Ohio Valley Conference

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's basketball (11-7, 7-2 OVC) continued their hot start to Ohio Valley Conference play after an 84-76 victory over Southeast Missouri State (4-14, 2-7 OVC). This win marks their 11th of the season, their most during a regular season since the 2021-22 season when they were still Division II. 

Ellie Brueggemann led the Lions on Thursday after dropping 19 points and adding a pair of assists in the win. Brueggemann shot 60.0% from the field with all six made field-goals coming from behind the three-point line. Her six made threes marked the most in a single game for Brueggemann this season, and the most since she made seven vs. UT Martin last year.

Gracy Wernli tallied 17 points in Thursday's contest and added two assists of her own. Wernli shot 7-10 from the field and logged the second most time on the floor for the Lions with 32 minutes. She helped the Lions shoot 56.3% as a team from behind the arc after adding three threes of her own.

Justis Odom returned to the lineup after missing the previous game at Morehead State. Odom came off the bench for only the second time this season and added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Lindenwood assisted on 16 of their 29 made field-goals, led by Brooke Coffey with four.

Lindenwood shot 48.3% from the floor on Thursday helping them to their seventh OVC win of the season. The Lions' bench was a factor in the win out-scoring SEMO's bench 24-2 including Odom's 12 points and Mykayla Cunningham's six. SEMO finished the game shooting 44.1% from the field and 10-25 from deep.

It was a back-and-fourth contest in the first quarter with Lindenwood jumping out to an early 6-0 lead after back-to-back threes from Brueggemann and Wernli. Lindenwood was able to stretch their lead to as many as six in the first 10 minutes of the game, but SEMO found themselves trailing by only one after the first quarter. LU shot 4-5 from long range in the first.

Lindenwood took advantage on defense in the second quarter holding the Redhawks to 35.7% from the field. The Lions outscored the Redhawks 23-14 in the second quarter including a 5-0 run early on. Brueggemann had the hot hand for Lindenwood in the first half as she tallied 15 points, including nine in the second quarter. After 20 minutes of play, Lindenwood held the double-digit lead at 42-32.

Wernli got the third quarter scoring going after a 4-0 run, but the Redhawks would not go away picking up the defensive intensity. Lindenwood had their worst shooting quarter in the third behind held to 7-18 (38.9%) from the field. As the clock expired in the third, Lindenwood responded to SEMO with a 6-0 run as the led by nine heading into the fourth.

Odom helped the Lions in the fourth quarter as they went on a 5-0 lead and found themselves up 72-59. SEMO's offensive was effective in the final frame closing the gap to five points, but the Lions were able to close out the game at the foul line. Mya Skoff had two late free throws to seal the win. Skoff ended the night with 12 points going 8-10 at the foul line.

LITTLE ROCK 65, WESTERN ILLINOIS 60
MACOMB, Ill. - Little Rock pulled off its second road win in three tries Thursday night with a 65-60 victory against Western Illinois at Western Hall. 
 
After splitting two road games last week at Southeast Missouri State and Tennessee Tech, respectively, the Trojans (9-9, 7-2) got back on the wining track and will try to end the four-game road stint with a back-to-back wins at Lindenwood Saturday.  
 
Thursday night, Sug Williams led the Trojans with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Jordan Holman broke a single-game school record with 9 steals and also chipped in 15 points. Jayla Brooks added 12 points and Faith Lee 11.
 
Little Rock held a 42-41 lead and WIU never was able to take the lead, but it wasn't easy finishing the Leathernecks (9-9, 3-6) off. A quick 4-0 run capped off by Williams' layup gave the Trojans a 46-41 lead with 7:58 to play in the game. 
 
WIU cut the lead to three, and it jumped to five again, but the Leathernecks tied the game at 48 with 5:32 to play when Allie Meadows canned a three-pointer. Lee answered immediately, and Holman scored on a fast-break layup to extend the advantage back to four with 4:37 remaining.
 
But WIU wouldn't give in and Mia Nicastro's free throws tied the game again at the 3:29 mark, but Brooks responded with a three-pointer. She capped off her own 5-0 run with a with a layup with 2:31 left.
 
The lead eventually grew to six, but one last charge by the Leathernecks cut the advantage to three when Addi Brownfield hit one of two free throws. 
 
With 34 seconds left, Holman was fouled but fouled out as she was whistled for an intentional foul when he was tied up. Freshman Brenna Burk came off the bench to hit one of two free throws, and Meadows got to shoot two free throws and made one to cut the lead to 61-58. WIU also was awarded possession following the flagrant foul. 
 
Brownfield was fouled on that possession and made both free throws to make it a 61-60 game with 20 seconds left. WIU full-court pressed but Little Rock broke it easily and Williams was wide open for an easy bucket in the lane with 12 seconds left. WIU missed a three-pointer and then turned the ball over. Little Rock in-bounded it and Williams was fouled with one second left and made them both to make the final margin five. 
 
OVC leading scorer Raegan McCowan scored 16 points to lead WIU. Little Rock forced 24 Leatherneck turnovers and scored 30 points off the miscues.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 69, SIUE 65
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball fought back from a sizable first-half deficit Thursday night to open its three-game road swing with a 69-65 victory against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
 
USI, which began its second three-game road trip of January, picked up its third consecutive win to improve to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The win allowed Southern Indiana to maintain its position in a four-way tie for second in the conference standings and two games back of OVC-leading Eastern Illinois University, who the Screaming Eagles will compete against on Saturday. SIUE dropped to 3-15 on the season and 1-8 in the OVC.
 
SIUE came out of the gates with seven straight points in the first quarter. USI sophomore guard Triniti Ralston got Southern Indiana on the scoreboard three and a half minutes into the contest with a layup off a steal. Ralston later scored again off a takeaway. SIUE ended the first period on another small run to lead 19-4 through 10 minutes.
 
The Cougars' lead climbed to 20 before graduate guard Lexie Green drained a three from the wing at the 7:27 mark of the second quarter. Green added a layup seconds later. Two triples in the middle of the second by graduate forward Meredith Raley and sophomore guard Sophia Loden helped USI cut the deficit down to 11, 27-16, with a little over three minutes left in the first half. However, SIUE's hot shooting from long range, totaling six treys in the first half, helped keep the Cougars in front, 32-18, going into halftime.
 
Southern Indiana made a run out of halftime to trim the deficit down to eight, 35-27, three and a half minutes into the second half. Graduate forward Madi Webb scored five straight points in the process. SIUE answered and caught fire from three again to go back ahead by 17, 46-29. The Screaming Eagles responded as Webb continued her strong run, and USI converted at the free-throw line to trail only by eight, 51-43, going to the fourth period.
 
USI's momentum carried over into the start of the fourth with a three-point play by Raley. Just over two minutes into the frame, Loden drained a three to knot the game at 54. The two sides would tie up twice more over the next 90 seconds. Just as SIUE went back up by four, 62-58, near the four-minute mark, the Eagles continued to fight with back-to-back layups from Loden. Webb and USI had to tie the game once more inside of two minutes, 64-64. After that, Southern Indiana grabbed its first lead at the foul line, 66-64, with 1:37 left on the clock. USI would go on to complete its largest comeback win of the season with three more free-throw conversions.
 
Southern Indiana shot 41 percent (24-58) for the game, 27 percent (4-15) from three, and 77 percent (17-22) at the free-throw line. USI was plus two on the glass and outscored SIUE in the paint 36-18. The Eagles scored 26 points off 17 SIUE turnovers. USI matched a season low with 11 turnovers, seven of which came in the first quarter.
 
Individually, Loden set a new career mark with a game-high 18 points on 8-9 shooting to lead four Screaming Eagles in double figures. Raley was second in scoring with 14 points. Webb faced off against her former program once again and posted 12 points. Ralston recorded 10 points.
 
SIUE went for 42 percent (25-59) from the floor, including 39 percent (12-31) from beyond the arc. The Cougars made three of their five free-throw attempts. Three Cougars finished in double figures. Graduate guard KK Rodriguez and sophomore guard Ava Gugliuzza had 14 points each.

TENNESSEE TECH 71, TENNESSEE STATE 64
NASHVILLE - Tennessee State made it a fight on Thursday night, but once the Tennessee Tech women gained the upper hand in the Gentry Center, the Golden Eagles held on as tightly as they could with the lead to take the 71-64 victory.

The Golden Eagles (13-5, 7-2 Ohio Valley Conference) got double-digit production from four players, led by Peyton Carter, who collected 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting – all five buckets 3-pointers – and 3-for-4 at the free-throw line. Carter also had six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Anna Walker bested her season-high with 16 points as she was 7-for-11 from the field with a pair of treys. She also pulled down eight boards with a steal and a block. Keeley Carter had another strong performance with 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting and a 5-for-5 night from the stripe with two boards, an assist and a steal. Reghan Grimes, playing in front of her hometown crowd, added 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting and a pair of charity tosses, while also collecting a team-best nine caroms and six assists to go with three steals and a block.

Lyric Cole and Sanaa' St. Andre led the Tigers (5-15, 1-9 OVC) with 11 points, while XaiOnna Whitfield and Erin Martin each had 10 points.

Tennessee State came out and hit at a hot clip, knocking down nine of its 17 shots in the opening stanza with a 52.9-percent rate. Cole had eight of her 11 points in the first quarter as she went 4-for-4 from the field and giving the Tigers a six-point lead. All but two of TSU's 16 first-period points came from the paint and the Tigers manhandled the boards with a 13-to-5 margin.

Things were a little more even in the second as Tech outscored the Tigers 18-15 to make it a 33-30 TSU advantage at the half. The Golden Eagles pulled down 12 rebounds to TSU's seven, while Walker scored six, Keeley Carter five and Grimes four to inch Tech closer. TSU hit six shots as Tech held the Tigers to 13 total tries, while the Golden Eagles knocked down eight of their 19 attempts.

The third quarter belonged to Tech as the Golden Eagles outscored the Tigers 19-9, including a 7-0 run toward the end of the period. TSU was held to a 30.8 percent clip and Tech made the most of second-chances and turnovers, combining those into 14 points. The Carters had 13 of the third quarter's 19 Golden Eagle points with seven for Keeley and six for Peyton, while Walker chipped in five.

Tech took the lead as Peyton Carter drained a trey to make it 37-35, then after a couple of ties, the Golden Eagles built a seven-point lead as Carter knocked down another long-ranger with 15 seconds left in the quarter to make it a 49-42 game.

TSU tied the game twice more – the last with 4:16 remaining in the contest at 59-all – but Tech answered with a 10-0 run to make it a 69-59 game with 35 seconds left. Free throws on both sides see-sawed the 10-point margin, then the Tigers sank the final bucket of the contest with a 3-pointer at 13 ticks left on the clock to secure the final margin
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EASTERN ILLINOIS 100, MOREHEAD STATE 46
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women’s basketball hit the century mark for the first time since cracking that mark in a four-overtime win at Morehead State last February. On Thursday night EIU got to triple digits in regulation against MSU winning 100-46 at Groniger Arena.

Georgia Cox capped off a big night hitting a free throw to get the Panthers to the 100-point mark with 23 seconds remaining in the game. Cox was one of two Panthers reaching double figures going 5-of-5 from 3-point range finishing with 18 points.

Macy McGlone was the other Panther in double figures finishing with 20 points as all 13 Panthers that saw time on the floor scored.

EIU jumped out to a 27-10 lead in the opening quarter. The Panthers had 25 points in the third quarter and closed the game with 31 points in the final ten minutes. EIU shot 70.6 percent in the third quarter, 64.7 percent in the fourth quarter and 54.3 percent for the game.

Morehead State’s best run of the game was a four-point run to open the third quarter after they trailed 44-24 at the half. Aileen Marquez was the top scorer for the Eagles with 11 points knocking down 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

EIU had another big advantage on the glass finishing with a 44-27 rebound margin. McGlone led EIU with seven rebounds followed by Lalani Ellis and Jayda Johnston both with six.

The Panthers remained undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference improving to 12-6 overall, 9-0 in the OVC.