Ohio Valley Conference

FARGO, N.D. - Eastern Illinois rallied from an early 12-0 deficit to tie the game at 28-28 just before the half, but at the end of the day North Dakota State was able to hold off the Panthers for a 65-56 win.
 
The loss drops EIU to 0-2 on the season while the Bison improved to 1-1.
 
North Dakota State jumped out of the gate with a 12-0 run with EIU's first bucket coming at the 5:35 mark of the opening quarter on a Sydney-James Desroches basket.  Desroches would finish the game as one of three Panthers in double figures with 11 points.
 
Eastern Illinois continued to chip away at the NDSU lead trailing 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.  A jumper by Macy McGlone with 6:09 to play in the first half triggered a 10-3 EIU run that saw the Panthers tie the game at 28-28 with 16 seconds left in the first half.  The tying basket came on a 3-pointer from Tiny Lewis, part of her 14 point afternoon.
 
Avery Koenen converted on one of two at the foul line with three seconds left to give the Bison a 29-28 halftime lead.
 
North Dakota State opened the second half much the same way they did the first with a 7-2 run which gave them a multiple possession lead for a majority of the second half.  EIU cut the margin down to two points with 3:59 left in the game on a Lewis 3-pointer making the score 56-54.
 
Koenen drained a 3-pointer with 2:14 left to play to give the Bison the breathing room they needed as down the stretch NDSU made four free throws and forced three EIU turnovers to turn away the Panthers comeback bid.
 
McGlone posted her second straight double-double to open the season with 27 points and 14 rebounds.  Her three point play with 7:08 remaining made her the latest Panther to join the 1,000 point club while making her one of only four players in school history with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 100 blocks.
 
Koenen had 15 points to lead the Bison while Abby Schulte added 12.

#4 TEXAS 119, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 47
AUSTIN, Texas - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (0-2) fell on Sunday afternoon to #4 Texas (1-0) by a final score of 119-47 from the Moody Center. Skylar Barnes led the Redhawks with 11 points off the bench, a team-high and a SEMO career best for Barnes. 
 
As a team, SEMO shot just 29.5-percent from the field (18-61) but outshot the Longhorns from three-point land by a 33.3 to 22.2 advantage. Zoe Best (2-4), Lexi McCully (1-1), and freshman Tristan Spearman (1-1) all recorded a three in Sunday's contest. 
 
UT did their damage in the paint, outrebounding the Redhawks by a 59-24 advantage including a game-high 14 rebounds from Kyla Oldacre. Oldacre finished with 21 points in her season-debut. 
 
Lexi McCully, making her first start of the 2024-25 season, opened the scoring for the Redhawks with a running jumper in the lane on the fastbreak to tie it at two with 8:12 left in the first quarter. 
 
After back-to-back baskets from UT's Preseason All-American Madison Booker, Zoe Best drained her first three-point attempt to make it 5-5. 
 
The teams traded baskets once again, this time it was Ainaya Williams who made a beautiful up-and-under move to score over the UT defender to make it 7-7 with 7:20 left in the quarter. 
 
Texas would close the opening quarter on a 9-0 run, leading 27-15 after a Best layup, to make it 34-15 after the first 10-minutes. 
 
The Longhorns would hold SEMO to just 14 points in the second quarter as they used 16 first half points from Taylor Jones to build a 66-29 advantage at the halftime break. 
 
SEMO shot 41.9-percent from the field in the opening 20-minutes, on 13-for-31 shooting, led by Zoe Best who had 10 first half points. 

The Redhawks shot better from deep, outshooting UT by a 42.9 to 28.6 advantage from three-point range. Best was 50-percent from three (2-4) while McCully was a perfect 1.000 (1-1). 
 
In the second half, the Longhorns took advantage of shooting over 50-percent in both quarters and missed just nine free-throws as a team to hand SEMO its second loss of the season.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 89, OMAHA 83
OMAHA, Neb. - Western Illinois women's basketball defeated Omaha on Sunday afternoon in a game that showcased strong offensive and defensive efforts from the Leathernecks. Raegan McCowan and Mia Nicastro led the charge for WIU, with McCowan scoring 35 points on 13/24 shooting, and Nicastro contributing 27 points, 4 rebounds, and six steals. McCowan's 35 points is the second most in a game this season at the division one level.

WIU held their ground through four quarters, showcasing their offense by making 33 of 62 field goals and hitting eight three-pointers. Allie Meadows and Mallory McDermott each had two threes with McCowan adding three. Nicastro's performance, marked by key defensive plays and strong rebounding, keept WIU ahead, while McCowan's offensive consistency allowed the team to maintain a narrow lead.

The third quarter proved pivotal for WIU, as they scored 28 points in the quarter forcing five Omaha turnovers. Nicastro had 11 points in the quarter, including a three pointer to lead the Leatherneck offense. McDermott's three cut the Maverick lead to one at 63-62, and on the following offensive possesion, Nicastro hit a three to give WIU the lead at 65-63. McCowan would have a three and Addi Brownfield would get a fastbreak layup to put the Leathernecks up 70-66 heading to the fourth quarter, ending the quarter on an 11-5 run. Kaylen Reed would hit a jumper with 3:23 left in the game to put the Leathernecks up 81-78 and the Leathernecks wouldn't look back after that taking the game by a score of 89-83.

The game was close throughout, marked by eight ties and 21 lead changes. WIU's defense shined as they forced 20 turnovers allowing them to score 16 points off the turnovers. WIU also had 28 rebounds with 38 points coming in the paint. The starting lineup for the Leathernecks contributed to 87 of the team's 89 points. As a team ,WIU was nearly perfect from the free throw line shooting 15-16 from the charity stripe.

TENNESSEE TECH 73, NORTH ALABAMA 64
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A run in the third quarter and a big defensive effort helped the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team pick up a big win Sunday night as the Golden Eagles defeated North Alabama 73-64 in the Hooper Eblen Center.

With the victory, the Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign. Tech will get to try to match that season's 4-0 start on Thursday as the Golden Eagles host Jackson State.

Defensively, Tech collected 12 blocks, one short of tying the single-game record of 13 set against Jacksonville State in 2016. It did tie the March 4, 1991, game against Tennessee State, the January 26, 2016, game against Morehead State and the December 29, 2019, game against Tennessee Wesleyan for the second-most.

Individually, Anna Jones set her own personal best with seven blocks, tying her with Diane Seng, Kayla Brewer and Anacia Wilkinson for the fifth-best individual game. Renay Adams and Wilkinson twice hold the single-game record of nine, while Wilkinson also recorded a game with eight.

The two teams battled back and forth with the Golden Eagles taking a 19-16 advantage through the first quarter, then North Alabama outscored Tech 17-12 in the second with the visiting Lions leading 33-31 at the intermission.

After trailing 42-41, the Golden Eagles tied the game and retook the lead on a pair of Grimes free-throws, then surged to a 49-42 advantage before the third came to a close, but the Lions snipped the Tech lead back to 49-46 as time ran out on the quarter.

In the fourth, however, the Golden Eagles went on a 13-2 run to stretch the lead to 10 with 5:40 remaining in the contest, only to see the Lions get back within seven. Tech jumped back out to 70-59 with 2:17 remaining in the contest and UNA was only able to get back within single digits with a pair of free throws with seven seconds left.

With UNA's aggressive style of play, the Golden Eagles were able to draw 21 fouls, converting those to 25 points on 30 shots at the free-throw line. Tech also collected 14 points off of 12 turnovers.

The Golden Eagles ended up shooting 42.0 percent from the field, including a 6-for-10 fourth quarter. Tech drained six of 22 3-pointers, including a 4-for-5 night for Reghan Grimes.

Grimes ended the contest leading all scorers with 20 points, going 5-for-9 from the field and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe. Walker, in addition to her eight rebounds and seven blocks, also scored 14 points, as did true freshman Chloe Larry, who also came down with seven boards. Taris Thornton scored 10 points, including a 6-for-7 night at the line.

Cameron Jones led North Alabama (1-1) with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Emma Kate Tittle and Charity Gallegos each scored 13 points for the Lions, who opened the season with a victory over UT Martin earlier in the week.

UTEP 68, MOREHEAD STATE 41
EL PASO, Texas - A tough shooting night spelled trouble for Morehead State women's basketball team, Sunday night in El Paso, Texas, as the Eagles fell to UTEP 68-41.

Morehead State (1-2) shot just 22% from the field and 17% from three-point range, while the Miners shot 40% from the floor.

Sophomore Kate Novik led the Eagles with 12 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for her first career double-double. Grad student Harley Paynter chipped in 12, her third double-digit scoring effort in as many games.

Morehead State shot 31% from the field in the first half but went ice-cold after the break. They went just 2-14 in the third quarter, and only 1-10 in the fourth quarter. The Eagles' last field goal was a layup by Novik with 7:11 to go. For the half, MSU shot just 13% from the floor. 

The Miners (2-0) were led by Luisa Vydrova with 18 points and Ivane Tensaie with16. UTEP caught the cold bug in the fourth quarter, shooting only 4-20 from the field, including 1-7 from behind the arc.