THURSDAY'S SCORES
*@Little Rock 50, Lindenwood 45
*@Eastern Illinois 73, Tennessee Tech 71
*@Southern Indiana 81, Western Illinois 61
*@UT Martin 52, Southeast Missouri 44
LITTLE ROCK 50, LINDENWOOD 45
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Little Rock erased a five-point fourth quarter deficit Thursday and outscored Lindenwood by 10 in the pivotal period to grind out a tough 50-45 conference win at the Jack Stephens Center in front of a loud and rowdy School Day crowd. Faith Lee scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to jumpstart a Trojan offense that had failed to get off the ground before halftime.
Little Rock (6-12, 5-2 OVC) also had trouble finding a rhythm offensively due to the absence of point guard Jaiyah Harris-Smith, but the Trojans were able to do just enough to overcome a gritty Lions squad. Lindenwood (3-14, 1-6 OVC) shot just 38.8 percent from the floor, including 4-of-12 (33.3 percent in the deciding fourth period. The Lions also made just 2-of-8 free throws and 5-of-17 from behind the arc. Ellie Brueggemann and Makayla Wallace each had 12 to lead Lindenwood.
Lee made 10 of her 21 shots to get to 24 points and grabbed five rebounds. Jayla Brooks finished with 10 points and four rebounds while playing in the point guard position. Four others had four points each, including Leilani Wimbish-Gay, who also had six rebounds and four steals. Mesi Triplett grabbed six boards and blocked a pair of shots, helping the Trojans earn their first win of the season when trailing after three periods. Little Rock finished 20-of-42 from the floor (47.6 percent).
The teams combined for 12 lead changes and five ties and the largest lead for both was five points. Neither team went on a scoring run greater than seven points.
Both teams started slowly, and the Trojans went 4 ½ minutes in the first quarter between their first and second made shots. The two sides combined to make just 6-of-19 shots and each team turned the ball over five times in the first 10 minutes. Lindenwood put together a 7-0 tun in the second, turning a three-point Little Rock lead into a 14-10 advantage for the visitors, with the Trojans committing three turnovers during that span. Each side traded shots for the remainder of the half and the Lions took a 22-19 lead into intermission. Brueggemann had nine of her 12 in the first half.
The third period featured more back-and-forth, and the Trojans led by two early on before Lindenwood upped its advantage to five points late and carried that lead into the final frame. Little Rock took a one-point lead with 6:09 to play and the lead would change hands four more times before the Trojans went ahead for good on a jumper by Lee with 2:13 to play. Little Rock finished off a 6-0 run to go in front 48-43 and Triplett iced the game with a pair of free throws.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 73, TENNESSEE TECH 71
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Miah Monahan tied the game in the final 30 seconds with a 3-pointer and Macy McGlone put in the game winner at the buzzer as Eastern Illinois beat Tennessee Tech 73-71 in a thriller on Thursday night at Groniger Arena.
Monahan scored 20 points to lead the Panthers on a night when EIU cooled off in the early part of the fourth quarter after shooting 57 percent in the second quarter and 50 percent in the third.
Tied at 56-56 after three quarters, TTU opened the final quarter with baskets by Reghan Grimes and Maaliya Owens.
TTU took a three point lead with 1:26 left in the game on free throws by Owens who scored 20 points for the Golden Eagles.
Monahan hit her game tying shot with 28 seconds left and following a defensive stand McGlone won the game at the buzzer finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds, her eighth straight double-double and 15th this season.
Taris Thornton added 11 points while Charita "Tiny" Lewis had seven assists and nine points. Emily Meidel provided a lift off the bench with nine points.
Grimes and Reagan Hurst joined Owens in double figures for TTU. Grimes scored 17, Hurst finished with ten.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 81, WESTERN ILLINOIS 61
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball used a strong second half Thursday night at Screaming Eagles Arena to pull away and win its ninth consecutive game with an 81-61 victory against Western Illinois University, keeping the Screaming Eagles undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 8-0 conference record.
Southern Indiana, who remains in first place in the OVC by 2.5 games, already surpassed its OVC win total from the 2022-23 season last week. Thursday's win against the Leathernecks put the Screaming Eagles at 13-5 this season, surpassing last year's overall mark.
Thursday's matchup featured two top-three scoring offenses in the Ohio Valley Conference and the Screaming Eagles' top-scoring defense in league play. After a couple of minutes of settling into the game, Southern Indiana grabbed an early 10-3 advantage three minutes into the contest following a pair of three-pointers and a layup. Then Western Illinois went to work on the offensive end for an 8-0 run to take a one-point lead in the middle of the first quarter. By the end of the first 10 minutes of action, the Leathernecks led 18-15.
The back-and-forth struggle from the first period lingered into the second quarter. After Western Illinois started the second by pushing its lead to five, USI's freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee) put consecutive baskets through the bottom of the net to bring the Screaming Eagles within one, 22-21. Halfway into the frame, the Leathernecks led 26-22 before USI senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) went on an individual spurt with a mid-range jumper and a triple to push Southern Indiana in front, 27-26. Raley ended up with 10 second-quarter points. Down the stretch of the first half, sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana) helped expand the Eagles' lead on her second trey of the game and a dazzling layup. Southern Indiana carried a 35-28 lead into the halftime locker room.
After a bit of a slow start from the floor to start the second half, Southern Indiana scored back-to-back layups from senior forward Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana) and junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) to maintain its halftime margin. Then the Eagles started to find a consistent balance between their inside and outside game. Under the six-minute mark in the third period, Saunders canned another three to cross into double figures for the game, as USI led 42-35. About two minutes later, Shafford started to heat up from beyond the arc, splashing home a three from the wing to extend the Eagles' advantage to 10, 47-37. Late in the third, USI went on a 12-0 run, which was sparked by a three-point play from Raley and a made three from Shafford. Southern Indiana went into the fourth stanza ahead 61-43.
Right away in the fourth quarter, Shafford cashed in another three-pointer. Later in the fourth, Southern Indiana went on an 11-2 run, which was highlighted by Gannon making a basket and drawing the foul twice within a minute of action. With six minutes left on the clock, Raley and Saunders swished back-to-back triples to increase the Screaming Eagles' lead to 25, 75-50. In the two minutes that followed, Gannon scored twice more to set a new career mark. Southern Indiana closed out the victory from there.
Southern Indiana ended the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field (29-61) with 11 makes from long range, nearly double USI's total three-point makes in the previous two games. USI was 12-23 for 52.2 percent at the foul line. The Screaming Eagles racked up 18 assists after 12 second-half helpers. Individually, Raley led all scorers with 21 points, while Gannon posted a career-high 18 points on 8-13 shooting. Shafford recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Saunders tallied a season-high 14 points with five rebounds and seven assists, which matched a season best.
Western Illinois, who dropped to 12-6 this season and 3-4 in league action, was held to 30 percent shooting (19-63) and only 19 percent (6-31) from outside the perimeter. The Leathernecks went 17-21 for 81 percent at the free-throw stripe. Freshman combo guard Raegan McCowan paced Western Illinois with 18 points.
The current run by the Screaming Eagles, overall and in conference play, is a team best since 2017-18 when USI rattled off 13 straight victories in the middle of the Great Lakes Valley Conference season. The Screaming Eagles also continue to ride their best start to a conference schedule since 1996-97. The current streak has featured six double-digit margins of victory and two single-digit wins in conference play, flipping some of the close defeats from last season. In addition to completing the three-game homestand sweep, Southern Indiana also picked up its fifth weekly sweep in the OVC schedule after having none in 2022-23.
UT MARTIN 52, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 44
MARTIN, Tenn. - A pair of impressive double-doubles by sophomore forwards Anaya Brown and Lexi Rubel keyed a strong second half comeback to lift the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team to a 52-44 Ohio Valley Conference victory over visiting Southeast Missouri.
The Skyhawks (7-11, 4-3 OVC) used a 12-2 run in the third quarter and outscored the Redhawks by 14 in the second half to propel the squad to a home victory. The path was not simple for the home team however, as the squad shot just 29.6 percent from the floor while being limited to 18 points in the opening half.
Despite the team's offensive shortcomings, UT Martin hammered the boards where they snagged a season-high 49 rebounds – including 16 on the offensive glass. The tandem of Brown and Rubel carried a heavy load for the Skyhawks with both players registering double-doubles and combining for 30 rebounds. The tandem became the first Skyhawk duo to record double-doubles in the same game since the 2019-20 campaign.
Brown paced the Skyhawks in both points and rebounds with 14 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the home team. The game marked the first 20-rebound performance by a Skyhawk since the 2008-09 season while joining Mary Kate Long and Phyllisha Mitchell as the lone players in UT Martin history to eclipse 20 rebounds. Joining in the double-double action was Rubel who tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
Southeast Missouri (6-12, 3-4 OVC) struggled from the field as well, shooting just 28.6 percent from the floor. Jaliyah Green joined her counterpart Brown with a game-high 14 points while adding five rebounds. Guard Daejah Richmond also scored in double figures, adding 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Redhawks.