TUESDAY'S SCORES
@ Lindenwood 82, SIUE 69
Little Rock 68, @ UT Martin 53
LINDENWOOD 82, SIUE 69
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's basketball team (17-7, 9-4 OVC) used a big fourth quarter to defeat SIUE (10-13, 3-10 OVC), 82-69 on Tuesday night inside Hyland Arena
Lindenwood jumped out to an early lead and led wire-to-wire in the first. Mya Skoff knocked down a three just past the halfway point of the opening frame, giving the Lions a 16-10 lead/ A few minutes later, Gracie Kelsey hit another shot from beyond the arc to keep the lead at six, 21-15 which would be the score after one. Kelsey had nine points in the opening frame.
SIUE opened the second quarter on a 8-0 run to go in front by two, 23-21. The Cougars stayed ahead by four at the midway point of the quarter, but a big and-one by Ellie Brueggemann followed by a couple jumpers by Aleshia Jones propelled the Lions back in front, 35-33. The Lions held a one-point lead at the break, 37-36. Jones and Kelsey had nine points in the opening half, followed by Brueggemann with eight.
The Cougars took a five-point lead, 46-41, hitting a pair of big three pointers with just over six minutes to go in the third. SIUE held onto a slim lead, but Ellie Brueggemann hit a contested three as the shot clock was winding down with less than a minute to go to cut the deficit to 59-55. The Lions would trail by two, 59-57 heading into the fourth.
To begin the final quarter, Mya Skoff finished off an and-one to put the Lions ahead 60-59. A few possessions later, Brueggemann and Brooke Coffey made shots from beyond the arc that kept the Lions in front. The Black and Gold were able to pull away late, outscoring the Cougars by 15 in the fourth to earn a 82-69 win. Five Lions finished in double figures.
LITTLE ROCK 68, UT MARTIN 53
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team dropped a 68-53 decision to Little Rock Tuesday night at the Kathleen & Tom Elam Center in Martin.
Despite leading for just 41 seconds of the contest, UT Martin hung around and never trailed by more than eight points until the fourth quarter. With 6:14 left in the game, Kenley McCarn hit a 3-pointer to cut the Trojans' lead to four, 54-50. However, from that point on, Little Rock went on a 14-3 run to end the game, while UT Martin hit just one of its last nine field goal attempts.
Little Rock outshot the Skyhawks Tuesday, 41.0-percent to 32.7 percent, while also outrebounding them by 20, 47-27. The 20 rebound deficit was UT Martin's largest in OVC play this season and the second largest overall. One bright spot for the Skyhawks was the play of their bench, which contributed 21 points, a season-high against a Division I opponent.
Zy Thompson led UT Martin in scoring in the game with 13 points, with Sidni Middleton adding 11 and Brittani Wells chipping in with 10. Kenley McCarn led the Skyhawks on the boards with eight, while Middleton and Thompson each added five.