Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State women's basketball team used a stifling defense to hold Tennessee State to just 17 second-half points and rolled past Tennessee State 68-51 Saturday afternoon in Johnson Arena.

Morehead State (6-6, 1-1) placed four players in double figures, led by Chrishawn Coleman with and Michelle Ugwah with 16 points apiece. Coleman tied her career high shooting 12-13 from the free throw line, along with two blocked shots, which tied her career high in a game  

Ugwah had her second brush with her first career double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The redshirt freshman went 6-9 from the floor and 4-5 from the free throw line.  

Katie Dike finished with 12 points, went 6-7 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds. She also collected two steals and had a blocked shot.  

Sophomore Kate Novik notched her third career double-double with 10 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists.  

Morehead State led the Tigers 19-13 after the first ten minutes, led by Michelle Ugwah's eight points.  

Tennessee State (4-8, 0-2) rebounded in the second period, led by Saniah Parker with eight points and four rebounds, and outscored MSU 21-10 and took a 34-29 lead in the half. Parker led the Tigers with 16 points; she was the only player in double figures for her team. TSU forced six Eagle turnovers in the period and held MSU to 4-16 shooting from the floor.

Out of the half, the teams traded baskets and a Lyric Cole layup at the 5:52 mark extended the TSU lead to 42-35. Morehead State closed out the quarter with a 9-0 run, punctuated by a Novik layup with 15 seconds left in the period to give the Eagles the lead for good at 44-42.

Morehead State used a combination of a tenacious defense and timely free throw shooting to outscore the visitors 24-9 in the final frame. The Eagles held the Tigers to just 2-12 (17%) shooting from the floor, and they hit 12 of their 15 free throw attempts in the quarter. Coleman hit seven of eight from the line in the frame.

LINDENWOOD 63, WESTERN ILLINOIS 59
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's basketball (6-5, 2-0 OVC) overcomes 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Western Illinois (5-5, 0-2 OVC) by a final score of 63-59. Lindenwood shot 19-26 from the foul line in the second half to win their second straight Ohio Valley Conference game.

Ellie Brueggemann had her best game of the season after dropping 21-points against the Leathernecks. Brueggemann was a perfect 14-14 from the foul line and made four huge free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Brooke Coffey was the Lions' second leading scorer after posting 13 points which marked her season-high. Coffey shot 4-8 from the floor including making two-three pointers. The St. Charles, Mo. native also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and adding two assists and two steals.

Lindenwood forced Western Illinois into 19 turnovers in the win creating 20 points off those turnovers. The Lions also scored 24 points in the paint compared to 22 by the Leathernecks. Rebounding was key for Lindenwood as they out-rebounded WIU 35-34 including a season-best 16 offensive rebounds.

Western Illinois shot 41.3% for the game compared to Lindenwood's 29.5% from the floor, but the Lions went 24-33 from the foul line including 19 of those in the second half. Brueggemann scored 19 of her 21 points in the final two quarters.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 69, UT MARTIN 59
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball followed up its Ohio Valley Conference-opening win on Thursday with another inside Liberty Arena on Saturday, defeating the University of Tennessee at Martin, 69-59.
 
With the win, Southern Indiana improved to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Only two other teams, Lindenwood University and Eastern Illinois University, joined USI with a 2-0 start in the OVC after Saturday's game slate. UT Martin dropped to 3-9 this season and 1-1 in the OVC.
 
Saturday's game between USI and UT Martin was a rematch of the 2023-24 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game when the Screaming Eagles captured their first-ever OVC tournament title last March.
 
The contest began in a tight battle with neither side getting a lead bigger than one possession for most of the opening quarter. Graduate forward Meredith Raley got off to a solid start, hitting a three-pointer to give Southern Indiana an 8-6 advantage nearly four minutes in. A triple by sophomore guard Sophia Loden gave USI its biggest lead of the first period, 15-11, at the two-minute mark. The Screaming Eagles led by one, 15-14, at the end of the first.
 
After UT Martin grabbed a brief lead early in the second quarter, Southern Indiana answered with an 11-0 run. Sophomore guard Triniti Ralston started the run with her second three of the game at the 7:54 mark of the second period. For the second consecutive outing, sophomore forward Amiyah Buchanan provided a boost off the bench, connecting inside on a couple of occasions to continue the run. The Eagles took a 28-18 lead with four and a half minutes left in the first half. Buchanan scored 10 second-quarter points and Ralston had nine, ending the first half with 12 points each. Southern Indiana shot for 69 percent in the second frame and held UT Martin to below 27 percent, leading to a 42-29 halftime lead for USI.
 
The Skyhawks came out of the intermission with seven straight points to pull within six, 42-36, but Ralston snapped the run and got USI on the board in the second half with a drive to the hoop. Ralston surged to the basket in the next possession to increase Southern Indiana's lead back to double digits, 46-36, at the midway point of the third quarter. The Eagles continued to attack the basket to carry a 53-38 lead to the fourth period.
 
The first two buckets of the fourth quarter belonged to UT Martin, but once again, Southern Indiana responded. Senior guard Vanessa Shafford cashed in a trey three minutes into the fourth to build USI's lead up to 16, 58-42. Despite UT Martin's efforts to cut USI's lead down to single digits in the middle of the quarter, the Screaming Eagles kept its margin in double figures the rest of the game.

Southern Indiana shot for just over 40 percent (24-59) overall and nearly 32 percent (7-22) from beyond the arc. The Eagles had another good showing at the free-throw line going 14-18 for nearly 78 percent. USI was also strong on the glass once again, outrebounding the Skyhawks 46-34.
 
Ralston led the Screaming Eagles by tying a game-high 18 points in 38 minutes of action. Buchanan and Shafford posted the first double-doubles of the season for USI on Saturday. Buchanan notched 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Shafford tallied 12 points and 10 boards. It was Buchanan's first career double-double and the 13th career double-double for Shafford.
 
UT Martin was 18-57 for under 32 percent from the floor and 6-26 for 23 percent from three-point range. The Skyhawks were 17-22 for just over 77 percent at the foul line. Redshirt junior guard Shae Littleford matched Ralston's 18 points, and redshirt sophomore guard Kenley McCarn added 15 points for the Skyhawks.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67, SIUE 61
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (2-8, 1-1 OVC) picked up the first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season on Saturday afternoon with a 67-61 victory over SIUE (2-9, 0-2 OVC) from the Show Me Center.
 
Freshman guard Zoe Best recorded the first double-double of the season for SEMO with a 15-point, 13 rebound performance. Best led the Redhawks in both categories as she was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
 
As a team, SEMO shot 17-20 from the free throw line (85-percent) led by Best. Jariyah Williamson finished a perfect 1.000 at the line (2-2).
 
Williamson, who made her second consecutive start on Saturday, finished with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting. All her shots came from behind the three-point line as she shot 66-percent from deep.
 
SEMO outrebounded SIUE by a 38-36 advantage, the second time all season the the Redhawks have outrebounded their opponent. SEMO turned 10 offensive rebounds into eight points, and out-scored SIUE in the paint by a 24-20 advantage.
 
The Cougars opened the scoring in the first quarter with a pair of free throws from Ava Stoller and a basket from KK Rodriguez to make it 4-0 SIUE.
 
Jariyah Williamson got the Redhawks on the board with a three pointer off the left wing with 6:41 left in the first quarter to make it 4-3.
 
Williamson's three sparked a 7-0 SEMO run as Indiya Bowen and Zoe Best recorded layups on back-to-back possessions to make it 7-4 Redhawks with just over five minutes before the quarter break.
 
The Redhawks continued the run with a Sophie Bussard three pointer to make it a 10-0 SEMO run with 4:42 left.
 
An Anjelicia Del Valle second-chance opportunity was the final basket of the opening frame and put SEMO up 20-10 at the end of the first quarter.
 
SIUE opened the second quarter with three-straight three pointers capped off by Ava Gugliuzza cutting their deficit to just a point with 6:35 left before halftime.
 
Best would answer with her own three pointer to regain a four-point advantage for the Redhawks. Rodriguez would respond with a jumper before Bussard sunk a pair of free throws to keep it at a four-point lead with 5:57 left.
 
A pair of SIUE free throws would get the visitors within two points before another Bussard free throw and an Indiya Bowen layup made it 30-25 at the end of the first half.
 
Two baskets in a row out of the halftime break the first by Bussard followed by Indiya Bowen gave SEMO a nine-point lead early in the second half.
 
SIUE would get to within a point with just over five minutes left in the third quarter after a pair of Rodriguez free throws made it 38-37 Redhawks.
 
Senior Skylar Barnes would record the final two points of the third at the charity stripe to give SEMO a 46-43 advantage heading to the final quarter.
 
The two teams played to a 55-55 tie with 2:42 left in the contest after a pair of SIUE free throws. Jariyah Williamson recorded the two biggest baskets of the contest on back-to-back three pointers to quickly put SEMO up six points with just 1:18 left.
 
The Redhawks, who led 61-55 after Williamson's three pointers, closed the game out at the free throw line with four-striaght free throws from Zoe Best and won the game, 67-61.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 59, LITTLE ROCK 56
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Eastern Illinois was able to grind out a 59-56 win on Saturday afternoon at the Stephens Center improving to 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

EIU improves to 5-6 overall, 2-0 in the OVC.  Little Rock falls to 3-8 overall, 1-1 in the OVC.

EIU held Litle Rock without a field goal the final 5:31 of the game including a shot that rolled off the rim with four seconds remaining that would have knotted the game at 58-58.

Alex Rouse gave the Panthers a 58-56 lead with 48 seconds left in the game finishing with eight points.  Macy McGlone made one of two at the foul line for the final points.

McGlone became the EIU career leader in double-doubles with 35 midway through the third quarter as the senior finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds.

EIU took advantage of several Little Rock field goal lapses during the game building a 25-23 lead at the half and a 12 point lead in the third quarter with 4:24 to play after a 3-pointer by Lalani Ellis.

Little Rock cut the lead to five points to end the third quarter on consecutive baskets by Faith Lee.  Lee scored 12 points, one of two Trojans in double figures.

Jayla Brooks made the Trojans lone 3-pointer of the game to open the fourth quarter cutting the lead to 44-42.  She tied the game at 54-54 with a pair of free throws to finish with eight points.

In the final two minutes Sydney-James Desroches gave EIU a 56-54 lead with free throws while Sug Williams tied the game at 56-56 with a pair of free throws setting the table for final minute of action.

EIU was 5-of-13 from 3-point land with a pair of 3's by Tiny Lewis.  EIU finished the game 14-of-19 from the foul line.  Little Rock was just 17-of-31 from the line in the game.

Kiyley Flowers had nine points for the Panthers followed by eight by both Rouse and Ellis.  Desroches scored seven.

Holman led Little Rock with 18 points.  Brooks had nine rebounds to go with her eight points.