SATURDAY'S SCORES
*Western Illinois 65, @Morehead State 59
*@Little Rock 53, Southeast Missouri 47
*@Eastern Illinois 71, Tennessee State 67 (OT)
*Tennessee Tech 67, @SIUE 58
*Lindenwood 73, @UT Martin 68
WESTERN ILLINOIS 65, MOREHEAD STATE 59
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Head Coach JD Gravina became the winningest coach in Leatherneck Women's Basketball history as Western Illinois defeated the Morehead State Eagles 65-59 inside Johnson Arena. WIU moves to 13-6 overall and 4-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
WIU fell behind early, 2-0 before Anna Deets's offense came alive. The senior scored five of the Leatherneck's first eight points, helping WIU claim an early 8-5 lead with 4:48 left in the first quarter. Both teams traded baskets before Deets maintained WIU's lead with an old-fashioned three-point play. Jasmine Nichols finished the first quarter with a basket, and the first quarter ended with both teams tied at 13.
The second quarter saw a low-scoring start, with only four combined points in the first five minutes. Kaylen Reed's 15-foot jump shot tied the game at 15, and the scoring picked up in the final five minutes as both teams traded baskets. Raegan McCowan got her offense flowing as she knocked down a jump shot, giving WIU a 22-21 lead. McCowan extended the WIU lead to three with a jump shot in the paint. Morehead State finished the half on a 9-0 run to take a 30-24 lead into halftime.
The second half began with WIU cutting the deficit to three points (30-27) through free throws and a layup from Addi Brownfield and Anna Deets, respectively. WIU regained the lead at 31-30 with Kaylen Reed's and Raegan McCowan's contributions. Mallory McDermott's two crucial three-pointers helped WIU grow their lead to 45-39. However, Morehead State responded with a 6-0 run, leading to a tied score 47 heading into the fourth quarter.
Mallory McDermott continued her impressive performance in the final quarter, knocking down two more three-pointers as WIU took a 53-50 lead. Raegan McCowan and Alissa Dins contributed buckets, and McCowan scored the final eight points in the last four minutes, securing a 65-59 victory for WIU.
Raegan McCowan led the team offensively with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Anna Deets and Mallory McDermott made significant contributions with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Alissa Dins played a crucial role on the boards, securing ten rebounds along with six points.
LITTLE ROCK 53, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 47
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Senior guard Tia Harvey said it best during Saturday's postgame media session – when asked of the key to Little Rock's 53-47 conference win over Southeast Missouri, she replied with, "playing Joe Foley defense." That defense held the visiting Redhawks to just 27 percent shooting at the Jack Stephens Center, the lowest single-game total allowed by the Trojans this season.
One could also argue that rebounding played a huge role in the victory as well, since Little Rock (7-12, 6-2 OVC) outrebounded its opponent for just the second time this season, grabbing a season-high 45 boards as a team to finish with a plus-5 advantage. Another dominant second half by Faith Lee was also a major contributor as the sophomore led all scorers with 19 points and scored 15 in the second half just two days after putting in 18 in the second half of a win over Lindenwood.
Whatever the case may be, Little Rock entered the day in a three-way tie for second in the Ohio Valley Conference but is now tied with only Eastern Illinois for the same spot – two games behind first-place Southern Indiana. The Trojans have won five of their last six and seven of nine after an 0-10 start against one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules. Little Rock finished 5-1 in the month of January, winning all three games at home.
Lee went 7-of-15 from the floor Saturday to lead the scoring, Leilani Wimbish-Gay added 11 points, seven rebounds and a block, while Jayla Brooks tallied seven points, nine rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Mesi Triplett also posted career-bests of nine rebounds and four blocks. Five different players – Brooks (9), Triplett (9), Jordan Holman (8), Wimbish-Gay (7), and Sug Williams (6) – grabbed at least six rebounds. The previous team-best rebounding game was surpassed by nine (36, at Tennessee State).
SEMO fell to 6-13 overall and 3-5 on OVC play after failing to come up with buckets despite a high volume of shot opportunities in the critical fourth period. The Redhawks shot an ice-cold 17.4 percent from the field (4-of-23) in the final 10 minutes and made just 42.9 percent from the free throw line during the game (9-of-21).
EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, TENNESSEE STATE 67 (OT)
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Macy McGlone scored 30 points and pulled down a career high 19 rebounds as Eastern Illinois scored late to force overtime and then picked up the win 71-67 in the extra session in a thriller against Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon at Groniger Arena.
Tied at 60-60 at the end of regulation, Eastern Illinois used a 5-0 run in the overtime session on a 3-pointer by Charita “Tiny” Lewis and jumper by Taris Thornton. The five point spurt gave the Panthers the breathing room they needed to improve to 9-12 overall, 6-2 in the OVC.
Lyric Cole gave TSU a four-point lead at 59-55 with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter. EIU cut into the lead with a Thornton jumper and free throw by Lewis. Miah Monahan then gave the Panthers a 60-59 lead with 25 seconds left with jumper.
TSU would have a chance to win the game at the line but could only convert on 1-of-2 at the foul line with 20 seconds left as the Lady Tigers fell to 5-13, overall, 2-6 in the OVC. Both teams would miss one last shot in the final 20 seconds of regulation.
McGlone carried the Panthers offense through four quarters with her second 30-point performance this season. She added four blocks to her point and rebound totals.
Monahan and Lewis each added ten points for EIU.
TSU was led by Sanaa’ St. Andre with 18 points. Cole added 12 go to with nine rebounds while Zyion Shannon had 11.
TENNESSEE TECH 67, SIUE 58
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Tennessee Tech used the glass to great effect on Saturday as it was the rebounding effort that helped the Golden Eagles take a 67-58 victory over SIUE.
Tech won the battle on the glass 44-37, but it was the offensive rebounds that put the Golden Eagles on top as Tech doubled the offensive boards 20-10, scoring 21 second-chance points to SIUE's five. With the extra opportunities, the Golden Eagles were able to get five more field goals and 17 more shot attempts.
While the first shots weren't falling, Tech never gave up. The Golden Eagles shot 24-for-68 from the field and 6-for-24 from 3-point range. They also went 13-for-22 at the line. With as potent as SIUE's offense is – despite their winless record in conference play – the Golden Eagles were set on getting as many shots as they could and keeping the ball out of the Cougars' hands.
With the effort to pull away the loose ball, the second-chance opportunities also added to Tech's point total in the paint, outscoring SIUE 34-18 under the basket.
SIUE never had the lead in the contest, but the Cougars did make it interesting in the second half, tying the game at 39-all with 6:57 left in the third quarter. Even after the Golden Eagles extended the lead back out to six before the quarter came to a close, SIUE chipped away, making it a one-point game with 8:38 remaining.
After the Cougars' Sofie Lewis hit a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound with 2:56 left to make it a 60-58 Tech lead, SIUE did not score another point in the contest, allowing the Golden Eagles to score the last seven points unanswered.
Maaliya Owens led the way for the Golden Eagles as she scored 16 points, including a 6-for-6 effort at the free-throw line. Anna Walker picked up 13 points, and Peyton Carter collected her second career double-double as she scored 10 points and led all players with 11 rebounds. The double-double was Carter's first since the 2021-22 season against Tennessee Wesleyan.
Tech also got a strong effort from Yaubryon Chambers, who scored six of her nine points and pulled down three rebounds in the fourth quarter to close the door on the Cougars.
Macy Silvey was the only double-digit scorer for SIUE (3-18, 0-8 OVC), collecting 16 points as she shot 6-for-13 from the floor and knocking down four of the Cougars' nine 3-pointers. She also led the team in rebounds with nine.
The Golden Eagles (9-10, 4-4 OVC) return home Thursday as they host OVC leader Southern Indiana on Thursday night in the Eblen Center. The Screaming Eagles are the only undefeated team in league play with an 8-0 mark.
UT MARTIN 73, LINDENWOOD 68
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Lindenwood women's basketball team (4-14, 2-5 OVC) picked up a thrilling 73-68 victory over UT Martin (7-12, 4-3 OVC) on Saturday afternoon in Martin, Tenn. Mya Skoff hit a go-ahead three with eight seconds left to put the Lions in front for good.
Lindenwood jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead in the opening frame as Ellie Brueggemann had five points in the early going. The Skyhawks went on a mini 6-0 run to cut into the deficit, but back-to-back threes by Brueggemann gave the Lions an 18-13 advantage with less than two minutes to go in the period. UT Martin closed the gap a bit in the final minutes, but Lindenwood led 21-19 after one. Brueggemann finished the quarter with 11 points.
The black and gold maintained a 28-22 advantage early in the second, but the Skyhawks proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to pull ahead 32-28. UT Martin ballooned its advantage to as many as 11, and the Lions would trail 41-32 at the break.
In the early stages of the third quarter, UT Martin maintained a comfortable advantage at 48-37. Over the next three minutes, Lindenwood turned up the defensive pressure and went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 48-46. The Skyhawks settled back down and grew the lead to 51-46 after three quarters. Brueggemann was a scoring threat once again with 13 points in the quarter.
In the fourth, an and one from Alyssa Nielsen made the score 60-57 with just under seven minutes to go. UTM would answer and grown the score to 68-62 with 2:56 to go. From there, Lindenwood finished the game on an 11-0 run. With the game tied 68-68, and eight seconds remaining, Mya Skoff drilled a three-pointer to give Lindenwood a 71-68 lead. On the ensuing defensive possession, the Skyhawks mossed a shot and Nielsen closed the game out from the free throw line, making two. This ensured Lindenwood's first road win of the season and a 73-68 victory.