TUESDAY’S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 72, @Lipscomb 55
@Murray State 100, Bethel 68
@Southeast Missouri 60, Central Arkansas 41
TENNESSEE TECH 72, LIPSCOMB 55
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Balanced scoring with four players in double figures, a huge command on the glass and aggressive defense helped the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team claim a satisfying 72-55 non-conference victory at Lipscomb University Tuesday night.
Senior Blair Bowens led the Golden Eagles (1-1) to their first win of the season with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Freshman Krystal Stirrup earned her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, helping Tech to a 48-37 edge on the boards.
Sophomore Jasmine White added 10 points and eight of those rebounds. Vivian Nwosu was the fourth Golden Eagle in twin digits with 10.
In addition to that foursome, Tech also got eight points off the bench by freshman Tacarra Hayes, seven points and four assists from senior Allison Price, and six points and four assists from senior Meagan Lyons.
Tech led from start to finish, building an early double-digit lead. Tech didn’t allow a Bison field goal for nearly five minutes and raced out to a 14-3 advantage.
After Lipscomb trimmed the difference to four points, 16-12, the Golden Eagles went on an 11-2 run to make it 27-14. At that point, Tech also owned a 21-13 advantage in rebounds.
With 10 seconds to play in the half and Tech’s lead down to six, White drove through the lane, took a pass from Price, drew a foul and hit a layup and free throw. That three-point play sent Tech to the break with a 36-27 advantage. The nine-point scoring margin was mirrored by Tech’s nine-rebound lead at halftime, 26-17.
Jenna Bartsokas, who led Lipscomb with 20 points, converted a three-point play early in the second half to make it a seven-point difference, 37-30, but the Bisons would never get any closer.
In fact, Tech scored the next six points to regain a double-digit margin and the lead never shrunk below 10. The largest Tech margin was 19 points, 65-46, with 5:40 to play following a layup by Lyons.
In addition to Bartsokas, Miriam McAlister also scored in double figures for Lipsomb (0-2) with 10 points. Tech’s defense limited Lipscomb to 32.8 percent shooting (19-for-58) from the field, including 2-for-12 from long range.
The Golden Eagles pay a return visit to Nashville for their next game, facing Belmont University Saturday night at the Curb Events Center at 7 p.m.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 60, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 41
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. ? The Southeast Missouri women’s basketball reached a milestone on Tuesday. The Redhawks used an 8-0 run to start the second half to build an 18-point lead and coasted to a 60-41 win over Central Arkansas for the program’s 200th victory at the Show Me Center. The win extended the Redhawks home winning streak to four games dating back to last season.
With only a ten-point lead, 32-22 heading into the locker room at the end of the first half the Redhawks (2-0) picked up the defensive pressure at the beginning of the second stanza. Sonya Daugherty started the scoring in the second half with an uncontested layup. Three-straight Sugar Bears (0-2) turnovers led to six-straight points as the lead jumped to 18 points, 40-22.
That lead would eventually climb to 21 points on a Rachel Blunt three pointer with 11 minutes left. The Sugar Bears would not go away silently as they cut the lead to 11 on a Laura Beth Anderson layup to make it 52-41 with 5:41 remaining.
That would be the last time the Sugar Bears would put points on the board as the Redhawks defense completely shutdown their offensive game. The Bears went 0-6 from the field and even missed the front end of a one-and-one as the Redhawks put the finishing touches on the game with a Tierra Johnson layup with 31 seconds remaining for the final.
The first half was close as both teams exchanged baskets the opening seven minutes. Lauren Sharpe drained a three-pointer to give the Redhawks the lead, 11-8. A lead that the Redhawks would not relinquish thanks in part to an 8-1 run in the first half that built the Redhawks a comfortable lead.
The Redhawks held the Sugar Bears to 32-percent shooting from the field including 1-13 from three-point range and forced 29 turnovers which led to 25 points. The Sugar Bears won the battle of the boards 37-31 but the Redhawks were able to find 17 points from the charity stripe.
Crysta Glenn just missed out on her second-straight double-double as she finished with a game-high 17 points and led all players with eight rebounds. She went 6-10 from the field and again showed off her improved free throw shooting going 5-6.
Daugherty chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Sharpe scored seven points and finished with five steals to give her 12 steals in two games. Blunt had nine points on 3-6 shooting.
Tarina Nixon added five points off the bench and tied former teammate Natalie Purcell for second on the school’s career three-pointers made charts with a first half trey. She now has 123 career three-pointers.
The Sugar Bears were led in double-figures by Jamye Adair with 11 points and Beth Anderson with 10 points.
The Redhawks look to extend their home winning streak this Friday as they host Arkansas-Little Rock at 7:00 p.m. to end their current three-game homestand. The Redhawks have won six-straight against teams from the state of Arkansas.
MURRAY STATE 100, BETHEL 68
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s basketball team played a strong game in its home opener against Bethel College (Tenn.) earning a 100-68 win in the RSEC. The win was not only the first for the Racers (1-1, 0-0 Ohio Valley Conference) on the year, but also the first victory for first-year head coach Rob Cross
“I though we did a great job early in the game defending Bethel,” said Cross. “Bethel is a team with a lot of offensive weapons and I think we did a good job in the first half creating some problems for them.”
The Racers were led by the senior trio of Amber and Paige Guffey and Ashley Hayes. All three scored 20 or more points in the contest, with Hayes leading the way for the second game with 25. Amber Guffey tallied 21, while Paige Guffey added a career-best 20. Hayes also had one of the top-two rebounding performances for MSU, with seven. Senior Angela Mullins was at the top of the rebounding list with eight, with all 13 Racer players earning at least one rebound in the contest.
MSU got on the scoreboard first, just 24 seconds into the opening stanza. The Racers held the Wildcats (5-2, 0-0 TranSouth) without a field goal until the 16:47 mark, while garnering four points of their own. MSU then went on a 9-2 run to push the lead to double-digits with just over 14 minutes remaining in the half. The advantage crept up to 21 (33-12) with just over six minutes left on the clock and continued to climb to as many as 33 (51-18) with 1:34 left. The Racers headed into the locker room with a 53-20 advantage.
Bethel fought hard at the beginning of the second period, going on a 6-0 run in the first 1:30 to cut the lead to 27. Twenty-seven was as close as MSU let the Wildcats get and they then pushed the lead to 36 with 15:30 left in the game in route to the 100-68 win.
The Racers earned an advantage on the boards, out-rebounding Bethel, 49-38. The other key to victory was success at the charity stripe. MSU went 34-for-40 from the line, while the Wildcats only got to take 16 free throws, connecting on 14.