THURSDAY'S SCORES
*Morehead State 50, Little Rock 47
*Eastern Illinois 71, Southeast Missouri 52
*SIUE 69, Lindenwood 67
*Southern Indiana 73, UT Martin 67
*Tennessee Tech 77, Western Illinois 66
MOREHEAD STATE 50, LITTLE ROCK 47
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Down by 17 at one point and 12 points in the fourth quarter, the Morehead State women's basketball team battled all the way back and took the lead with 40 seconds to go to take down Little Rock 50-47 at the Jack Stephens Center Thursday night.
MSU closed the game on a 15-0 run, with Melissa Secchiaroli hitting a three to tie the game at 47 and Veronica Charles hitting the eventual game-winning triple.
The Eagles (13-11, 8-5 OVC) had two players score in double figures, led by Katie Novik, who had 13 points. Veronica Charles tacked on 13 points and five steals and Blessing King added six points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
The Morehead State offense made hay from deep, making nine threes on 34 attempts. Novik hit three treys for the Eagles in the contest.
Morehead State's defense held Little Rock to only 32.7 percent shooting from the field. The Eagles also limited Faith Lee to 5-of-25 shooting in the game.
Morehead State struggled out of the gate, falling behind 11-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Little Rock kept adding to that lead, building a 19-3 advantage before Morehead State went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a three from Novik, to narrow its deficit to 19-9. Little Rock responded and expanded its lead, leaving the Eagles trailing 27-13 heading into halftime.
Little Rock continued to increase its lead after halftime, building a 31-15 advantage before Morehead State went on a 6-0 run, punctuated by a three from Novik, to trim its deficit to 31-21 with 6:10 to go in the third. Little Rock countered and stretched its lead to 41-29 heading into the fourth. Morehead State took advantage of five Little Rock turnovers in the quarter, scoring seven points off of takeaways.
Morehead State kept the Trojans from increasing their lead before going on a 15-0 run, finished off by Charles' three, to seize a 50-47 lead with 40 seconds to go in the contest, a score which would hold for the rest of the game. Morehead State fired away from deep in the quarter, knocking down four shots to account for 12 of its 21 points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 52
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois jumped out a 19-4 lead early in the first quarter and the Panthers never looked back during a 71-52 win over Southeast Missouri on Thursday night at Groniger Arena.
EIU improved to 11-15 overall, 8-5 in the OVC with the win. SEMO fell to 7-17 overall, 4-9 in the OVC.
The Panthers featured balanced scoring all night with the first seven players to see the floor scoring in the opening quarter and all ten in uniform finding their way into the final scoring column.
EIU shot 53.3 percent in the opening quarter building a 19-8 lead after ten minutes. The Panthers ended the night shooting 49.1 percent from the field while holding SEMO to 35.1 percent shooting.
Charita “Tiny” Lewis was the first of three EIU players in double figures scoring 11. She was joined by Macy McGlone with 11 points and Taris Thornton with ten. McGlone had her streak of consecutive double-doubles snapped at 13 straight as she finished with just five rebounds. EIU would still win the battle on the glass with Sydney-James Desroches pulling down a team-high six rebounds.
Indiya Bowen led the Redhawks with 20 points. Alecia Doyle scored ten.
SIUE 69, LINDENWOOD 67
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball kicked off its four-game road stretch on the right note Thursday night when the Screaming Eagles won a competitive contest, 73-67, at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
The Screaming Eagles improved to 17-6 overall and 12-1 in conference play. With the win and results from around the Ohio Valley Conference, Southern Indiana's first-place lead in the conference standings grew to four games with five games remaining. USI's magic number to clinch a regular-season title is down to two. To clinch it as early as Saturday, USI would need to win in addition to losses from three teams behind USI at 8-5 in the league table.
Thursday's game started with UT Martin taking an early 8-2 lead following some offensive rebounds, but Southern Indiana answered back to tie the game with back-to-back three-pointers from redshirt senior guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana) and sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana). In the middle of the opening quarter, defenses made each team go scoreless for nearly four minutes. Both sides began to find the hoop toward the end of the first period, as a triple from senior guard Lexie Green (Indianapolis, Indiana) gave USI a one-point, 16-15, lead going to the second stanza.
The contest continued to be a defensive affair in the early minutes of the second quarter. At one point, UT Martin's defense held Southern Indiana without a field goal for over four minutes, but the Screaming Eagles' defensive unit was also stingy. The game remained competitive for the rest of the first half with several lead changes and ties. In the back portion of the second quarter, freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee), who had 12 first-half points, scored consecutive layups to give USI a 25-22 lead. Offenses heated up late in the second quarter with each team exchanging baskets. Right before the halftime horn, Saunders netted a trey to put the Eagles ahead by three, 36-33, at the break.
The second half began similarly to the first half, as neither team was willing to give up any ground. Around the 6:30 mark of the third quarter, Southern Indiana held a two-point lead, 39-37, but UT Martin took the lead on a three. The Screaming Eagles later claimed a five-point advantage, 48-43, after another canned triple by Saunders. Inside the final couple of minutes of the third frame, USI's conversions inside and the fourth made three from Saunders increased the Eagles' lead to as big as nine, 58-49, heading to the fourth quarter.
In the early going of the fourth quarter, UT Martin made a run to cut Southern Indiana's lead down to three, 60-57, with 7:30 left on the clock. Around the halfway point of the fourth, Saunders stayed on fire from long range, connecting on her fifth three to put USI up six. The Skyhawks continued to hang around, getting to within one possession with three minutes left and then again at the one-minute mark. With 30 seconds remaining, Saunders splashed her sixth three-pointer to seal the victory.
Following a defensive start, both teams ended up shooting the ball well. Southern Indiana went 27-58 for 47 percent from the floor. The Screaming Eagles were effective long range too, hitting at 50 percent (12-24). USI went 7-12 at the foul line. Southern Indiana was plus-12 on the glass, 37-25. Individually, Saunders tallied her best points total in a USI uniform with 20 points, making six threes, and adding five boards and six assists. Gannon, in her second start of the season, posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) and senior forward Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana) registered 10 points apiece.
UT Martin (10-14, 7-6) was 25-54 for 46 percent in overall shooting, knocking down nine threes. The Skyhawks went 8-11 at the charity stripe. UT Martin had three players in double-figure scoring. Sophomore guard Josie Storey and redshirt freshman guard Kenley McCarn each had 20 points.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 73, UT MARTIN 67
MARTIN, Tenn. - Without a doubt, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team is starting to heat up at the right time. With a 77-66 victory over Western Illinois, one of the Ohio Valley Conference’s top offensive units and none-too-shabby on defense either, the Golden Eagles pulled together a tremendous team effort to collect their fourth win in a row – the longest current streak in the conference.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles technically sit in fifth just by percentage points, having played one more game than the four teams sitting in front of them, but they have the same number of wins – eight – as Morehead State, Eastern Illinois and Little Rock sit deadlocked in a three-way tie for second.
Tech (13-12, 8-6 OVC) is idle Saturday and will return to action next Thursday in the Eblen Center as it hosts SIUE and Eastern Illinois.
Make no mistake – while the Golden Eagles were able to build a couple double-digit leads, Thursday’s game was a battle with eight ties and seven lead changes. Even though Tech led for over 27 minutes of the 40-minute narrative, Western Illinois hung with the Golden Eagles.
It was in the fourth quarter where the momentum shifted. From there, the Golden Eagles were able to build as much as a 13-point lead. A lot of that came at the free-throw line as Tech drew eight fouls and earned 14 shots at the stripe, knocking down 12.
Credit goes to Peyton Carter there. As she drew seven fouls in the contest, she went 7-for-8 at the stripe, including 5-for-6 down the stretch. Then, with 38 seconds remaining in the game, Carter drained a dagger, sinking a 3-pointer to make it a 77-64 lead – the only field goal Tech hit in the final 4:50 of the game – and outscoring the Leathernecks 23-15 in the final quarter.
Entering the final period, the Golden Eagles led 54-51.
Carter’s stat line was pure hustle – tying Kiera Hill for the team-high of 16 points, then collecting eight boards, five assists and five steals. All three of her field goals in the game were clutch 3-pointers. Hill went 6-for-11 from the floor with a 4-for-5 effort at the stripe, pulling down five caroms with an assist and a steal.
Anna Walker had 14 points as she shot 50 percent for the game with three boards, an assist, two steals and two blocks. Reghan Grimes almost had a double-double, adding in 10 points on 3-for-5 field-goal shooting and 4-for-6 at the line and grabbing nine rebounds.
For the Leathernecks (16-8, 7-6 OVC), Raegan McCowan ended the game with 18 points, shooting 5-for-16 from the field and 8-for-10 at the stripe. Mallory McDermott had 16 points, including four 3-pointers as she commanded WIU’s 10-point run midway through the third quarter with back-to-back treys followed by a jumper to give the Leathernecks a 48-47 lead with 1:47 remaining in the quarter.
Tech ended the quarter 3-for-3 on field goals with a Hill jumper, Walker going on the fast-break off a turnover for a layup, then a Carter 3 to retake the lead.
Addi Brownfield and Anna Deets also added 10 points for WIU.
TENNESSEE TECH 77, WESTERN ILLINIOS 66
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Without a doubt, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team is starting to heat up at the right time. With a 77-66 victory over Western Illinois, one of the Ohio Valley Conference’s top offensive units and none-too-shabby on defense either, the Golden Eagles pulled together a tremendous team effort to collect their fourth win in a row – the longest current streak in the conference.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles technically sit in fifth just by percentage points, having played one more game than the four teams sitting in front of them, but they have the same number of wins – eight – as Morehead State, Eastern Illinois and Little Rock sit deadlocked in a three-way tie for second.
Tech (13-12, 8-6 OVC) is idle Saturday and will return to action next Thursday in the Eblen Center as it hosts SIUE and Eastern Illinois.
Make no mistake – while the Golden Eagles were able to build a couple double-digit leads, Thursday’s game was a battle with eight ties and seven lead changes. Even though Tech led for over 27 minutes of the 40-minute narrative, Western Illinois hung with the Golden Eagles.
It was in the fourth quarter where the momentum shifted. From there, the Golden Eagles were able to build as much as a 13-point lead. A lot of that came at the free-throw line as Tech drew eight fouls and earned 14 shots at the stripe, knocking down 12.
Credit goes to Peyton Carter there. As she drew seven fouls in the contest, she went 7-for-8 at the stripe, including 5-for-6 down the stretch. Then, with 38 seconds remaining in the game, Carter drained a dagger, sinking a 3-pointer to make it a 77-64 lead – the only field goal Tech hit in the final 4:50 of the game – and outscoring the Leathernecks 23-15 in the final quarter.
Entering the final period, the Golden Eagles led 54-51.
Carter’s stat line was pure hustle – tying Kiera Hill for the team-high of 16 points, then collecting eight boards, five assists and five steals. All three of her field goals in the game were clutch 3-pointers. Hill went 6-for-11 from the floor with a 4-for-5 effort at the stripe, pulling down five caroms with an assist and a steal.
Anna Walker had 14 points as she shot 50 percent for the game with three boards, an assist, two steals and two blocks. Reghan Grimes almost had a double-double, adding in 10 points on 3-for-5 field-goal shooting and 4-for-6 at the line and grabbing nine rebounds.
For the Leathernecks (16-8, 7-6 OVC), Raegan McCowan ended the game with 18 points, shooting 5-for-16 from the field and 8-for-10 at the stripe. Mallory McDermott had 16 points, including four 3-pointers as she commanded WIU’s 10-point run midway through the third quarter with back-to-back treys followed by a jumper to give the Leathernecks a 48-47 lead with 1:47 remaining in the quarter.
Tech ended the quarter 3-for-3 on field goals with a Hill jumper, Walker going on the fast-break off a turnover for a layup, then a Carter 3 to retake the lead.
Addi Brownfield and Anna Deets also added 10 points for WIU.