WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@SIU Edwardsville 66, UMKC 55
@Jacksonville State 74, Alabama A&M 71
SIU EDWARDSVILLE 66, UMKC 55
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Raven Berry led four players in double figures Wednesday as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville downed UMKC 66-55 in women's college basketball.
Berry scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 18 minutes played. She was in foul trouble during the first half, but turned on the offense with 14 points in the second half.
Melia Duncan connected on four three-pointers for the Cougars and finished with 16 points. Ashley Bey scored 13 points and added four assists and four steals. Courtney Kenner scored 10, all on free throws.
SIUE, now 2-6 overall, made 27 of 36 free throws for the game, taking advantage of 28 fouls from UMKC. That included two technical fouls late due to out-of-bounds plays. Kenner provided the points on the line.
Chazny Morris powered UMKC with 17 points. She was followed by 12 from Kaycie Boyles and 11 from Jade Tinner.
SIUE looked confident in the first half after going up by 12 points with 5:08 to play on a three-pointer by Danielle Bennett. The Kangaroos, 2-4, rallied for a 13-3 run to end the half with SIUE leading 26-24.
UMKC opened up the second half by taking the lead on a three-pointer by Sam Sikkink. Berry answered with a bucket in the paint. Berry's four consecutive free throws midway through the half put SIUE up by five. UMKC made it a one-possession game with 3:40 to play when Jade Tinner scored.
Duncan scored the final of her four three-pointers with 3:18 to play, putting the Cougars up by five. It was a lead UMKC would not threaten the rest of the game.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 74, ALABAMA A&M 71
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Senior Jolie Efezokhae hit a long range 3-pointer with 19 seconds left to lift Jacksonville State to a 74-71 win over Alabama A&M on Wednesday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Nesfayia Watkins' jumper with 45 seconds left in the contest tied the game 71-71. The tie was the seventh tie of the game while Efezokhae's three was the seventh and final lead change of the night.
The Bulldogs (1-3) had one final chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Katrich Williams' three was blocked and rebounded by Zenobia Pitts to secure the win and end an overall 10-game losing streak for JSU.
Jacksonville State (1-6) held a 44-34 lead at halftime after shooting 67 percent from the floor, breaking the JSU record field goal percentage in a half. The old mard was 61.5 versus Auburn in 2005.
Alabama A&M held an early 10-3 lead on a William's three with 17:02 to go in the first half before an 8-0 run gave JSU its first lead of the game, 12-11.
Danielle Beneby's layup gave JSU an 18-17 that turned into a 36-24 lead on an Efezokhae layup with 3:11 to play in the first half. Zenobia Pitts closed the first half scoring making a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give JSU its 10-point halftime advantage.
JSU maintained a 8-10 point advantage through most of the second half until the Bulldogs used an a 11-0 run to tie the game, 61-61, on a William's 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining in the second half. The game featured six ties and two lead changes on over the final 5:41.
The Gamecocks finished with a season-high 71 points and shot a season-high 47.4 field goal percentage and a season-high 53 percent from beyond the arc.
Boykin led the JSU scoring with 16 points followed b y Pitts with 15 points and Beneby with 10 points. Danielle Vaughn, a native of Huntsville, Ala., led JSU with seven rebounds while Pitts collected six rebounds and had four assists.
NaDra Robertson and William's each finished with 15 points to lead the Bulldogs. Whiquitta Tobar had 13 points while Nasfayia Watkins had 12 points and eight rebounds.