THURSDAY'S SCORES
*Tennessee Tech 79, @Morehead State 56
*@Little Rock 79, SIUE 59
*Southeast Missouri 72, @Western Illinois 66
*@Southern Indiana 78, Tennessee State 57
*Eastern Illinois 72, @UT Martin 70
TENNESSEE TECH 79, MOREHEAD STATE 56
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Slow starts hampered the Tennessee Tech women in the first two Ohio Valley Conference contests of the season. The third time must have been the charm as the Golden Eagles surged out to big leads early to take a 79-56 victory at Morehead State on Thursday night.
Tech (6-8, 1-2 Ohio Valley Conference) continues the road trip on Saturday as it heads to Evansville to take on Southern Indiana.
A trio of Golden Eagles led the way in scoring as Peyton Carter, Reagan Hurst and Maaliya Owens all three scored 13 points in the game, while Jennifer Sullivan scored 10. Carter also pulled down seven rebounds, tying Reghan Grimes on the boards.
Carter was 4-for-7 from the field, including three 3-pointers and was 2-for-2 at the stripe. Hurst was 6-for-11 with a trey, while also collecting four rebounds, an assist and a block. Owens finished the game with three 3-pointers and two made free-throws among her 13.
The Golden Eagles saw the things that slowed them down in the opening two games of the OVC slate fall in their corner on Thursday as Tech collected 27 points off of MSU’s 15 turnovers, literally turning defense into offense. The battle on the glass was slightly in Tech’s favor with a 39-34 margin with the Golden Eagles collecting 12 offensive boards to convert into 14 second-chance points.
Tech was also able to get 46 points in the paint to Morehead’s 24, while it also scored 36 bench points to Morehead State’s eight.
The Golden Eagles didn’t need the free-throw line for success on Thursday, only drawing five shots from the stripe and hitting all of them. MSU (6-7, 1-1 OVC) was whistled for 12 fouls in the contest.
Anna Walker blocked four of Tech’s six stonewalls as she also led the team in steals with three.
It was all Golden Eagles to open the first stanza as Tech scored the first 11 points of the contest as Hurst knocked down a second-chance layup and Grimes sank a jumper. Hurst hit a layup in the paint, followed by five points from Harley Paynter in her first career start as she hit an inside layup and a 3-pointer. Seven of those first 11 points came off of Morehead State turnovers.
The second quarter started on a similar run as the first as the Golden Eagles rolled off 10 straight points – all off turnovers – as Kiera Hill got an and-one bucket on a second-chance try, then Peyton Carter drained a 3 with Jennifer Sullivan and Hill collecting another pair. The run also concluded a 15-point swing for Tech that closed off at the seven-minute mark in the period.
It wasn’t as big of a runaway start in the third quarter as the Golden Eagles rifled off an 11-4 run there. That start gave Tech its largest lead of 29 points.
From the field, the Golden Eagles finished the game with a 48.5 shooting percentage, hitting 33 of 68 shots. Tech was 8-for-16 (50.0 percent) in the first quarter and 11-for-20 (55.0 percent) in the second quarter as the Golden Eagles outscored the host Eagles 21-11 and 26-14 in the first two periods for a 47-25 lead at the half.
Morehead made it closer in the third with a three-point, 20-17 deficit, then outscored Tech 14-12 in the fourth, but couldn’t cut the overall Golden Eagle lead to under 21.
LITTLE ROCK 79, SIUE 59
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock women's basketball team started 2024 with its best performance of the season, rolling over SIUE on Thursday by a 79-59 score at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans (3-11, 2-1 OVC) tied their season-high for points scored, forced a season-high 25 turnovers, and committed a season-low five while leading by as many as 26 in the contest. That margin is their largest lead of the season.
Jayla Brooks matched her career-high with 25 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. Brooks also added six rebounds, four assists and two steals in a dominant effort. Leilani Wimbish-Gay – winner of two straight OVC Newcomer of the Week awards – established a new career high with 18 points and grabbed four rebounds to go with three blocks and three assists.
Faith Lee scored 18 points while hitting 8-of-10 free throws and Tia Harvey made a huge impact even further than the stat sheet while adding nine points and four assists. Little Rock shot 45 percent from the floor (25-of-56), 43 percent from long range (6-of-14) and made a season-high 23 free throws, eclipsing their previous high total of 15. Sug Williams added six points, seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
The Cougars (3-13, 0-3 OVC) were plagued not only by 25 turnovers, but poor shooting from deep, connecting on just 5-of-19 three-point shots (26 percent). Molly Sheehan and Brianna Wooldridge each had 15 for SIUE, while Halle Smith added 13 points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72, WESTERN LLINOIS 66
MACOMB, Ill. - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (4-10, 1-2 OVC) picked up it's first road and conference win of the 2023-24 season with a 72-66 victory over Western Illinois (10-3, 1-1 OVC) on Thursday night from Western Hall.
Alecia Doyle and Jaliyah Green led the way offensively for the Redhawks with 17 and 16 points, respectively, as the duo has now scored double-digits in two straight games.
As a team, SEMO finished the game going 26-for-72 (36-percent) and 4-for-19 from behind the three-point line. The Redhawks did most of their damage in the paint as SEMO finished with a 30-24 advantage over WIU.
SEMO forced 19 WIU turnovers and converted them into 20 points as the Redhawks finished with a season-low seven turnovers as a team.
The Redhawks utilized their bench as they have all season, scoring 20 points from the reserves compared to just 13 from the Leatherneck bench.
Indiya Bowen contributed 14 points for SEMO in her highest total since November 28.
The Redhawks started the game with a nice offensive play between back court mates Kiyley Flowers and Jaliyah Green. Flowers found a cutting Green on the baseline and delivered a nice no-look pass for the game's first basket.
A pair of Alecia Doyle free throws would give the Redhawks a 6-2 advantage at the 8:03 mark before going on an 8-0 run over the game's next four minutes.
Jaliyah Green knocked down a jumper, followed by Flowers with her own jumper, and a layup from Indiya Bowen gave the Redhawks a 14-4 lead with 4:42 left in the quarter.
WIU got back to within four off a Mallory McDermott three-pointer and a pair of her own free throws as the Redhawks led 18-14.
The Redhawks would end the quarter on a 5-0 run via Alecia Doyle layup and an Abby Stephens three pointer for a 23-14 first quarter lead.
Bowen opened the second quarter with her sixth and eighth point of the contest, both coming from layups, and a quick 4-0 run out of the quarter break forced WIU into a timeout.
The Leathernecks didn't get their first point of the quarter until the 7:35 mark via a Raegan McCowan jump shot to cut their deficit to 13.
A pair of Jaliyah Green free throws midway through the second quarter put SEMO on top 34-20.
Nearing the end of the half, Indiya Bowen registered her 10th point of the ballgame off a jump shot, the assist from Kiyley Flowers and the Redhawks led 38-24.
That would be the Redhawks final basket of the half, as WIU closed the half on a 8-0 run as SEMO led 38-32 at the end of 20-minutes.
SEMO shot 33-percent from the field in the opening half (15-46) and just 18-percent from three-point range (2-11). The Redhawks were led in scoring by Bowen who finished the half with 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
The Redhawks had a strong advantage at the free throw line, only missing one attempt, and finished the half 6-for-7 at the charity stripe. WIU was 10-for-20 (50-percent).
SEMO forced 11 first half turnovers and committed just two of their own, turning those into 12 points on the offensive end.
The largest lead of the half came at the 6:55-mark as SEMO led 32-17 (15).
Kiyley Flowers started the second half with a three-pointer on the Redhawks' first possession of the half to make the score 41-32.
The game featured a two-minute scoring draught before WIU's Raegan McCowan made 1-of-2 free throws with 7:53 left in the quarter.
Midway through the quarter, an Addi Brownfield layup got the Leathernecks to within four, but Jaliyah Green would respond with a layup of her own to give SEMO a six-point lead with 4:50 to go before the final quarter.
The Redhawks would score three more points before the end of the quarter and led 49-46 as the game headed to the final 10-minutes.
Amiyah Buchanan got the scoring going in the final quarter with a nice layup in the post to give SEMO a 51-46 lead with 9:21 left.
A back-and-forth quarter, WIU failed to take the lead once, but got it to within three points with just a minute left in the contest.
SEMO, out of the timeout, set up a beautiful play to get Alecia Doyle into open space and she connected on a reverse layup to give SEMO a 69-66 lead with just 30-seconds left.
Jaliyah Green iced the game with a pair of free throws as SEMO held on for the 72-66 victory in Macomb.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 78, TENNESSEE STATE 57
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball seized its fourth consecutive victory Thursday night with a 78-57 home win against Tennessee State University.
Thursday's win gave Southern Indiana, who moved to 8-5 overall, its third Ohio Valley Conference win in three conference games played. Through Thursday's action around the OVC, USI is currently the only team with a 3-0 start. Eastern Illinois University sits right behind USI with a 2-0 mark to begin league play. The Screaming Eagles' 3-0 start to the OVC slate is USI's first 3-0 start in conference play since the 2021-22 season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Additionally, Thursday's victory also gave the Eagles their first four-game winning streak since near the tail end of the 2021-22 season.
Southern Indiana took advantage of its first three possessions at Screaming Eagles Arena on Thursday, scoring on two triples and one basket in the paint to grab an early 8-0 lead on Tennessee State. USI also connected on its first three attempts from beyond the arc. Graduate guard Tori Handley (Jeffersonville, Indiana) jumped out with five quick points, helping USI take a 20-9 lead by the first media timeout at the 3:34 mark of the first quarter. In the last 90 seconds of the opening period, senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) drilled two three-pointers as part of an 11-0 USI run. The Screaming Eagles led 31-11 going into the second quarter, as Southern Indiana went 11-15 from the field and forced the Tigers to cough up seven turnovers in the first.
Early in the second period, Tennessee State made a push to cut USI's lead down to 13. Junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) slowed down the Tigers' momentum by swishing in a three. Following a defensive stretch in the middle of the frame, Southern Indiana led by 15, 39-24, with 3:25 remaining in the first half. As part of another 11-0 run by the Eagles, Shafford cashed in two more treys. Raley and Shafford had a dozen first-half points each, as USI went into the locker room ahead 50-24 after holding the Tigers scoreless for the last 3:25 of the first half.
In a gradual start out of halftime, Southern Indiana doubled up Tennessee State, 52-26, before redshirt senior guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana) knocked down USI's eighth three of the contest at the 7:26 mark in the third. In the middle of the third, the Eagles led by as many as 31 points, 59-28. Then Tennessee State tightened up defensively and capitalized on the offensive end with a 10-0 run to close the gap down to 19, 61-42, by the end of the third quarter.
Southern Indiana began the fourth quarter with a long-range make by Shafford, giving USI a 64-42 advantage. As the two sides continued to battle, Shafford canned her fifth triple of the game to hit the 20-point plateau and put USI up 67-46 with 6:43 remaining. Despite some fightback by the Tigers, USI went on a 9-0 run later in the period, highlighted by a three from Blackwell and Shafford. The late run gave Southern Indiana the necessary cushion to seal the win.
For the game, the Screaming Eagles were 28-57 for 49 percent shooting, featuring a season-high 12 three-pointers made. USI also connected on 10 free throws and won the rebounding battle, 41-26. Individually, Shafford poured in a career-high 26 points on 9-15 shooting and drained six of her 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Shafford also added nine rebounds. The junior guard has scored double figures in 11 consecutive games following Thursday night. Raley posted 12 points, her fourth straight outing with double digits, while freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee) tallied 10 points.
Tennessee State (4-9, 1-2) shot just over 39 percent (21-53) from the floor with 13 made foul shots. The Tigers were held to two made threes. Junior forward Lyric Cole was the only Tiger in double figures with 10 points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 72, UT MARTIN 70
MARTIN, Tenn. - Macy McGlone's tenth double-double of the season may have been her most memorable as she grabbed her tenth rebound and scored her 22nd point with a put-back basket with three seconds remaining to lift Eastern Illinois to a 72-70 win at UT Martin.
McGlone scored ten points in the opening quarter as EIU jumped out to a 19-13 lead and then led 31-29 at the break.
She would get into early foul trouble in the third quarter as the Skyhawks built a five-point lead at 50-45 on the fourth 3-pointer of the day by Josie Storey with 3:31 remaining in the quarter. Storey finished with 13 points, one of four UTM players in double figures.
EIU tied the game on a 3-pointer by Ellie Buzzelle with 39 seconds left in the third quarter and ended the frame with a 55-54 lead thanks in part to ten points by Miah Monahan.
Monahan and Buzzelle continued to help carry the Panthers offense early in the fourth quarter with McGlone plagued with foul trouble. Monahan just missed a double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Buzzelle scored 20 points knocking down 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
Love Mays sparked an early spurt in the fourth by UT Martin with Anaya Brown scoring twice in an early Skyhawks run in the final quarter. Brown led all scorers with 25 points.
In the final ninety seconds both teams took the lead with Kenley McCarn scoring with 1:29 left to put UTM up 70-68. Buzzelle tied the game at 70-70 with free throws with 1:17 left in the game. McGlone then pulled down an offensive rebound and made the put-back with three seconds left to move EIU to 5-10 overall, 2-0 in the OVC.
UTM fell to 5-9, 2-1 in the OVC. McCarn and Mays both chipped in with 11 points for the Skyhawks.