Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team cruised to a win in its OVC opener over Morehead State, 102-63, at Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky Thursday evening.

After a close first quarter that saw UT Martin hold a slim 25-21 lead at the end, the Skyhawks then raced past the Eagles, outscoring them 77-42 over the final three stanzas of the game. The game marked the first time since Feb. 1, 2018, that the Skyhawks have scored 100-plus points against a conference opponent and the first time since Dec. 29, 2018, against Mississippi Valley that they scored 100-plus points against any opponent.

For the second time this season, five different Skyhawks reached double-figures in scoring. Kenley McCarn led the way for UT Martin with 24 points, marking her second 20-plus point performance of the season and the 13th of her career. McCarn also led her team in rebounding on the night with eight, to go along with three assists and three steals.

Daejah Richmond and Kayana Armbrister both scored career-highs in the game with 19 and 13, respectively, while Anaya Brown and Shae Littleford each had 11 points. The Skyhawks shot a blistering 61.9-percent from the floor in the game, including 71.0-percent in the second half and 81.3-percent in the fourth quarter.

LITTLE ROCK 83, SIUE 60
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Women's basketball starts conference play on the right note, with a 80-63 win over SIUE. Faith Lee's 31-point performance and three players with a double-double pushed the Trojans to victory. Little Rock's balanced offense, defensive consistency, and ability to capitalize on SIUE's turnovers proved to be the difference. SIUE falls to 2-8 (0-1 OVC), while Little Rock improves to 3-7 (1-0 OVC).

Faith Lee's career-high 31 points were followed by help from Jordan Holman (17 points), Sug Williams (14 points), and Emerald Parker (10 points). Lee shot 14-of-22 from the field, including a key three-pointer, pushing the team's advantage to as high as 16 points midway through the first half. Williams, Holman, and Parker all recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds apiece. Little Rock shot a season-high 51.6 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc. The Trojans' fourth quarter push sealed the deal, as they outshot the Cougars 61.5 percent to 14.2 percent. 

The Trojan defense forced 13 turnovers, turning those into 18 points. Little Rock held SIUE to just 33 percent shooting. The Cougars were led by Molly Sheehan, who shot 5-of-7 from the field and drained three triples for 15 points. Brianna Wooldridge helped the Cougars efforts with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting and five free throws. SIUE's bench out scored Little Rock, 22-7.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 55
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Key runs by Eastern Illinois in the second and third quarters carried the Panthers to an OVC opening win, 71-55, over Southeast Missouri on Thursday night at the Show Me Center.

EIU won its seventh straight OVC opener improving to 4-6 on the season, 1-0 in the OVC.  SEMO fell to 1-8 overall, 0-1 OVC.

Eastern Illinois broke open a slowly played first quarter by both teams with a 12-0 run to open the second quarter.  Lyric Johnson and Sydney-James Desroches hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the run.

Tiny Lewis capped the run with a steal and lay-up.  Lewis closed the first half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer as she had 11 first half points giving EIU a 29-17 lead at the break. 

SEMO went nearly nine minutes without points between late in the first quarter and midway through the second quarter.  Lexi McCully ended the Redhawks dry spell with free throws with 4:23 to play in the second quarter which led to a quick 5-0 run by SEMO. 

In the third quarter EIU used a 15-2 run to pad its lead.  Alex Rouse scored the first six points in the run as she finished with ten points.  Lalani Ellis scored five of the last seven in her first action for EIU since the season opener.  EIU led 48-29 after three quarters.

The early portion of the fourth quarter belonged to EIU's Macy McGlone as she joined the EIU record books posting her EIU record tying 34th career double-double.  McGlone reached double figures on a lay-up with 8:32 to play on an assist from Johnson.  McGlone finished with 17 points, 18 rebounds joining Sabina Oroszova and Toni Collins.

Zoe Best was the Redhawks leading scorer with 19 points including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.  Indiya Bowen and Skylar Barnes joined Best in double figures for SEMO with ten points each.

Lewis scored 13 points for EIU with Desroches adding 11.  EIU dominated play on the glass finishing with a 43-24 rebounding edge.

LINDENWOOD 67, TENNESSEE TECH 54
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's basketball (5-5, 1-0 OVC) defended home court by picking up their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season over Tennessee Tech (7-4, 1-1 OVC) by a final score of 67-54. It marked the first time since joining the OVC that the Lions have won their OVC opener.

Ellie Brueggemann was the leading scorer for the Lions after dropping 14 points. Despite shooting 2-6 from the floor, Brueggemann went 9-10 at the foul line to lead Lindenwood. As a team, the Lions went 20-23 from the foul line.

Mya Skoff made her first start of the season and did not disappoint. She had 12 points on 4-10 shooting and went a perfect 4-4 at the foul line. She also added five rebounds, including four offensive rebounds, and had a team-high three steals. Gracy Wernli also scored 12 points while shooting 4-8 from the field.

Brooke Coffey and Mykayla Cunningham each had 11 points in the win. Coffey shot 5-9 from the field while Cunningham went a perfect 5-5 from the floor while grabbing five rebounds. Lindenwood shot 44.9% from the field and was even on the glass with the Golden Eagles with 33 rebounds each.

The Lions turned Tennessee Tech over 15 times including nine steals and had six blocked shots including three from Justis Odom. Odom had a team-high seven rebounds while adding seven rebounds. LU also assisted on 12 field-goals including four assists from Brueggemann.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 74, TENNESSEE STATE 56
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball tipped off the Ohio Valley Conference season Thursday night with a 74-56 victory over Tennessee State University at Liberty Arena, home of the Screaming Eagles.
 
Four Screaming Eagles scored in double figures to lead Southern Indiana to a 1-0 start in conference action and 9-3 overall. Tennessee State dropped to 4-7 this season and 0-1 in the OVC.
 
USI, who was beginning its OVC title defense as reigning 2023-24 champions, faced Tennessee State for the first time since the Tigers gave the Eagles their only conference blemish last February during USI's championship run a season ago.
 
A competitive start to the ballgame featured pressure defense for the full 94 feet from Southern Indiana and Tennessee State. The first quarter had six ties as each side exchanged blows. USI grabbed an early advantage on the glass, especially on the offensive boards. Sophomore guard Triniti Ralston recorded the Screaming Eagles' first make from the floor on a three-pointer and junior guard Ali Saunders cashed in on a three in the last 30 seconds of the opening period to give USI a one-point, 16-15 lead through 10 minutes of play.
 
Tennessee State tallied five straight points to begin the second frame before Southern Indiana jumped ahead 26-21 with a 10-1 run over three and a half minutes. A couple of inside conversions by sophomore forward Amiyah Buchanan and five more points by Ralston helped spur the USI run. Saunders reached double figures for the game after a triple and a jumper in consecutive possessions put Southern Indiana up 31-25 with four minutes left in the first half. The Eagles led by as many as 10, 36-26, inside the final minute, but one last basket by the Tigers made it an eight-point USI lead at halftime.
 
A pair of three-point plays from graduate forwards Meredith Raley and Madi Webb in the first 2:30 of the second half increased Southern Indiana's advantage to a dozen, 42-30. A strong showing at the foul line by Buchanan in the third quarter pushed the sophomore into double digits and helped extend the lead to 14. A late make from Raley gave the forward double figures also, as the Eagles led 54-39 after three quarters.
 
Southern Indiana's lead continued to build, reaching a 20-point difference at the 6:30 mark of the fourth quarter. Ralston became the fourth Eagle to reach double figures after a pair of made free throws with 3:30 left in the contest, as the Screaming Eagles led 67-48. A gritty Tennesee State squad drained a couple of threes late in the game to chip away, but Southern Indiana sealed the victory at the free-throw line.
Southern Indiana was just under 37 percent (22-60) from the floor with six made threes. The Eagles were frequent visitors at the foul line, hitting 24 of 28 attempts for over 85 percent. USI dominated on the glass, 52-34. The 52 rebounds were a season high.
 
Individually, Saunders registered a team-high 19 points on 6-8 shooting, 3-3 from beyond the arc, and a 4-4 effort at the free-throw line. Saunders also had eight boards, three assists, and four steals. Buchanan notched a season-high 15 points on a 3-6 night from the floor and a 9-10 performance at the charity stripe. Raley dropped 14 points while Ralston added 10 points.
 
For Raley, she moved to eighth on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,342 career points following Thursday's performance, passing Amie Newhart (2007-11). Shelly Scott (1987-92) is seventh on the list with 1,414 points. Raley is also approaching the top 10 in USI history, sitting 12th with 557 career rebounds and 32 caroms away from Elizabeth Prewett (1997-01) in 10th.
 
Tennessee State was limited to under 32 percent (19-60) shooting after USI kept the Tigers to only two second-half points in the paint. The Tigers were 7-31 for 22.6 percent from three and 11-21 for 52.4 percent at the free-throw line. Two Tigers scored double digits, led by freshman guard Somah Kamara's game-high 21 points.