MONDAY'S SCORES
@Loyola Chicago 77,
SIUE 74
@Morehead State 83, Davis & Elkins 28
@Northern Illinois 65,
Eastern Illinois 55
@Tennessee Tech 77, Northern Kentucky 59
LOYOLA CHICAGO 77, SIUE 74
CHICAGO - Molly Sheehan's three-pointer with 13 seconds to go knotted the contest at 74, but Loyola Chicago answered with a three of its own to down the Cougars, 77-74, on Monday afternoon at Gentile Arena.
SIUE falls to 2-10 overall in its nonconference slate while the Ramblers improve to 6-4.
With just under three minutes remaining in the first, Sofie Lowis gave the Cougars their first lead of the game on her own 5-0 run following three consecutive free throws and a turnaround jumper just outside the paint. SIUE took its largest lead of the contest at 13 with 7:28 to go in the second period before the Ramblers cut the Cougars' advantage to six points after a 7-0 run with five minutes remaining in the first half. Both sides played back and forth until SIUE entered the locker room up four.
SIUE shot 46 percent (11-24) in the opening half while going 4-8 from three-point territory and a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line. The Cougars held Loyola Chicago to 27 percent (9-33) overall in the first half. Lowis led the Cougars' scoring efforts heading into the break with 13.
The Ramblers regained momentum with 4:25 remaining in the third, capturing their first lead since midway through the opening quarter at 43-41. Loyola Chicago would go up eight with 2:23 remaining in the third and take a four-point advantage heading into the final quarter of play.
The Cougars trailed by as many as nine before Sheehan's 8-0 run brought SIUE back to within one point at 68-67 with 3:16 to go. Loyola Chicago went up five over the next minute of play before freshman Ava Stoller brought SIUE to within three on a driving layup in the paint with 1:36 remaining. Both sides would go scoreless over the next minute of play.
With 13 seconds remaining, Sheehan tied the contest at 74 on a deep three-pointer before the Ramblers called a timeout. Loyola Chicago's Alyssa Fisher countered with a three-ball of her own with four seconds remaining to take the victory and 8-0 advantage in the all-time series.
Overall, SIUE shot 51 percent (26-51) while converting on eight of its 17 opportunities from long range. At the line, SIUE went 14-17 while forcing 12 turnovers from the Ramblers. Loyola Chicago shot 39 percent (26-67) in the contest while outrebounding the Cougars, 38-30. The Ramblers grabbed 20 boards on the offensive glass and scored 15 points on second chance opportunities.
Offensively, Lowis paced SIUE with a career-high 23 points. She shot 7-13 from the floor, 4-9 from deep, and went a perfect 5-5 at the stripe. The guard also led the Cougars with four assists and two steals while contributing a pair of rebounds. She has scored in double-figures in five of her last six games.
Stoller added a season-best 19 points, shooting 8-13 overall and 3-3 at the charity stripe. The freshman grabbed four boards while dishing out an assist.
Sheehan added 11 points, all of which came in the second half. She went 3-5 overall, 2-3 from three-point range, and 3-3 at the free throw line. The junior also collected three rebounds while handing out three assists.
Olivia Clayton commanded SIUE on the glass for the second time this season, leading the Cougars with five. Lezhauria Williams added four rebounds while leading SIUE with two of the Cougars' six blocks.
The Ramblers were led offensively by Fisher's 26 points. Sitori Tanin led all rebounders with 11.
MOREHEAD STATE 83, DAVIS & ELKINS 28
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State women's basketball held Davis & Elkins to just 28 points on 18.6% shooting Monday, marking their lowest point total allowed since 2018.
The Eagles (5-6) had four players score in double figures, led by Matilda Soderlund, who had 24 points. Hallie Rhodes tacked on 15 points and two steals and Veronica Charles chipped in as well with a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. Katie Novik impressed with 12 points, eight assists, and a career-best four blocks, while Blessing King grabbed 15 rebounds in the win.
The Morehead State offense was impressive from deep, pouring in nine threes on 19 attempts. Soderlund hit six treys for the Eagles in the contest.
Morehead State did a great job disrupting Davis & Elkins shots in the contest, coming away with eight blocks. Katie Novik's four rejections led the way individually for the Eagles.
After jumping out to a 15-12 advantage, Morehead State went on an 8-0 run with 2:08 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Novik, to increase its lead to 23-12, a score that would hold for the rest of the period. Morehead State capitalized on six Davis & Elkins turnovers in the period, turning them into eight points on the other end of the floor.
Morehead State kept its first quarter lead intact before going on a 9-0 run starting at the 8:40 mark in the second period to increase its lead to 32-12. The Eagles proceeded to tack on three points to that lead and enjoyed a 39-16 advantage heading into halftime. Morehead State dominated in the paint, scoring 12 of its 16 points close to the basket.
Morehead State wasted no time building on its lead, going on a 20-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Charles, to expand its lead further to 59-16 with 1:16 to go in the third. Before the third period was over, the Eagles added four points to that lead and entered the fourth quarter with a 65-18 edge. Morehead State knocked down five three-pointers in the quarter to score 15 of its 26 total points.
Morehead State kept widening that lead, expanding it to 77-27 before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Skylar Barnes' layup, to grow the lead to 83-27 with 2:23 to go in the contest. The Senators narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 83-28 win. Morehead State took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring 12 of its 18 points in the paint.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 65, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
DEKALB, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women's basketball trailed by three at the half and again after three quarters of play but the Panthers could not get a final run in the fourth quarter falling on the road 65-55 at Northern Illinois.
Charita "Tiny" Lewis and Miah Monahan carried the Panthers offense scoring 18 points each. Lewis led the Panthers at the half with seven points and added 11 in the second half. Monahan helped spark a third quarter run with 15 second half points.
Trailing 28-25 at the half, EIU tied the game to open the second half on a 3-pointer by Ellie Buzzelle. NIU answered with an 8-0 run led by a pair of baskets by Jayden Marable. She would finish with 12 points. A four-point play by Sidney McCrea with 5:53 to play in the third quarter gave NIU an 11-point lead at 40-29.
Monahan scored eight points over the final minutes of the third quarter and Lewis sank a jumper with six seconds left to cut the Huskies lead to three at 44-41.
Marable and McCrea led a quick NIU run to open the fourth quarter as the Huskies jumped out to a 53-44 lead with 6:46 left in the game following a Marable lay-up.
EIU closed to four points with five minutes left on a Lewis jumper but the Panthers were never able to cut the margin to one possession the remainder of the game.
Macy McGlone pulled down 13 rebounds and had five blocks but was limited to just four points ending her streak of consecutive double-doubles at seven.
McCrea led NIU with 15 points off the bench as four Huskies finished in double figures.
EIU falls to 3-9 on the year. NIU is now 5-5.
TENNESSEE TECH 77, NORTHERN KENTUCKY 59
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech got off to a fast start on Monday night as the Golden Eagles jumped out on a quick 10-0 run and never looked back, topping Northern Kentucky 77-59.
Maaliya Owens led the Golden Eagles with 28 points, shooting 9-for-19 from the field and 5-for-9 from 3-point range, while going 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. As she hit her third trey of the game, Owens moved into second on the team’s all-time 3-pointers made list, passing assistant coach Allison Clark’s 225 and trailing only Jordan Brock on the chart.
Tech (4-6) also got double-digit scoring from Anna Walker and Reghan Grimes, who both collected 11 .points.
NKU (2-7) had 23 points from Khamari Mitchell-Steen, shooting 9-for-16 from the floor. She also had four assists, four rebounds and six steals in the game. Carter McCray scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Tech dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Norse 37-29, with the Golden Eagles collecting 17 offensive boards. Five of Walker’s eight rebounds came on the offensive side. Tech forced NKU into 23 turnovers with 17 points coming off those miscues. The Golden Eagles had 14 steals, led by four for Walker, two for Cayla Cowart and two for Jenn Sullivan.
The Golden Eagles also dished the ball out well, collecting 22 total assists on 27 total makes. Owens and Peyton Carter each had five.
Tech, by virtue of the 10-point run, was able to take a 22-10 advantage after the first quarter and was able to expand the lead to 42-24 at the intermission. Northern Kentucky made adjustments and started to slow the Golden Eagles down, but Tech still prevailed in the third, 13-10.
The Norse outscored the Golden Eagles 25-22 in the fourth as NKU shot 9-for-12 in the final period, including 3-for-4 at the line. The Norse ended the game shooting 41.5 percent, including 4-for-16 from 3, as
Tech finished the game shooting 45.8 percent (22-for-48) from the field, while shooting 10-for-23 from long range and 13-for-16 from the free-throw line.