Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State made it interesting as the hosts cut away from a 14-point Tennessee Tech lead in the third quarter and got the game back within five points with 1:41 left to play in the game, but the Golden Eagles held on to prevail 82-73 on Thursday night at Johnson Arena.

With the victory, Tech improves to 15-5 on the season and 9-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morehead State falls to 7-15, 2-10 in the league. With Eastern Illinois' loss to Western Illinois on Thursday, the Golden Eagles now stand one game back from the Panthers for the league lead.

Despite the absence of leading scorer Katie Novik for the sixth straight game to injury, the home Eagles were powered by a 37-point performance, shooting 16-for-26 from the floor and 5-for-6 at the line as she never left the court. Morehead State also got 14 points from Kalise Hill and 10 from Katie Dike, who also completed the double-double as she pulled down 10 rebounds.

Coleman also had six rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Tech was able to counteract that performance with a trio of 18-point scorers as Keeley Carter, Reghan Grimes and Chloe Larry each hit that mark. The triumvirate combined for 20-for-37 from the floor and 9-for-10 at the free-throw line. Grimes also missed a double-double of her own as she pulled down eight caroms with two assists and a steal.

Carter was 7-for-14 from the field with a 3-pointer and a 3-for-4 effort at the line, Grimes was 8-for-14 with two treys and Larry was 5-for-9 with two 3-pointers and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe.

Taris Thornton also scored in double figures, scoring 10 points and pulling down seven boards to go with an assist, a steal and a block.

Morehead State won the battle on the glass 38-to-29, with 14 offensive boards to Tech's nine. The hosts also blocked seven shots, including four by Dike.

The end of the game was decidedly different than the start as the Golden Eagles soared out to a 25-15 lead at the close of the first quarter, but Morehead State chipped away in the second as the Eagles shot 80 percent from the field to outscore Tech 21-16. The Golden Eagles led 41-36 at the intermission.

Tech pulled away by outscoring the hosts 20-11 to push back out by its largest margin of 14 points before the end of the third quarter. Morehead State used an eight-point swing to cut the game back within five with 1:42 remaining in the contest, but Tech outscored the hosts 8-4 with six free throws and a jump shot to hold off the late rally.

LITTLE ROCK 67, TENNESSEE STATE 60
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Little Rock's defensive strength pushed the Women's Basketball team to a 67-60 conference win over Tennessee State on Thursday night, with four players posting double-figure points at the Jack Stephens Center.

Emerald Parker led the Trojans with 16 points and 12 rebounds, her third double-double. Sug Williams had her 11th double-figure game of the season, adding 15 points for Little Rock. Faith Lee posted 12 points and seven rebounds, while Jordan Holman also scored 10 points, had six steals, and a block.

Little Rock had a strong lead in the third quarter, leading the Tigers 51-38. 

The Tigers chipped away at the nearly 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Tennessee State's Saniah Parker drained a three with 8:06 left in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to nine.

It was a back-and-forth final quarter, but Little Rock's lead was pursued with help from Parker, Williams, and Lee with layups, punching the lead back to 11.

The Tigers cut the lead back to just six with 3:08 left after another drained three by Saniah Parker and a steal and lay in by Aaniya Webb. 

Tensions were high with just 1:25 left in the game when Saniah Parker was ejected after a double-technical foul was called. It was just a four-point game, with the Trojans leading 62-58.

In the final minute, the Trojans went on a 5-2 run to seal the deal.

The Trojans held the Tigers to just 38.3% shooting from the field and 13.3% shooting behind the arc. Little Rock grabbed 39 total rebounds.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 62, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
MACOMB, Ill. - Raegan McCowan etched her name into Western Illinois history Thursday night, reaching 1,000 points for her career as the Leathernecks surged in the second half to defeat previously undefeated Eastern Illinois 62-52 at Western Hall. Not only did McCowan score 1,000 career points, she also became the fastest player in Leatherneck Women's Basketball history to score 1,000 points, doing it in only 50 games played.
McCowan poured in a game-high 23 points, including 11 free throws, to become the latest member of WIU's prestigious 1,000-point club. She added eight rebounds and two blocks in a dominant performance.

The Leathernecks (11-9, 5-6 OVC) struggled early, trailing 26-21 at halftime, but McCowan and Mia Nicastro (20 points) fueled a massive 26-point third quarter that flipped the momentum. Nicastro shot 9-of-18 from the field and came up big in the paint.

McCowan's milestone moment came in the middle of the fourth quarter when she got fouled and went to the line for two. She calmly sank the free throw, pushing her career total to 1,000 points and extending the lead for the Leathernecks.

Eastern Illinois (13-7, 10-1 OVC) entered as the conference leader but couldn't keep pace after the break. The Panthers were led by Macy McGlone's 16 points and seven rebounds.

After a slow first half, McCowan sparked the turnaround, scoring nine in the third, including a crucial and-one layup that ignited the home crowd. Holding a 47-35 advantage heading into the fourth, WIU turned to its defense to close out the win. The Leathernecks held Eastern Illinois to just nine points in the final period, forcing turnovers and contesting shots at every turn. A late free throw from McCowan put the game on ice, securing the victory and cementing her milestone moment.

LINDENWOOD 86, SIUE 70
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's basketball (13-7, 9-2 OVC) gets double-digit performances from Mya Skoff, Justis Odom, and Gracy Wernli as they cruise to a 86-70 win over the SIUE Cougars (4-16, 2-9 OVC) on Thursday evening. The Lions push their win streak to four games and are one game out of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 9-2 record.

Skoff led the Lions with a season and career-high 20 points on Thursday. She shot 7-9 from the field and 4-6 from behind the arc while going 2-3 at the line. Skoff also added a new career-high four assists and two steals against the Cougars. During her career night, she played a team-high 31 minutes of action.

Odom picked up 11 points of her own on Thursday and dished out a team-high six assists (career-high). She finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 62.5% and was a perfect 4-4 from the floor in the first half.  

Wernli tallied double-digit points as well, picking up 10 for the game. After tonight's performance, she now sits second on the team in scoring, trailing only Ellie Brueggemann. Wernli dished out three assists in the win.

As a team, Lindenwood shot 63.6% from the floor, going 35-55 from the field and 8-21 from three including Skoff's four triples. SIUE was held to 42.2% from the floor, making 14 threes but were limited at the foul line only making three triples. The Lions outscored the Cougars 44-20 in points from the paint.  

The Lions began the first quarter shooting 4-4 from the field and jumped out to an early 9-0 lead. Mykayla Cunningham went 2-2 from the floor for five points and a pair of assists. Wernli also went 2-2 from the field and added five points of her own. The Lions controlled the pace for most of the quarter, out-shooting SIUE 69.2% to 23.5% from the floor and led the Cougars 23-10 after one.

Lindenwood extended their led to 18 to start the second quarter, but the momentum switched as the Cougars reeled off a pair of 6-0 runs at 5:02 and 2:54. SIUE trimmed the Lions' lead down to seven with 1:16 to go in the quarter, but Skoff hit a buzzer-beater three with 10 seconds to go extending the Lindenwood lead to 11. Skoff led the Lions with 14 points at the halfway point. Lindenwood once again bested the SIUE in field-goal percentage 69.2% to 64.3% and led 45-34 at the half.  

The third quarter saw early baskets by both sides, but Lindenwood soon gained control of the quarter. Skoff hit a three pointer at 4:32, giving her 17 points; her new career high. Cunningham hit a three pointer of her own with under four minutes left in the third, pushing the Lions lead back to 16. Lindenwood went on a 6-0 run to end the third highlighted by three-pointers from Brueggemann and Skoff. LU went 4-6 from three in third as they headed into the fourth with a 71-48 lead.

SIUE out-scored Lindenwood 22-15 in the final quarter but it was too little too late as the Lions were able to come out of Thursday's game with a win. Mary McGrath added a season-high four points off the bench as Lindenwood was able to run out the clock in Hyland Arena. Lindenwood now sits at 9-2 in conference play after the 86-70 win. Their 86 points marks the most against a Division I team this season and the second most through 20 games.

UT MARTIN 78, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 54
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - After a tight first quarter, The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team kicked it into overdrive and put on a clinic Thursday night's 78-54 win over Southeast Missouri at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau. The win gives the Skyhawks the season sweep over the Redhawks and pushes their record to 9-1 over the last 10 meeting with SEMO.

A major factor in the win was UT Martin's ability to limit their own turnovers while forcing excessive turnovers from the Skyhawks. UT Martin committed just 11 turnovers in the game, while Southeast Missouri committed 24.

Another key for the Skyhawks was their performance at the free throw line, where they went one shy of a perfect game, going 25-for-26 on the night. Kenley McCarn led the charge at the line by going 6-for-6, while six other Skyhawks were also perfect on the night from the charity stripe.

Kenley McCarn led all scorers in the game with 23 points, while Shae Littleford and Anaya Brown followed with 14 and 13, respectively. Lexi Rubel led the Skyhawks on the glass with nine, while Shae Littleford added six steals to the cause.

With her third point of the night, Anaya Brown became the 18th member of the UT Martin Women's basketball 1,000-point club.

She is now just one of three Skyhawks all-time, along with Chelsey Perry and Mary Kate Long, to score 1,000 points, pull down 500 rebounds and tally 100 blocks in their career.