THURSDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 59, @Eastern Illinois 52 2OT
@Southern Indiana 57, Little Rock 40
UT Martin 86, @Tennessee State 79
Western Illinois 74, @Lindenwood 65
@Tennessee Tech 79, Southeast Missouri 66
SIUE 59, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52 2OT
CHARLESTON, Ill. - SIUE women's basketball opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a 59-52 win after going into a double-overtime victory against Eastern Illinois.
The win marked SIUE's first double-overtime game since the 2006-07 season, when the Cougars defeated Southern Indiana 81-75.
SIUE improved to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in OVC play, while the Panthers fell to 1-11 and 0-1 in conference play.
Lauren Miller knocked down a three-pointer with 8:19 remaining in the first quarter to give SIUE its first lead of the game. The Cougars maintained the advantage until the Panthers tied the score at 18-18 with 3:21 left before halftime.
The contest featured seventies, with SIUE holding the lead four times.
Miller scored four points in the first overtime to keep SIUE in front, but EIU tied the game at 50-50 to force a second overtime. Kiyoko Proctor sealed the win by making four free throws in the second overtime.
Proctor and Miller led the team with 17 points apiece. Proctor finished 4-10 from the field and a perfect 7-7 from the line, adding four rebounds and one block. Miller went 6-19 from the field and 2-3 from three-point range.
Macy Silvey added 11 points, going 3-6 from beyond the arc, and grabbed six rebounds. Syanne Mohamed grabbed 10 rebounds, recording her second game of the season with 10 or more in a game.
As a team the Cougars shot 34.5 percent (19-55) from the field, 38.9 percent (7-18) from three-point range and 73.7 percent (14-19) from the line.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 57, LITTLE ROCK 40
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball opened its Ohio Valley Conference schedule with a 57-40 home victory against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Thursday.
USI Women's Basketball (7-2, 1-0 OVC) earned its fourth consecutive win in OVC openers and recorded its third overall win in a row. Following Thursday's triumph, USI's defense has held the opposition to under 60 points in the last three games and under 45 points in two of the last three.
The Screaming Eagles were led in scoring by senior guard Ali Saunders, who tallied a game-high 15 points. Playing in her second game of the season, freshman forward Channah Gannon recorded her second game in a row scoring in double figures with 11 points. Junior guard Sophia Loden added 10 points.
As a team, USI shot for just over 31 percent (19-60) with six three-pointers and over 86 percent (13-15) at the free-throw line. Little Rock, which dropped to 4-7 overall and 1-1 in OVC play, was held to only 30 percent (16-53) from the floor and below 12 percent (2-17) from three-point range.
In the opening minutes on Thursday, Little Rock grabbed an early 8-3 lead thanks to a couple of early threes, but the Screaming Eagles quickly answered back to knot the game up at nine midway through the opening quarter. Later in the first quarter, the Trojans went up by four, but USI took advantage of Little Rock turnovers and went 8-8 at the foul line to end the first quarter on a 9-0 run and jump in front, 20-15.
The Trojans closed the gap down to one by the seven-minute mark of the second quarter. However, the combination of junior forward Chloe Gannon and Channah Gannon pushed the Eagles to a seven-point advantage, 26-19, at the media timeout. A couple of minutes later, Channah Gannon and Saunders canned back-to-back triples to increase USI's lead to double digits, 32-21. Sophomore guard Lexi Sepulveda tacked on another trey, while USI's defense held Little Rock scoreless for the last four minutes of the first half to go into halftime with a 35-21 lead.
The 9-0 run that USI ended the first half on swelled to a 19-0 run, as the Screaming Eagles scored the first 10 points of the second half. Saunders reached double figures on a mid-range jumper, giving USI a 45-21 lead. Little Rock got into the second-half scoring column three and a minutes into the third period. Not long after, Channah Gannon scored to reach double digits for the second straight game. The Eagles continued to lean on their defense to maintain their 20-point advantage, leading 49-29 heading to the fourth quarter.
USI got off to a slow start in the fourth quarter, as Little Rock chipped away to climb within 11, 49-38. The Eagles snapped the run and got on the board three and a half minutes into the fourth on a jumper by Saunders. After the Trojans brought it within 11 with 6:45 left, USI held Little Rock scoreless until less than 40 seconds left in the game. Meanwhile, the Screaming Eagles added back onto its advantage to seal the conference-opening victory.
UT MARTIN 86, TENNESSEE STATE 79
NASHVILLE - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team scored 34 points in the fourth quarter to rally past Tennessee State for an 86-79 win Thursday night at the Gentry Center in Nashville.
The Skyhawks got off to a slow start in the game, but ended the half on 10-0 run to trail by just one, 35-34, at the break. UT Martin shot just 11.8-percent from the floor in the first quarter and entered the locker room shooting just 23.5 percent.
However, in the second half the Skyhawks shot 66.7-percent in the third quarter and nearly 70-percent in the fourth quarter at 69.2. In the fourth quarter, UT Martin went 9-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-5 from 3-point range. They finished the game shooting a season-high 28-for-37 from the free throw line.
Kenley McCarn posted the first double-double of her career in the game with a career-high tying 31 points and a new career best of 10 rebounds. Sidni Middleton followed with a career-high of her own of 20 points, including going a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line. Brittani Wells also reached double-digits in the game, scoring 12 points to go along with a game-high six assists.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 74, LINDENWOOD 65
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Western Illinois Women's Basketball closed the game on a dominant fourth-quarter run to pull away from Lindenwood, earning a 74–65 road victory Wednesday evening at Robert F. Hyland Arena.
The Leathernecks (9–1, 1–0) outscored the Lions 23–12 in the final period, turning a two-point deficit entering the fourth into a nine-point win. WIU shot 57.1 percent in both the third and fourth quarters and finished the night at 45.0 percent from the floor.
Mia Nicastro led all scorers with 23 points on 11-of-18 shooting, adding nine rebounds and three steals. Mallory Shetley provided a strong spark off the bench with 16 points, while Addi Brownfield chipped in 14 points, six rebounds, and four steals. Kaylen Reed added eight points and was perfect from the free-throw line (6-of-8).
The game featured 14 lead changes and nine ties through three quarters. Lindenwood carried a 53–51 edge into the final frame before Western Illinois seized control with a decisive 17–4 run over four minutes. Nicastro scored eight of WIU's first 14 points in the quarter, including back-to-back layups that gave the Leathernecks their first lead of the half.
Western Illinois controlled the paint, outscoring Lindenwood 36–30, and capitalized on second-chance opportunities with a 19–6 advantage. The Leathernecks also forced 16 Lindenwood turnovers, converting them into key baskets down the stretch.
Lindenwood (7–4, 0–1) was led by Brooke Coffey with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Mya Skoff added 15 points. Ellie Brueggemann chipped in 13 points, including three three-pointers.
Western Illinois returns to action with momentum as conference play continues, improving to 1–0 in league action with the road win.
TENNESSEE TECH 79, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 66
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Cam Mathews put herself in some elite company on Thursday night as the Tulsa transfer put on a show in Tennessee Tech's Ohio Valley Conference opener, scoring 34 points as the Golden Eagles topped Southeast Missouri 79-66.
The victory extends Tech's program-record home winning streak to 25 games.
Mathews was on fire from the jump, besting her career-high of 16 before halftime. She ended the game with 34 points, becoming the first Tech player to score 30 since Reghan Grimes on Jan. 18, 2024, at Tennessee State, and scoring the most points by a Golden Eagle player since Yaktavia Hickson scored 37 against Belmont on January 21, 2017.
Jerilynn Harper, Cheryl Taylor, Rachael Gobble and Janet Holt also had 34-point outings, putting Mathews among some of the top names in program history. It is tied for the 40th-most points in a single game by a Tech women's basketball player.
She ended the game shooting 10-for-14 from the field, 6-for-9 from 3-point range and 8-for-8 at the charity stripe. Mathews also collected five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
While the game was physical and the Golden Eagles had a tough time breaking away early on against a much-improved Redhawks squad, Tech did get some tremendous outings from its balanced lineup.
True freshman LaReesha Cawthorn collected her second double-double in three games as she ended the night with 14 points and 16 boards – including seven offensive grabs. Cawthorn was 4-for-8 from the field with a 3-pointer, while also hitting five of eight charity tosses. She also had two assists and two steals.
Chloe Larry, in her first game back after missing the last two games to an injury, had a solid game, posting 14 points with a trio of treys, while also grabbing four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Reagan Hurst also had 11 points with three rebounds and four assists.
Reghan Grimes had a tough night shooting, but the senior adjusted her game and put up big numbers in other ways as she pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked a shot.
Tech held on to a 20-14 advantage in the first quarter, but the Redhawks battled back to take the second period with the game standing at 34-33 at the intermission in Tech's favor. The Golden Eagles soared ahead with a 25-14 third quarter, but Southeast Missouri saw a window in the fourth quarter as Tech had a field-goal drought that lasted more than half of the final 10 minutes.
However, by that time, Tech had built a 19-point lead and just needed to hang on. While the Golden Eagles finished 6-for-17 in the fourth from the floor, Tech was 6-for-8 at the line and was able to outscore the Redhawks 20-19 in the final period to hold off any chance of a rally.
Raissa Nsabua led SEMO (3-6, 0-1 OVC) with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 3-for-4 at the line. Ainaya Williams scored 12 and Da'Kariya Jackson added 11.