THURSDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 74, @
SIUE 72
Vanderbilt 70, @
UT Martin 68
@ #9 Indiana 96,
Eastern Illinois 43
@Wisconsin 74,
Western Illinois 52
EASTERN KENTUCKY 74, SIUE 72
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Halle Smith and KK Rodriguez led SIUE with 14 points apiece, but SIUE fell short at the buzzer against Eastern Kentucky on Thursday night at First Community Arena.
SIUE falls to 0-2 on its 2023-24 campaign while EKU improves to 2-0.
Despite trailing by 12 in the opening quarter, SIUE's offense fought back to minimize EKU's lead to just six at the conclusion of the first. With just over a minute remaining in the first half, the Cougars tied the game twice before entering the locker room down two.
SIUE took its first lead of the contest two minutes into the second half at 35-32 and led by as many as eight in the third quarter.
Trailing by three with just over a second remaining in the contest, Sofie Lowis grabbed her own offensive rebound on her own missed three-point opportunity and converted an and-one to knot the contest at 72. However, the Colonels took a timeout and executed a last shot opportunity to down SIUE, 74-72.
SIUE shot 44 percent (24-55) in the contest and 39 percent (7-18) from long range. At the free throw line, the Cougars were nearly perfect, going 17-19. SIUE picked up 35 rebounds while dishing out 17 assists.
Four players finished in double figures, led by Smith and Rodriguez's 14 points. Ava Stoller and Macy Silvey added 12 points. Silvey finished 4-6 from beyond three-point territory.
Rodriguez and Silvey led SIUE with five boards each while Smith, Lowis, and Olivia Clayton contributed four. Rodriguez's five assists also led the Cougars.
SIUE celebrated Military Appreciation Night at First Community, honoring the brave men and women who fight for our freedom by wearing camo jerseys. The jerseys will be presented to active and former military personnel.
VANDERBILT 70, UT MARTIN 68
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team gave its fans a show in the team's home opener in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center by leading visiting SEC foe Vanderbilt for over 32 minutes before coming up just short of its upset bid by a final score of 70-68.
After picking up a road victory at Vanderbilt last season, the Skyhawks (0-2) looked for their second straight upset of their SEC foe by controlling the game's tempo and ultimately pushing their advantage out to as large as 12 points in the third quarter. The Commodores would not go away quietly however as they chipped away at the team's deficit with a 9-2 run to finish the third quarter before completing their comeback attempt with 5:16 to play in the game to give the Dores their first lead since early in the first quarter.
With the game back knotted up in the final four minutes, UT Martin found a three-pointer by Shae Littleford to put the home team up by a three-point advantage. From there it was all Vandy as a fastbreak layup by Sasha Washington and putback layup from J. Cambridge gave the visitors the go-ahead advantage with 35 seconds to play. UT Martin drew up a potential go-ahead bucket with 11 seconds to play, but the jumper rattled off the rim to punctuate a back-and-forth contest.
UT Martin finished the contest shooting 48.3 percent from the field while knocking down 11 three-pointers and finding assists on 22 of its 28 field goals. Freshman guard Love Mays led the way for the Skyhawks with 14 points while adding six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Anaya Brown scored in double figure for the second straight game with 14 points and six rebounds while Littleford finished the night with 14 points and seven assists.
"We deserved to win the game," UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. "Sometime, the program is ready to win a game like this, but the team isn't, and I think that was the case tonight. We just weren't ready with our young core, but I couldn't be more impressed with how they battled as long as they did. Games are so fragile and we just aren't ready to close that out…yet. The pieces are here and it's coming, but we are still growing. I have no qualms with our effort and I don't like moral victories, but the mistakes that were made are correctable."
Vanderbilt (2-0) found most of its production in the paint where the squad scored 40 of its 70 points. Forward Sacha Washington had a big game by tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Guard Jordyn Cambridge also filled the stat sheet with 16 points and 12 rebounds while adding six assists in the win. The squad was rounded out in double figures by Iyana Moore (12 points) and Madison Greene (11 points).
#9 INDIANA 96, EASTERN ILLINOIS 43
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana shot 65 percent from the field as the 9th ranked Hoosiers beat Eastern Illinois 96-43 on Thursday night at the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
EIU battled early in the first quarter shooting 42 percent from the field to trail 29-14. The Panthers cooled off during the night finishing the contest shooting 30 percent from the floor.
Miah Monahan, Lalani Ellis and Taris Thornton all had four points in the opening quarter for EIU. Monahan would finish with 13 points to lead EIU as the lone Panther in double figures.
Ellis, who scored 21 points in her college debut on Monday at IUPUI, just fell short of double figures finishing with eight points. Ellie Colson came off the bench to score a career-high seven points.
Indiana used its size to its advantage shooting over 60 percent in all four quarters as the Hoosiers finished with a 62-22 advantage on points in the paint.
Mackenzie Holmes scored eight of her game high 19 points in the opening quarter as five Indiana players finished in double figures.
EIU falls to 0-2 on the season. Indiana is now 1-0 on the year.
WISCONSIN 74, WESTERN ILLINOIS 52
MADISON, Wis.. - Raegan McCowan's double-double was not enough as Western Illinois fell to the University of Wisconsin 74-52 on Thursday (Nov. 9) night. WIU moves to 1-1 overall on the season.
The Leathernecks defense came to play to start Thursday's game. The Leathernecks forced three turnovers in the first three minutes as the score remained scoreless. Raegan McCowan opened up the Leathernecks scoring as she knocked down two free throws, cutting the Badger lead to 3-2. Down 5-2, Anna Deets buried a three to tie the game at five. McCowan gave WIU their first lead 45 seconds later with a mid-range jumps shot at 7-5. McCowan doubled the lead with a layup with 4:00 minutes left in the first quarter. WIU ended the opening frame with a Carla Flores jumper as they took an 11-10 lead.
WIU saw their lead grow back to four two minutes into the second quarter as McCowan had another basket drop, giving WIU a 16-12 lead. Wisconsin tied the game at 20-20 before finishing the half on a 17-2 run.
Wisconsin extended their halftime lead to 16 multiple times, but WIU had an answer. A free throw by Alissa Dins, two by Flores, and a three by Mallory McDermott brought the deficit down to 10 (44-34). Wisconsin extended their lead to 12 before McDermott came back down and hit her second three in a row, bringing WIU within double digits 46-37. Wisconsin would deflate the basketball as they grew their lead back up to 14 points heading into the final quarter.
Anna Deets opened the 4th quarter with a free throw before Wisconsin broke open the game with a 7-0 run to put the Badgers up 21, 63-42. The Leathernecks could not trim the deficit down as teams traded baskets the rest of the way.
Raegan McCowan led WIU with her first collegiate double-double, posting 13 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Addi Brownfield finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and an assist. Allie Meadows led WIU with three assists. The Leathernecks shot 28% from the field. WIU shot 31 free throws on the night, knocking down 18.