SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Western Illinois 79, Tennessee State 71 (OT)
Eastern Illinois 68, @Lindenwood 60
@Southern Indiana 70, Morehead State 55
@Southeast Missouri 86, SIUE 72
WESTERN ILLINOIS 79, TENNESSEE STATE 71 (OT)
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois earned their 12th win of the season, defeating Tennessee State 79-71 in overtime inside a packed Western Hall. The Leathernecks move to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The first-quarter action began as Addi Brownfield and Raegan McCowan contributed back-to-back baskets, giving WIU an early 4-2 lead. Brownfield's six points accounted for the majority of the first eight Leathernecks points. Despite falling behind 13-8, WIU narrowed the gap with Allie Meadows knocking down a crucial three-pointer, bringing the score to 16-13. TSU extended their lead back out to five (18-13) at the end of the first quarter.
Tennessee State extended their lead to nine points in the second quarter, but WIU responded with a 7-0 run, featuring contributions from Anna Deets and Allie Meadows. The back-and-forth nature of the game continued, with both teams making runs, and by halftime, Tennessee State held a narrow 34-29 lead.
The second half saw WIU's offense clicking as they initiated a comeback. McCowan and Deets combined for ten points, allowing WIU to jump in front 40-38. Tennessee State jumped back in front several times in the third quarter, but free throws from Anna Deets kept it a one-possession game. Tennessee State controlled the rest of quarter three, heading into the fourth quarter ahead 52-48
Down 55-48 to start the fourth quarter, WIU went to McCowan, who contributed three straight points, cutting the deficit to four (55-51). Alissa Dins kept the offense rolling with four points to tie the game at 55.
With the score tied at 64, McCowan's trip to the free-throw line put WIU ahead 66-64 with 46 seconds remaining. Tennessee State responded with a layup, sending the game into overtime.
WIU opened with four straight points in the extra frame, establishing a 70-66 lead. Despite TSU narrowing the deficit, McCowan and Deets secured the win, with Deets making five consecutive free throws in the closing moments, sealing a 79-70 victory for WIU.
Raegan McCowan delivered an exceptional performance, achieving her third double-double of the season with 28 points and 17 rebounds. Anna Deets was instrumental in the victory, scoring 23 points and making a significant impact from the free-throw line, where she went 17-18. Addi Brownfield also played a crucial role, contributing 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
WIU's overall shooting performance was solid, with a 40% success rate from the field and an impressive 89% accuracy from the free-throw line (35-39).
EASTERN ILLINOIS 68, LINDENWOOD 60
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Eastern Illinois women's basketball had another solid shooting second half as the Panthers had a late charge in the fourth quarter to pick up a 68-60 win at Lindenwood.
EIU trailed 38-36 with 4:39 left in the third quarter when Macy McGlone picked up her fourth foul of the game having only scored six points at that point.
Lindenwood would lead 47-43 after the third quarter and eventually go up by as many as seven points on a jumper by Mykayla Cunningham with 7:14 to play in the game.
McGlone played the entire fourth quarter giving EIU the lead with 2:34 to play on a turnaround jumper. McGlone finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds for her seventh straight double-double and 14th of the season.
Charita "Tiny" Lewis drained a 3-pointer with 27.2 seconds left to give EIU a 64-60 lead and Miah Monahan iced the game with four free throws in the final seconds. Monahan had 18 points including seven straight for EIU in the third quarter after McGlone drew her fourth foul.
Ellie Buzzelle was big for the Panthers in the first half finishing the game with 16 points as EIU improved to 7-12 overall, 4-2 in the OVC.
Cunningham led Lindenwood with 17 points off the bench. Ellie Brueggemann added 11 points for the Lions who fell to 3-13 overall, 1-5 in the OVC.
The Panthers shot 54 percent in the 3rd quarter and 50 percent in the 4th quarter shooting 47 percent for the game.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 70, MOREHEAD STATE 55
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball kept its unblemished Ohio Valley Conference record intact at Screaming Eagles Arena Saturday afternoon after a 70-55 victory against second-place Morehead State University, while USI senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) posted a game-high 18 points to surpass 1,000 career points.
For Raley, the forward became the 21st player in USI Women's Basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Despite having four personal fouls late in Saturday's contest, Raley achieved the feat with under three minutes remaining on a three-point play to give USI some breathing room on the scoreboard down the final stretch against Morehead State. Raley exited the game in the final seconds to a standing ovation from coaches, teammates, and spectators, including her family in attendance.
With Saturday's win, the Screaming Eagles improved to 12-5 overall and 7-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The win also marked USI's eighth consecutive overall victory. The eight-game winning streak is the longest for USI since the 2018-19 campaign, and the seven-game winning streak in conference action is the longest since the 2017-18 season. With the 7-0 record to start the OVC slate, USI is enjoying its best start to a conference schedule since 1996-97, when the Screaming went 30-2 and was an NCAA II National Finalist. The 1996-97 squad also owns USI's all-time best winning streak of 29 games.
From the opening tip, Southern Indiana had early success going inside and scoring in the paint. USI also had strong moments on the defensive end, forcing Morehead State deep into the shot clock on several occasions. After a small run by Morehead State late in the first, the visiting Eagles led 15-11 after the opening 10 minutes of action.
Morehead State's run continued into the second period, spanning four minutes total. The 10-0 run led to a 20-11 lead for Morehead State with eight minutes left in the first half. After a few exchanged baskets, and Morehead State ahead 26-15, Southern Indiana buckled down on defense and cranked up the offense. USI went on a 12-0 run over three minutes to surge into the lead, 27-26. Senior forward Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana) capitalized on a couple of looks in the paint, while junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) found her touch with the jump shot.
The Screaming Eagles eventually stretched the push to a 24-5 run for the last 6:40 of the first half. Shafford drilled another pair of triples before Webb and Raley also converted on opportunities down low as part of the big run. USI shot 10-16 for over 62 percent in the second period. Shafford and Raley reached double figures by halftime, as USI led 39-31 at the intermission.
Morehead State scored first out of halftime, but USI answered to increase the margin to nine, 45-36, thanks to an acrobatic, reverse layup from sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana). By the five-minute mark of the third, the Screaming Eagles' lead reached double digits after back-to-back makes in the post by Webb. Late in the third frame, Saunders continued to be aggressive, knocking down a three-pointer and scoring on dribble penetration. Saunders joined Shafford, Raley, and Webb in double figures by the end of the third, as USI led 56-44 going to the fourth stanza.
Defenses clamped down to begin an intense start to the fourth quarter. Shots were challenged and contested on both ends of the floor. Morehead State made a small charge, but USI was able to maintain its double-figure advantage, 60-50, with 4:32 remaining in the fourth. After a short dry spell for both squads, Raley took control to finish off the win for USI, converting two three-point plays inside the final two minutes.
Southern Indiana was 27-63 for just under 43 percent shooting from the field in the matchup, including four made triples. USI went 12-14 for just below 86 percent at the foul line. Following a slow start on the boards, the Screaming Eagles outrebounded Morehead State, 44-39. Plus, USI outscored Morehead State 44-24 in the paint. In addition to Raley's 18-point performance, Shafford and Webb added 14 points, while Saunders tallied 11 points.
The Morehead State Eagles dropped to 10-8 this season and 5-2 in the OVC with Saturday's loss. In the game, Morehead State shot for below 33 percent (19-58) from the floor with six treys but was only 11-24 for under 46 percent at the free-throw stripe. Morehead State had three players score 10-plus, led by senior guard Veronica Charles' 16 points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 86, SIUE 72
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (6-11, 3-3 OVC) returned to winning ways on Saturday afternoon with an 86-72 victory over SIUE (3-17, 0-7 OVC) at the Show-Me Center. Led by Jaliyah Green, five different Redhawks finished in double figures.
Green led the way with 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting and an impressive 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. She also shot 50-percent from three-point land (3-6), to lead SEMO to their third conference victory of the season.
The backcourt sprung SEMO to victory as Alecia Doyle, Indiya Bowen, Kiyley Flowers, and Daejah Richmond were the four other Redhawks in double-digits. Bowen and Richmond both finished with 11 points while Doyle had 10. Flowers finished with 15 points on 50-percent shooting in her best shooting performance in conference play.
As a team, SEMO shot nearly 50-percent from the floor (30-61) and an impressive 33-percent from behind-the-arc (5-15). One of the best free-throw shooting teams in the league, SEMO finished 21-27 from the stripe in Saturday's contest.
The Redhawks, defensively, caused havoc for SIUE today forcing 20 Cougar turnovers and converted them into 26 points on the other end. SEMO also won the rebounding battle by a 31-27 margin, 24 of those coming on the defensive glass.
SIUE shot 42-percent from the floor led by Sofie Lowis who scored a game-high 23 points on 9-for-15 from the floor.
Guard Kiyley Flowers got the Redhawks on the board at the 9:04 mark with a nice pull up jumper at the elbow. Flowers used a screen nicely and stopped and drained the jump shot for her only points of the opening quarter.
SIUE would get out to a 5-2 lead off a three-pointer from Macy Silvey and a layup by Halle Smith on back-to-back possessions.
SEMO would fall behind 8-3 in before the media timeout, but the Redhawks would fight back on the offensive glass. Jaliyah Green snatched an offensive rebound and found a cutting Abby Stephens who finished with her right hand.
The Cougars and Redhawks traded three-pointers beginning with SIUE's Molly Sheehan who made it an 11-5 SIUE lead. Indiya Bowen would respond with a three of her own, the Redhawks first three of the contest, to cut the SIUE lead to just three.
SEMO got the lead back for the first time since the opening basket, midway through the quarter on a beautiful driving layup from Green to make it 12-11 SEMO at the 5:19 mark.
A steal by Bowen led to the Redhawks getting out in transition. Bowen ripped the ball from Ava Stoller and drove the length of the court, dishing it to Daejah Richmond for the easy lay-in.
SEMO led by as many as eight points in the opening 10-minutes and led 21-16 at the end of the first.
The Redhawks immediately extended their five-point lead to seven with a pullup jumper from Alecia Doyle.
SIUE would cut the deficit to three with a quick 4-0 run by Halle Smith on back-to-back layups from the Cougars' forward.
SEMO would respond with a 7-0 run of their own following the SIUE baskets, started with a pair of Indiya Bowen free throws. Jaliyah Green would knock down a three-pointer to make it 28-20 with 7:53 left in the half.
Another Redhawks offensive rebound led to a Kiyley Flowers jumpshot to give the Redhawks a 30-20 lead with seven minutes to go.
Nearing the end of the half, Daejha Richmond got the Redhawks running in transition and found Megan Barton off a beautiful feed to give the Redhawks a 34-22 lead with 3:14 left in the half.
SEMO led by as many as 13 in the quarter after a Bowen layup off an SIUE turnover made it 40-27. SIUE made the half's final basket, a three-pointer from Sofie Lowis, and SEMO led 40-30 at the end of the half.
Jaliyah Green led SEMO in scoring with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and shot 40-percent from three-point land (2-5).
The Redhawks shot 45.7-percent from the floor in the opening half as nine different Redhawks registered points. As a team, SEMO shot 30-percent from three-point land, led by Green and Bowen (1-2).
The Redhawks forced 12 first half turnovers and converted them into 15 points, including two fast break points. SEMO lost the first half rebounding battle, 17-13, but had 16 points in the paint.
SIUE opened the second half with a pair of free throws and cut the lead to six with a made jump shot by Macy Silvey. With 9:28 left in the quarter, SEMO led 40-34.
Forward Michaela Mayfield registered the first basket of the second half for the Redhawks, a wide-open layup off an assist from Kiyley Flowers.
A driving layup from Daejah Richmond got the Redhawks back up to a nine-point lead with 6:55 left. SIUE's Macy Silvey drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to trim it back down to six.
A back-and-forth third quarter, Megan Barton hit a three on the right wing off the feed from Richmond with 6:16 left in the third.
SEMO closed the quarter on an 11-3 run over the quarter's final 4:10 and led 62-48 at the end of three quarters.
Jaliyah Green hit a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter to give SEMO a 65-48 lead as the final quarter began.
SIUE trailed by as little as nine points, but failed to get past that mark as the Redhawks continued an impressive shooting day as SEMO held on for an 86-72 victory at the Show-Me Center.