THURSDAY'S SCORES
*Little Rock 61, @Southeast Missouri 48
*UT Martin 65, @Lindenwood 56
*Eastern Illinois 66, @Tennessee State 56
*Morehead State 87, @Western Illinois 85 (2OT)
*@Tennessee Tech 86, SIUE 76
LITTLE ROCK 61, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 48
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Little Rock women's basketball team found the cure for its recent offensive woes in the hands of a couple of less likely places Thursday, turning to Sha'Nequa Henry and Jordan Holman for career-best performances in a 61-48 win over Southeast Missouri at the Show Me Center. The Trojans (10-16 overall, 9-6 OVC) secure a spot in next month's OVC Championships with the win, and stay in play for the No. 2 seed, which would give Little Rock the coveted double-bye into the semifinals. The Trojans also completed the season sweep of SEMO, which fell to 8-18. 4-10.
Holman came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting while also grabbing a game-high seven rebounds. Holman's 20 points eclipsed her previous career-high by seven points. Henry also turned in her best effort as a Trojan, hitting 8-of-13 shots and finishing with 17 points to go with four rebounds and three steals. Faith Lee added 12 points, while Jayla Brooks and Jaiyah Harris-Smith each dished six assists. Leilani Wimbish-Gay tied a career-high with three blocks.
Indiya Bowen led the Redhawks with 15 points and Alecia Doyle had 10, but SEMO shot just 35.6 percent from the field (16-of-45), turned the ball over 22 times and watched as Little Rock converted those miscues into 27 points. The Trojans also turned in one of their best shooting nights of the season, hitting 26-of-50 from the floor (52 percent). The two teams played to a 12-12 tie after one period before Little Rock took a 29-21 advantage into the half. It got much better for the Trojans in the third, making 10-of-15 shots while doubling SEMO in the scorebook (22-11) and making their lead turn from eight at halftime to 19 entering the fourth. Little Rock led by as many as 23 with 7:47 remaining.
UT MARTIN 65, LINDENWOOD 56
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Anaya Brown collected a game-high 24 points for the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball squad as the Skyhawks broke things open in the second half in a 65-56 triumph at Lindenwood.
UT Martin trailed by one point at the halftime break as neither side led by more than five points for the game's first 29-plus minutes. Kenley McCarn scored the final four points of the third quarter to extend the Skyhawk lead to eight before UT Martin began the fourth period on a 13-6 run, putting the game out of reach.
Brown made 10 of 18 field goal attempts and added seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks for the Skyhawks, who improved to 12-14 with a 9-6 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play – officially clinching a berth in the upcoming OVC Championship tournament in the process. McCarn (12 points) and Norah Clark (11) also scored in double figures while Lexi Rubel produced game-highs of 15 rebounds (career-best) and five assists.
The Lions (6-19, 4-11 OVC) were led by 14 points from Justis Odom while Ellie Brueggemann added 10 points. Lindenwood was held to 39.3 percent (22-for-56) shooting, including a 25 percent clip (5-of-20) from three-point land.
The Skyhawks shot 66.7 percent (10-for-15) from the floor in the opening quarter, outscoring the host Lions by an 18-4 margin in the paint. Brown had six of UT Martin's first eight points before a 6-0 Skyhawk run gave UT Martin a 14-9 edge coming out of the media timeout. A Josie Storey floater in the lane kept the Skyhawk lead at five points (21-16) through 10 minutes.
Lindenwood began the second quarter on an 11-3 run, eventually going ahead by a 31-26 margin with under a minute to go before the halftime break. However, an old-fashioned three-point play from Brown and a buzzer-beating trifecta from the left wing by Tori Rubel helped UT Martin trim its deficit to 33-32 at the half.
Brown's 11 points led all scorers at the break while the trio of Odom, Brueggemann and Alyssa Nielsen paced the Lions with eight points apiece.
The Skyhawks seized control in the third quarter, not relinquishing their lead after McCarn splashed a three-pointer at the 8:28 mark. UT Martin wrapped up the period on a 9-2 surge as McCarn poured in the final five points of the run to give the Skyhawks a 52-44 advantage with 10 minutes left to play.
A pair of free throws by Clark opened the fourth quarter scoring and resulted in a double-digit lead for UT Martin (54-44). Lindenwood pulled within six points at the 7:27 mark but that was ultimately as close as it would get as the Skyhawks stretched out their lead to as many as 15 points in the waning moments.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 66, TENNESSEE STATE 56
NASHVILLE - Miah Monahan ended a nearly six-minute scoreless stretch for Eastern Illinois at the most opportune time on Thursday night as the junior posted a double-double in the Panthers 66-56 road win at Tennessee State.
Monahan had eleven points and ten rebounds helping EIU improve to 13-15 overall, 10-5 in the OVC. TSU fell to 8-17 overall, 5-10 in the OVC.
EIU led 45-26 at the half as Panthers shot 51.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes. The offense cooled off in the second half as they ended the game shooting 40.7 percent from the field.
The Panthers defense was sharp as they limited TSU to 29 percent shooting for the game.
TSU would cut what had been a 21-point EIU lead at one time down to 12 points in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers cut it to single digits on free throws by Lyric Cole with 6:02 to play. Cole eventually cut the EIU lead down to five with a basket that made it 55-50.
Monahan broke the long EIU scoreless stretch with 2:42 left to play with a pair of free throws. She followed 18 seconds later with a driving lay-up and EIU held off TSU.
Macy McGlone joined Monahan with a double-double scoring 19 points with ten rebounds.
Cole was one of four TSU players in double figures as she had ten points. Sanna' St. Andre led the Lady Tigers with 17 points.
MOREHEAD STATE 87, WESTERN ILLINOIS 85 (2OT)
MACOMB, Ill. - The Morehead State women's basketball team battled for four quarters and two additional overtime periods on Thursday, and ultimately prevailed over Western Illinois for a huge road win.
The Eagles (14-13, 9-7 OVC) were led by Veronica Charles, who poured in a career-high 31 points, which marked the most points scored by an Eagle since 12/10/2017 (Darianne Seward vs. Evansville). The senior guard added seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals in addition to her point total.
Alongside Charles, Katie Novik (15), Hallie Rhodes (13), and Matilda Soderlund (10) scored in double figures. Blessing King came up big on the glass, grabbing 12 rebounds.
King pulled down three offensive rebounds to lead an offense that racked up second chance opportunities for Morehead State, grabbing 11 boards and turning them into 12 second chance points.
Morehead State forced 18 Western Illinois turnovers, winning the turnover battle 18-14 Thursday's game. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 21 points on the other end of the floor. Novik's four steals led the way for Morehead State.
Morehead State started off strong, putting together a 12-8 lead heading into the second quarter. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down two shots to account for six of its 12 points.
Morehead State kept its first quarter lead intact before going on an 8-0 run starting at the 6:09 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Charles, to increase its lead to 23-12. The Eagles proceeded to tack on three points to that lead and enjoyed a 30-16 advantage heading into halftime. Morehead State forced four Western Illinois turnovers in the period and turned them into six points.
Morehead State continued to preserve its halftime lead before going on a 5-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Novik, to expand its lead further to 40-23 with 3:15 to go in the third. Before the conclusion of the third period, the Leathernecks had cut into that lead somewhat, but the Eagles still entered the fourth quarter with a 42-32 edge. Morehead State played well near the basket, scoring eight of its 12 points in the paint.
Morehead State then surrendered that advantage as Western Illinois forced overtime by tying things up at 56-56 by the end of the fourth. Morehead State got up and down the court quickly in the quarter, scoring three fast break points.
Morehead State kept it close before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by King's layup, to seize a 65-58 lead with 2:42 to go in the period. The Leathernecks fought back to extend the matchup, but Morehead State pulled away in the second overtime to pick up the 87-85 win.
TENNESSEE TECH 86, SIUE 76
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Even as SIUE poured in 3-pointer after 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team's offense continued to click to avoid any Cougar comeback bid, taking the visitors down 86-76 Thursday to win their fifth straight game – all by double-digits.
Tech (14-12, 9-6 Ohio Valley Conference) remains in a three-way tie for third as UT Martin and Little Rock also claimed wins on Thursday night. Eastern Illinois, the Golden Eagles' opponent on Saturday, stands a game up in second place at 10-5. Tipoff from the Eblen Center on Saturday for the Senior Day contest is at 1 p.m.
The Golden Eagles outscored the Cougars in the first three quarters, building a 16-point lead that grew to a 23-point advantage early in the 3rd quarter with a 10-0 run to open the final period. SIUE outscored Tech 27-21 in the final 10 minutes – and that was with the Golden Eagles shooting 54.5 percent in the fourth.
The outburst from the Cougars came from beyond the arc as they drained seven 3-pointers, including four for Sofie Lowis, in the fourth quarter – five in the final five minutes of the contest. Lowis ended the game with a 5-for-11 night from long-range, matching Halle Smith with 20 points for the game-high.
Smith had paced SIUE (5-23, 2-13 OVC) with 10 points in the opening quarter, going 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 at the line. She scored four more points in the second and third before being held to two in the fourth. Smith also had seven rebounds.
Reghan Grimes led the Golden Eagles with 18 points, including an 8-for-10 effort at the stripe, pulling down five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Maaliya Owens also had 17 points, while Peyton Carter had 12 points and six assists.
Tech got a well-balanced effort, even as key players ended up in foul trouble with 21 whistles against. The Golden Eagles still managed 36 points in the paint and had a strong effort from Cayla Cowart and Yaubryon Chambers. Cowart had a scoop-and-score, five assists, five rebounds and two steals to go with her six points, while Chambers had four blocks, four rebounds and seven points.
The Golden Eagles ended the game with 23 bench points.
Turnovers were Tech's nemesis late. The Golden Eagles had five giveaways in the first half, five in the third quarter, then nine in the fourth as Tech tried to close out the game. SIUE ended the game with 21 points off turnovers, while Tech had 17.
Molly Sheehan and Ava Gugliuzza also had 10 points for SIUE.