THURSDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 59, @UT Martin 42
Eastern Illinois 70, @Tennessee State 57
@Austin Peay 76, Southeast Missouri 63
Eastern Kentucky 58, @Murray State 54
MOREHEAD STATE 59, UT MARTIN 42
MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior Chynna Bozeman became the 19th player in Morehead State women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points as she tallied 24 points, grabbed a season high 10 rebounds and handed out five assists in MSU's 59-42 Ohio Valley Conference opening victory at UT Martin Thursday night.
The Eagles (5-3/1-0 OVC) were 11-of-23 from three-point range in the first half as they built a 39-16 lead. In the second half, however, MSU had to withstand a UT Martin rally and its own troubles. The Eagles were only 1-of-16 shooting beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes and had eight turnovers. UTM, however, couldn't take advantage as the Skyhawks were just 10-of-19 from the free throw line after neither team shot a charity toss in the opening half.
Besides Bozeman's night, sophomore Courtney Lumpkin sparked the first half onslaught by hitting 5-of-7 three-pointers and scoring 15 of her season high 17 in the opening period. She also handed out five assists on the day. Senior Tiffany Hamilton reached double figures in points for the fifth straight game with 12 and also came up with a career high six steals. MSU swiped the ball from UTM 15 times to set a season high.
The Skyhawks led 12-11 with 12:47 remaining in the first half, but Lumpkin began a 12-0 run with a trey. Sophomore Abby Steele bookended the run with another three-ball at 9:23. MSU proceeded to push its lead to 31-14 before UTM's Alecia Weatherly stopped the mini-run with a bucket at 5:03. That was the final field goal the Skyhawks scored in the first half.
In the second half, the Skyhawks scored the first 13 points and cut the MSU lead down to 10 (39-29). Bozeman finally got the Eagles going again with a jumper at the 13:21 mark. UTM cut the margin to as low as seven (41-34), but a couple of Lumpkin free throws and a Steele triple pushed the MSU lead back out to double digits.
For the game, MSU shot 36 percent after opening the game with a season best 52 percent for a half. The Eagles hit 9-of-10 free tosses, while the Skyhawks made just 10-of-19. Weatherly led UTM with a season high 19 points and eight rebounds, while Jessica Pace tallied 10 points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 70, TENNESSEE STATE 57
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Ta'Kenya Nixon scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the second half and Dominique Sims posted a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, teaming up to lead Eastern Illinois women's basketball to a 70-57 victory at Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams Thursday evening.
The Panthers (4-3, 1-0 OVC) led wire-to-wire, and by as many as 20 in the second half, en route to posting their eighth straight victory against TSU (2-4, 0-1 OVC). Eastern has won three consecutive games and four straight conference openers dating back to the 2006-07 campaign.
Nixon was 6-of-9 from the field, grabbed seven rebounds and did not commit a turnover. The point guard scored 10 points during a 16-4 second-half run that allowed EIU to put the game away.
Mariah King was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, tying the program's single-game field goal percentage record. She scored eight consecutive Panther points in the first half while both Maggie Kloak and Nixon were on the bench in foul trouble.
Ashley Thomas connected on two of EIU's three 3-pointers and finished with 10 points. Chantelle Pressley chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
Jasmine Smith led TSU with 13 points, connecting on six of her team's 19 field goals. Oby Okafor finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, but was 3-of-11 at the free throw line.
Eastern shot 46 percent from the field and held TSU to 28 percent shooting. The Lady Tigers missed their first seven field goal attempts and 15 of their first 16. The Panthers jumped out to a 10-2 lead during the home team's cold spell.
Eastern led 48-40 with nine minutes remaining in the game when Nixon took over. The freshman proceeded to score 12 of EIU's next 18 points, highlighted by a three-point play and her first collegiate 3-pointer. Sims made two jump shots and Thomas also scored from the field during the game-deciding surge.
With two fouls apiece, Nixon went to the bench with at the 8:38 mark in the first half and Kloak joined her less than a minute later. But Thomas connected on a 3-pointer on EIU's next possession, extending the lead to 19-8.
King scored on four field goals over the next two and a half minutes, outscoring TSU 8-2 during that stretch. Eastern took a 10-point lead to the locker room after the Lady Tigers scored the final five points of the half.
Sims' double-double was the second of her career and first since the 2007-08 OVC opener. King is the eighth Panther to tie the single-game field goal percentage record during Sallee's six-year tenure.
AUSTIN PEAY 76, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 63
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University women's basketball team trailed for one and a half minutes but scored 29 points over the next 10 minutes en route to a 76-63 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Southeast Missouri, Thursday night, at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (2-5, 1-0) won its first home game in its fourth try this season.
The Lady Govs scored the game's first field goal but surrendered four straight points and trailed, 4-2, at the 18:13 mark. Southeast Missouri held its lone lead until junior Brooke Faulkner hit the first of her four three-point field goals with 16:51 left. That shot ignited a 29-8 Lady Govs run that ended with APSU leading by 19 points, 31-12, with 8:42 remaining. Southeast Missouri would trim the deficit and trailed by 14 points, 40-26, at halftime.
Southeast Missouri (2-4, 0-1) came out of the break and scored the second half's first five points to slash the lead to nine points, 40-31, with 18:15 left.
However, Austin Peay stemmed the tide with junior Ashley Herring's three-point field goal. Senior Nicole Jamen stymied the Redhawks on their next two possessions, tapping the ball away at the top of the key and taking the loose ball to the other end for easy layups each time. Those seven points were part of a 20-10 APSU run that pushed the lead back to 19 points, 60-41, with 6:37 remaining.
The Redhawks would close to within 10 points twice during the final 10 minutes but the Lady Govs made 8 of their 10 free throws during that span to secure the victory.
Faulkner led the Lady Govs with 14 points, making a career-high four three-point field goals. Jamen had a perfect shooting night, making all six of her field goals and converting her one free throw try, to finish with 13 points. Herring added 13 points - her sixth straight double-digit scoring outing - seven rebounds and four assists.
Sophomore Lauren Sharpe led Southeast Missouri with 16 points. Freshman Lesley Adams finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in a foul- laden 24-minute outing.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 58, MURRAY STATE 54
MURRAY, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University's women's basketball team won its third straight game and snapped Murray State University's 21-game home court winning streak with a 58-54 win tonight at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky. The Racers' home court run was the fourth longest active streak in the nation.
MSU entered the game averaging 78.2 points per game and shooting 42.7 percent from the field. The Lady Colonels (3-3, 1-0 OVC) limited the Racers (4-3, 0-1 OVC) to 54 points and 26.2 percent shooting.
EKU freshman Alex Jones recorded her first collegiate double-double, finishing with 12 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. The Elizabethtown, Ky., native added four assists, two steals and one block. Junior newcomer Talisha Davis also finished with 12 points, to go along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Junior Cherie White scored 10 points and made all six of her free throw attempts, including four in the final minute of play.
Eastern out-rebounded MSU 51-39. The Racers came into the game averaging 41 boards per contest. Kayla Vance led Murray State with 10 points off the bench.
The Lady Colonels jumped out on top quickly. Fourteen seconds into the game White connected on a jumper from the top of the key for a 2-0 lead. The Racers started cold, missing their first 13 attempts from the field, including seven from behind the arc. EKU led 10-0 after a three-pointer by Sarah Fraser-Jones with 15:53 remaining in the first half. Murray State's first field goal didn't come until the 12:22 mark. Mariah Robinson got MSU on the board with a three-pointer.
Robinson's basket began a run of nine straight for the Racers. Her bucket with 10:13 before intermission made it a 10-9 game. Eastern answered with another run of its own. The Lady Colonels scored six straight to key a 10-2 run. A lay-up by Fraser-Jones capped the run and pushed EKU in front by nine, 20-11, with 3:50 to play in the opening period.
To keep the pattern going, Murray State ended the first half with an 11-4 run. Vance scored the final four points of the first half to get the Racers within two, 24-22, at the break.
The second half began the similar to the first. Murray State missed its first six shots from the field and didn't score until the 15:18 mark. EKU scored the first 10 points of the second stanza and led by 12, 34-22, after a bucket by Jones. The freshman scored six of Eastern's first 10.
A driving lay-up by Davis with 13:08 left in the game gave the Lady Colonels a 16-point lead, 40-24, and capped a 16-2 run to begin the second half. The Racers strung together seven unanswered to get within nine, but Davis and freshman Shakeyia Colyer stopped the run. Davis knocked down a jumper with 9:58 to go. Moments later Colyer rebounded a missed three by Davis and put it back in for her first collegiate points. The put-back put the Lady Colonels back on top by 13, 44-31, with 8:44 left to play.
Through the first 14 and a half minutes of the second half, MSU made only two field goals, but scored 10 points at the free throw line. When the Racers began to hit shots, the EKU lead shrunk quickly.
After a free throw by Davis kept the margin at 13 with 6:19 left, Murray State scored eight straight to climb to within five. A pair of free throws by Jessica Holder made it a four-point game, 47-43, with 3:45 left to play.
An old fashioned three-point play by Tessa Elkins with 51 seconds remaining cut the margin to three, 51-48, but the Lady Colonels connected on 7-of-8 attempts from the charity stripe to secure the victory.