THURSDAY'S SCORES
Little Rock 63, Duquesne 52 (New Orleans, La.)
@Southeast Missouri 74, Evansville 44
@Tennessee State 86, Tennessee Southern 79 (OT)
UT Martin 67,
@Arkansas State 62
@Minnesota 100,
Lindenwood 45
Tennessee Tech 78, @North Alabama 67
@Wisconsin 76,
Eastern Illinois 64
@Western Illinois 116, Cornell College 55
LITTLE ROCK 63, DUQUESNE 52
NEW ORLEANS - Heading into a brief holiday break followed by the start of conference play, the Little Rock women's basketball team couldn't ask for a better time to grab a win, which they did Thursday with a 63-52 passing of Duquesne in the final day of the Tulane Holiday Tournament.
Little Rock (1-10) snapped a 10-game losing streak and also notched the 500th victory in women's program history in the first-ever meeting against the Dukes (6-6). It was also the first win for the Trojans inside Fogelman Arena. The Trojans will have a week off before starting their OVC schedule with road games Dec. 28 at Tennessee Tech and Dec. 30 at Tennessee State. Little Rock's next home date is Jan. 4 against SIUE.
Faith Lee led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, Jayla Brooks dropped in a dozen points and grabbed six rebounds, Leilani Wimbish-Gay had 11 points and Sug Williams came off the bench to score 11 points and grab five rebounds. Jaiyah Harris-Smith added nine rebounds, eight assists and six points. Lee was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Little Rock trailed by three after the first period but trimmed that deficit to a single point at halftime. In the second half, the Trojans shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field and outscored the Dukes by a 22-12 margin in the third and 16-14 in the fourth. The Trojans led by as many as 14 with just a minute to play and the game featured a total of seven lead changes. Little Rock outrebounded Duquesne 35-29, finished plus-4 in the turnover category and scored 16 points off 17 Duquesne miscues. Little Rock also limited the Dukes to just 48 field goal attempts and took 10 more shots than Duquesne.
Gabby Grantham-Medley led the Dukes with 15 points off the bench, Naelle Bernard added 12 and Megan McConnell had 12 points and nine rebounds. The Dukes shot 41.7 percent (20-of-48) for the game.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74, EVANSVILLE 44
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (3-8) dominated Evansville (2-9) on Thursday afternoon by a final score of 74-44 to conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule led by freshman guard Daejah Richmond.
Richmond finished with a team-high 14 points and a career-high seven assists as she was the catalyst for the Redhawks offense.
As a team, SEMO was much improved from the floor as they finished 30-of-65 from the field (46.2%) and a near-perfect 13-15 from the free throw line. Three Redhawks were perfect from the charity stripe in Indiya Bowen, Jaliyah Green, and Amiyah Buchanan.
SEMO was all over the defensive end of the floor, forcing Evansville into 26 turnovers and converting them into 26 points. The Redhawks also got out and ran in transition as they converted those turnovers into 20 points on the fast break.
SEMO controlled the paint, scoring 50 of their 74 points in the paint and outrebounded the Purple Aces by a 39-35 margin. Daejah Richmond was the leading rebounder for the Redhawks with six.
Indiya Bowen opened the scoring for the Redhawks on a breakaway layup for the game's first points. A defensive rebound by Kiyley Flowers got the Redhawks into transition as she found Bowen for the layup.
Bowen finished the quarter with eight points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Two of her free throws gave the Redhawks a 4-0 advantage before UE's Kynidi Striverson got the visitors on the board with a pair of free throws.
The Redhawks forced nine first quarter turnovers and converted them into eight of their 20 points, including 10 on the fastbreak.
The Purple Aces got within three, the closes they had been since the opening basket, off a Mason Striverson three-pointer at the 4:23 mark as SEMO held a 12-9 advantage.
A quick 6-0 run by SEMO grew the lead to 18-9 via baskets from Amiyah Buchanan, Jaliyah Green, and Megan Barton.
SEMO led 20-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Evansville started the second quarter on a quick 4-0 run with back-to-back layups by Barbora Tomancova to cut the SEMO lead to six.
A trip to the free throw line for Jaliyah Green got the Redhawks on the board in the quarter at the 7:23 mark and it was all SEMO from there. Green sunk both free throws to extend the lead to 22-14.
Abby Stephens had a nice second-chance opportunity midway through the quarter. Stephens missed a hook shot in the lane but collected her own rebound and finished up and over a UE defender.
SEMO got out and ran in transition with back-to-back forced turnovers leading to easy baskets on the other end by guards Chandler Davis and Daejah Richmond, respectively. A missed shot by UE on the other end led to Stephens' fourth point of the quarter and forced UE into a timeout with 4:40 left before halftime.
The Redhawks closed the half on a 16-3 run over the final three minutes to give SEMO a 38-18 lead at halftime.
SEMO shot an impressive 16-for-32 from the floor in the first 20-minutes (50%) led by Jaliyah Green with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. SEMO was also a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
The Redhawks controlled the glass outrebounding UE by a 19-15 margin led by Green and Megan Barton with four rebounds apiece.
On the defensive end, SEMO forced 13 UE turnovers and turned them into 14 points all coming on the fastbreak.
The Purple Aces shot just 6-for-31 (19.4%) from the floor in the opening half and were just 2-for13 from three-point land. UE was led in scoring by Mason Striverson with 5 points.
Alecia Doyle got the scoring going in the second half with a pullup jumper at the 8:44 mark to give SEMO a 22-point lead as the second half was dominated by the Redhawks.
As the quarter was nearing the end, Abby Stephens stepped out and drained her lone three-pointer of the contest off the assist by Daejah Richmond. Richmond finished with seven assists in the game.
The Redhawks dominated the fourth quarter and closed the game on a 6-0 run over the final 3:41 of game time to snap a four-game losing skid and conclude non-conference play with a 74-44 victory on Thursday afternoon.
TENNESSEE STATE 86, TENNESSEE SOUTHERN 79 (OT)
NASHVILLE - Eboni Williams put the Tennessee State women's basketball team ahead for good with 4:08 to go the extra period to give the Tigers an 86-79 win over the UT Southern Firehawks at home Thursday.
The Tigers (3-7) had six players score in double figures, led by Zyion Shannon, who had 13 points and two steals. Saniah Parker tacked on 13 points and seven steals and Williams helped out with 13 points.
Led by Aaniya Webb's four offensive rebounds, Tennessee State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 18 boards that resulted in 23 second-chance points.
The Tennessee State defense caused its share of mistakes in Thursday's game, forcing 36 UT Southern turnovers while committing 28. Those takeaways turned into 36 points on the offensive end of the floor. Parker's seven steals led the way individually for the Tigers.
Tennessee State started strong, putting together an 18-15 lead heading into the second quarter. Tennessee State did most of its first-quarter damage in the paint, scoring 14 of its 18 points close to the basket.
UT Southern rallied to take a 30-27 lead before Tennessee State went on a 6-0 run starting at the 4:47 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Webb, to take a 33-30 lead. The Tigers proceeded to tack on six points to that lead and enjoyed a 45-36 advantage heading into halftime. Tennessee State dominated in the paint, scoring 14 of its 27 points close to the basket.
After intermission, Tennessee State held on to its advantage and owned a 58-51 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Tennessee State played well near the basket, scoring 12 of its 13 points in the paint.
Tennessee State then surrendered that advantage as UT Southern forced overtime by tying things up at 71-71 by the end of the fourth. Tennessee State took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring eight of its 13 points in the paint.
Tennessee State started overtime with a bang, going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Sanaa' St. Andre's jumper, to seize a 77-71 lead with 3:17 to go in the period. The Tigers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 86-79 win.
UT MARTIN 67, ARKANSAS STATE 62
JONESBORO, Ark. - Sophomore forward Anaya Brown posted a dominant double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds to help lift the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team to a 67-62 road victory at Arkansas State to close out non-conference play.
The Skyhawks (3-8) went toe-to-toe with their Sun Belt foe in a game which featured eight lead changes before using a strong third quarter to propel the team to victory. The third quarter saw the squad outscore the Red Wolves by eight points to give the Skyhawks a lead which they would not relinquish down the stretch.
UT Martin saw four players score in double figures – led by the play of Brown who posted her second straight double-double of the season. She matched her season-high with 18 points while posting a new career-high with 17 rebounds – marking the most boards since Phyllisha Mitchell tallied 21 boards in 2008.
Arkansas natives Kenley McCarn (17 points) and Josie Storey (13 points) also scored in double figures in their homecoming. McCarn knocked down 6-of-12 field goal attempts while Storey was highly efficient – making 4-of-5 attempts from the field. Freshman Norah Clark also had a strong afternoon with 13 points to round out the team offensively.
Arkansas State (6-4) struggled to shoot from the field, shooting just 36.5 percent from the field. Defensively the Skyhawks limited the nation's seventh ranked scorer to 16 points – ranking over seven points under her season total. Annaliese Griffin (13 points) and Lauryn Pendleton (11 points) also reached double figures for the Red Wolves.
MINNESOTA 100, LINDENWOOD 45
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - 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.
TENNESSEE TECH 78, NORTH ALABAMA 67
FLORENCE, Ala. - FLORENCE, Ala. – Kiera Hill scored a career-high 18 points to pace the Tennessee Tech women as the Golden Eagles used two big runs in the second half to rally from a seven-point deficit to take a 78-67 victory on the road at North Alabama.
Hill had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, as well as 4-for-5 from the free-throw line, to break her previous career-high of 16 set in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship. Three other Golden Eagles scored in double-digits as Reghan Grimes had 17 points, Maaliya Owens had 11 and Jennifer Sullivan added 10.
Grimes almost picked up the double-double as she ended the game with eight rebounds to lead the way, while Peyton Carter had six boards and five assists. Reagan Hurst and Owens each had five caroms.
Veronaye Charlton led North Alabama (4-8) with 25 points, shooting 8-for-15 from the floor and 7-for-7 from the line. Alexis Callins scored 17 points, while Allie Craig Cruce scored 10 points.
The Golden Eagles made UNA pay on turnovers as the Lions lost the ball 20 times in the game with Tech (5-6) converting those into 24 points. The offensive glass led into the Golden Eagles' favor as well as Tech pulled down 18 offensive rebounds to collect 14 second-chance points. Tech won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Lions 39-29.
Both teams were on fire from the floor in the first quarter as Tech hit 10 of 21 shots in the first 10 minutes for a 47.6-percent clip, while North Alabama hit 9-of-16 for a 56.3 completion rate. The score remained close through the first 10 minutes, but Tech took a 25-22 lead at the end of the first stanza.
The Golden Eagles cooled off considerably as they shot 4-for-15 in the second quarter. UNA used a 10-0 run as it hit 7-of-11 shots and 4-for-4 at the line to outscore Tech 21-14, taking a 43-39 lead into the intermission.
North Alabama's torrid pace went ice cold in the third quarter as the Lions missed their first nine shots of the quarter and didn't hit a field goal until two minutes to go in the period. Tech scored 12 straight points to erase the deficit with Jennifer Sullivan draining a 3-pointer at 5:35 left in the quarter to give the Golden Eagles a 47-45 lead, one Tech never relinquished.
Before the third quarter ended, the Golden Eagles led by as many as eight points, but the host Lions trimmed the deficit back down to three before the quarter ended with Tech on top 57-52.
UNA made another run at the Golden Eagles, cutting the lead down to one at 64-63 with 5:56 remaining in the contest, but Tech went on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to retake an 11-point lead at 2:28 left, with both teams only draining one more field goal each before the game ended.
Tech finished the game shooting 26-for-63 (41.3 percent), including 8-for-25 (32.0 percent) from 3-point range, while shooting 18-for-24 (75.0 percent) from the free-throw line.
WISCONSIN 76, EASTERN ILLINOIS 64
MADISON, Wis. - Eastern Illinois hung tough in its final non-conference game of the season falling on Thursday night 76-64 at Wisconsin.
EIU led 18-17 after one quarter of action and 39-35 at the half shooting 57 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Macy McGlone scored 12 of her team-high 18 points in the opening half while Miah Monahan had ten first half points.
The Badgers opened the second half with a 9-0 run taking the lead with 7:59 to play in the third on a 3-pointer by Sania Copeland.
EIU regained the lead on Monahan's third 3-pointer of the day as she finished with 13 points going 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Her 3-pointer came with 2:08 left in the third quarter before Wisconsin closed out the period with a two-point lead at 58-56.
Wisconsin had another quick spurt of offense to open the fourth quarter taking a nine-point lead as Copeland closed out a 7-0 Badgers run with another 3-pointer at the 8:29 mark.
EIU would never get closer than five points in the final ten minutes of action.
McGlone finished with her eighth double-double this season adding ten rebounds to her 18 points. Charita "Tiny" Lewis chipped in with 11 points.
All five Wisconsin starters scored in double figures led by D'Yanis Jimenez with 19 points. Copeland contributed 12 going 4-of-8 on 3-pointers.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 116, CORNELL 55
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois Women's basketball found their way back to the winning ways with a commanding 116-55 victory over the Cornell College Rams. WIU knocked down a season-high 17 three-pointers en route to a 9-2 start on the season.
The game started with intense back-and-forth action in the first quarter, with Anna Deets making a three-pointer to give WIU a 3-0 lead. The Leathernecks and Cornell College were neck-and-neck, tied at 6-6 and 9-9. However, WIU then went on an impressive 17-3 run, with Mallory McDermott contributing nine points, including two three-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play. Deets also made significant contributions with two free throws and a put-back layup during this run. McDermott's third three-pointer of the quarter extended WIU's lead to 13 points, and at the end of the first quarter, they led 33-21.
The second quarter saw WIU continuing their dominance, with players like Raegan McCowan, Addi Brownfield, and McDermott all contributing to an opening 12-0 run. McDermott's hot hand continued with two more threes to start the quarter. Jasmine Nichols and Lily Randgaard jumped into the action with a three-point basket and a layup to give WIU a 52-29 lead with 4:48 left in the half. McCowan would get a layup to go, pushing WIU's lead as high as 25 points (54-29) as WIU established a commanding lead of 64-40 at halftime, marking their highest-scoring half of the season.
WIU showed no signs of slowing down in the third quarter, as they embarked on a 19-0 run in the first five minutes. Allie Meadows knocked down two three-pointers during this stretch, and WIU's defense held Cornell to just six points in the quarter. Heading into the final 10 minutes, WIU led 88-42.
The Leathernecks extended their lead in the fourth quarter, ending the game on a 19-4 run and securing a convincing 116-55 victory. Kaylen Reed knocked down a three-pointer during the run, pushing her total to seven points.
McCowan led the way with an impressive 30-point performance on 12-15 shooting, going 6-6 from the free-throw line and contributing five rebounds. McDermott set a new career high with 27 points, fueled by her seven three-pointers, while Deets also surpassed the 20-point mark with 22 points, including six triples. Alissa Dins stood out with nine assists and five rebounds, while Nichols led in rebounds with seven.
WIU showcased remarkable efficiency, shooting 60% from the field, 58% from three-point range, and an impressive 94% from the free-throw line. This dominant performance highlighted the team's offensive prowess and solid defensive efforts, securing a memorable victory.