutes, heading into the break ahead 33-21.
Mount Mercy cut the Leatherneck lead down to seven (36-29) with 6:49 left in quarter three, and that's the closest they would get for the rest of the game. Dins, McCowan, and Mallory McDermott scored six straight points, pushing WIU back in front 42-29. With 8 seconds left in the quarter, Kaylen Reed drove left, got stopped at the block, and kicked it out to Lily Rangaard, who buried a three to push WIU ahead 57-44 heading into the final frame.
The Leathernecks were too much for the Mustangs in the final quarter. After two quick free throws by Mount Mercy, WIU used two fast-break baskets by Rangaard to push their lead back out to 14 (62-48) with 7:00 minutes to play. WIU kept on the pressure with six more points, capping off a 9-0 run to push the lead to 19. Western Illinois saw their lead jump over the 20-point mark of a McCowan basket with 2:11 left. WIU finished the evening in style as Reed found Carla Flores with a behind-the-back pass for a layup to camp off an 81-57 victory.
Three Leathernecks scored in double digits. Raegan McCowan led the way with 19 points. Mallory McDermott and Lily Randgaard were right behind her with 12 and 10. Randgaard shot 100% from the field with 4-4 shooting. Addi Brownfield led the assist and rebound category for WIU with four and seven. As a team, WIU shot 47.6% from the field and 27.8% from deep. The Leathernecks knocked down 16 of 23 free throws to shoot 69%. WIU bench outscored Mount Mercy 54-15.