Women's Basketball Recaps - Feb. 1

Women's Basketball Recaps - Feb. 1

WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 81, @Morehead State 78
UT Martin 88, @Austin Peay 83
SIUE 64, @Tennessee Tech 62 (OT)
@Eastern Illinois 74, Southeast Missouri 48
Eastern Kentucky 71, @Tennessee State 66 


MURRAY STATE 81, MOREHEAD STATE 78
MOREHEAD, Ky. -  Morehead State senior guards Courtney Lumpkin and Linda Dixon each scored 24 points Wednesday night, but Mallory Schwab scored a game-high 26 points off the bench, and visiting Murray State rallied from as many as 18 points behind to defeat the host Eagles 81-78 at Johnson Arena.

Schwab played 27 minutes and was 10-of-14 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Mariah Robinson notched 25 points and six rebounds and scored her 1,000 career point. After taking a substantial first-half lead, the Eagles saw Murray State outscore them 50-35 in the second half.

The Eagles dropped their fourth consecutive game to fall to 7-14 and 4-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the Racers moved above .500 in the league at 5-4 and improved to 9-13 overall. Murray State also halted a five-game losing streak to Morehead State.

Lumpkin moved into 14th in career scoring at MSU, passing the 1,300-point plateau and moving ahead of Kelly Stamper.

The Eagles used a 15-2 first-half run to bolt out to a 23-6 lead with 12:30 remaining and led by 18 (43-25) at the 1:11 mark before Murray State began to trim the advantage. The Racers slashed the Eagle lead to 43-31 at the break and scored the first three of the second half to cut it under double digits at 43-34.

Morehead State pushed its lead back to 11 (47-36 at 17:31), but the Racers outscored the Eagles 24-11 over the next six minutes and grabbed their first lead at 60-59 following a Robinson jumper. The lead changed sides five times before Robinson drained a pair of free throws at the 1:50 mark to give Murray State at 77-75 advantage it never relinquished.

Dixon knocked down her sixth three-pointer of the night to cut it back to 79-78 with 60 ticks left, but Lumpkin's potential game-winner was blocked by Schwab with 7.9 seconds remaining.

Kayla Lowe also reached double figures for the visitors with 12 points.

Freshman Almesha Jones netted a career-high 14 points off the bench for the Eagles, while junior Ashar Harris, the nation's leading rebounder, grabbed a game-high 16 boards. It marked her fourth straight contest with at least 16 rebounds. The Eagles out-rebounded the Racers by one, 39-38.

After being limited to 30 percent shooting in the opening half, the Racers responded by nailing 57 percent (17-of-30) of their attempts in the second stanza. The Eagles hit 50 percent (12-of-24) in the final half and were 11-of-29 from three-point range. The Eagles also hit 15 of their 17 free throws, led by Lumpkin who was 7-of-8 at the line. She is now 25-of-26 at the free throw stripe in the last three outings.

UT MARTIN 88, AUSTIN PEAY 83
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore Jasmine Newsome tossed in a game-high 27 points tonight, helping The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team stave off a furious Austin Peay rally in an 88-83 victory at the Dunn Center.       

The Skyhawks (14-8, 8-1 Ohio Valley Conference) led by as many as 11 points in the second half tonight before Austin Peay charged within one possession on three different occasions. However, UT Martin made just enough plays down the stretch to depart with its first victory in the Dunn Center since 2002.           

A sophomore from Millington, Newsome made 11 of her 22 field goal attempts while adding eight assists (against only one turnover) and four rebounds in all 40 minutes of action.           

Joining Newsome in double-figures was Heather Butler, who made five 3-pointers en route to a 17-point performance. Aubrey Reedy poured in 14 points - including six straight in the middle of Austin Peay's run, while Taylor Hall and Perica Glenn each tallied 10 points for the Skyhawks.         

Austin Peay (5-19, 2-9 OVC) was paced by Whitney Hanley (23 points, 12 rebounds) and Nicole Olszewski (21 points). Kristen Stainback and Kaitlyn Hill added 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lady Govs.                  

Austin Peay jumped out to a big lead early, surging ahead 8-0 in the first 2:21. However, the Skyhawks would soon recover, outscoring the Lady Govs 7-2 in a span of 59 seconds to pull within four points off a Newsome three-pointer.    

The Lady Govs would push their lead back out to nine with just under 13 minutes to play, but a Skyhawk three-point barrage ignited an 11-0 run to give UT Martin its first lead of the game. The Skyhawks canned four trifectas in 2:34 - including back-to-back treys by Butler that put UT Martin on top 25-22 midway through the half.


Newsome would account for seven straight points for the Skyhawks, but Austin Peay took back the lead on two occasions. An old-fashioned three-point play by Reedy ignited an 8-0 run for UT Martin to make the score 43-36 at the 2:41 mark.


The Skyhawks would stretch its lead out to eight in the latter stages of the first half before settling for a 50-44 lead at the break. Newsome (16 points) and Butler (14) led UT Martin, who drained exactly 50 percent of its field goal attempts (17-for-34, 8-for-16 from three-point range). Austin Peay was paced by Hanley's 16 points, while Olszewski chipped in with 11 points in the game's first 20 minutes.

A straightaway three-pointer by Reedy opened the scoring in the second half, and a Butler trifecta at the 15:38 mark gave the Skyhawks their first double-digit lead at 59-49. UT Martin would extend its advantage out to 11 before the Lady Govs made their run. UT Martin's lead was trimmed down to four points with 9:27 to play, but a Reedy three-pointer on UT Martin's next possession immediately pushed the Skyhawk lead back out to 71-64.           

After an Olszewski three-pointer sliced UT Martin's advantage to four, it was Reedy who once again came up with the clutch basket. The 6-0 Dyer native drove to the hoop to convert a layup while getting fouled. Reedy calmly sank the free throw and boosted the Skyhawk lead back out to seven with 8:29 left.           

However, Austin Peay just wouldn't go away - scoring eight of the next 10 points to creep within two points at 77-75 with 7:01 remaining. Back-to-back baskets by Newsome and a Glenn layup ensued, pushing the Skyhawk lead out to 83-75 with three minutes to go.        

A pair of free throws by Stainback with 1:25 remaining made the score 86-83, but two Jaclissa Haislip free throws with 15 seconds left iced the victory for the Skyhawks.

SIUE 64, TENNESSEE TECH 62 (OT)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Melia Duncan's floater on the left baseline with 5.6 seconds to play in overtime lifted visiting SIU Edwardsville to a 64-62 Ohio Valley Conference road victory at Tennessee Tech Wednesday night, snapping the Golden Eagles' winning streak after four games. 

Jazmin Hill scored a layup with five seconds remaining in regulation to force the overtime for the Cougars, who swept both games from Tech in the season's series.

It was a battle between two teams tied for third place in the OVC standings, with SIUE (13-8 overall) edging ahead with a 7-3 league record. It was SIUE's third straight win.

The Golden Eagles (10-14 overall), who were playing their third game in five days, saw their OVC mark slip to 6-4.  

The contest was the last home game for Tech for nearly two full weeks, but Tech's busy stretch continues with a Saturday afternoon game at Jacksonville State (2 p.m. CT), followed by a visit to Austin Peay Monday night (7 p.m. CT).

Hill led SIUE with 19 points as she went 5-for-8 from long range. Raven Berry scored a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and also had a team-high five assists. Duncan finished with eight points and four assists.

Tech's balanced effort was topped by Jala Harris with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists while Tacarra Hayes added 12 points. Five other players netted between five and nine points, including Molly Heady with nine and Brittany Darling with eight points and eight rebounds.

Tech clawed its way ahead in the overtime, 59-58, on a 3-pointer by Kellie Cook, but Berry hit two free throws and SIUE was back ahead, 60-59. The game was tied again at 60-60 and again at 62-62, the sixth tie of the game coming on a layup by Heady with 1:35 to play.

Each team missed a shot in the next minute of play, before Duncan's basket decided things.

After the Cougars had surged to a three-point lead, 52-49, on a layup by Berry with 4:34 remaining in regulation, Harris scored six straight to push Tech back on top, 55-52. A layup by Duncan with 1:16 left made it a one-point game, and Hayes' stood her ground defensively under the basket and forced a miss by Berry with 19 seconds left.

Hayes hit one of two free throws with 12 seconds to go to make it 56-54, and Hill's coast-to-coast layup tied the contest with four seconds to play to force overtime.
SIUE scooted out to a 3-0 lead to start the contest, but Tech bounced back with a 13-2 run which was started when Heady scored the first five points. Darling netted three baskets in the run and the Golden Eagles were up 13-5 with 11:32 to play in the half.

The TTU lead grew as large as 15 points on a jumper by Hayes at the 8:00 mark and stayed in double figures for the next six minutes. A jumper by Berry with 2:01 to go trimmed it to a single-digit difference, 31-23, and nobody scored again down the stretch to halftime.

EASTERN KENTUCKY 73, TENNESSEE STATE 66
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University women's basketball team suffered a disappointing, 73-66, loss to Eastern Kentucky Wednesday night in the Gentry Center.

Tennessee State (8-15, 4-7 OVC) was led in scoring by Kim Haynes' 19 points while Simone Hopes added 16. Rachel Allen (12) and Chelsea Hudson (10) also recorded double figures as TSU's leading scorer Jasmin Shuler was held to only three points.

Raechele Gray led Eastern Kentucky (11-10, 6-4 OVC) with 18 points while Jade Barber added 17. Marie Carpenter scored 14 as Alex Jones posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Tennessee State got off to a slow start and fell behind Eastern Kentucky, 13-4, at the 14:46 mark. The Lady Tigers finally got going after Chelsea Hudson hit a free-throw that sparked a 9-2 run to pulled the them within two.

TSU evened the score at 17-all on a bucket by Hudson before an offensive rebound and put back by Simone Hopes gave the Lady Tigers the lead.

Back-to-back scores from TSU made the advantage, 23-17, before EKU regained the lead, 27-25, with 1:39 left in the half. The Lady Tigers tied the game at 27 before going into the half trailing, 31-29.

Eastern Kentucky opened the second half with consecutive three-pointers to go ahead, 37-29, with 1:10 ticked off the clock.

TSU was trailing, 39-34, when the visitors stretched their lead to, 45-34, with 11:52 left in the game. Kim Haynes nailed a triple from the top of the key to cut the deficit down to seven but EKU responded with a 7-0 run to move ahead, 56-42.

Another triple by Haynes followed by a lay-up from Simone Hopes pulled the Lady Tigers to within single digits but the Lady Colonels answered with a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to go up, 65-54, with 3:34 remaining.

TSU fell behind, 71-59, before four points including a three-pointer by Jasmin Shuler, made the score, 71-63.

Kim Haynes knocked down her fourth triple of the game at the buzzer to make the final score, 73-66.

Although Tennessee State only committed 10 turnovers, the Lady Tigers seemed out of sync the entire game. TSU shot 32.1 percent (25-of-78) from the field and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from three-point range.

Eastern Kentucky knocked down 43.1 percent (25-of-58) of its shots, including 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from long range.

TSU held the advantage in rebounds, 47-43, but EKU dished out 14 assists compared to TSU's eight.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 74, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 48
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Mariah King nearly missed her fifth double-double of the year and Ta'Kenya Nixon scored a season-high 24 points to lead the Panther women's basketball team over Southeast Missouri, 74-48, on Wednesday night inside Lantz Arena. EIU won its 11th consecutive game to improve to 18-4 on the year and 9-0 in Ohio Valley Conference action.

With the win, EIU remains undefeated at home with a 10-0 record. The Panthers have now won 18 consecutive OVC regular-season games dating back to last season.

Southeast Missouri went 9-for-13 from the floor over the game's first 13 minutes of action as the opening stanza saw eight ties and three lead changes. The two teams were tied at 22 with 6:21 on the clock before the Panthers used a 12-2 run to take a 10-point advantage into the locker room.

The Redhawks went on a 7-2 run to start the second half and get within five (36-31), but the Panthers responded by going on a 15-1 run and take a double-double digit lead they would never relinquish.

King scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds while Sydney Mitchell added 12 points. Nixon hit her season-high 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting. The junior guard also had a game-high four assists and steals.

EIU shot 41.7 percent (25-for-60) from the floor and went 22-for-26 from the charity stripe. Mitchell led the Panthers at the free throw line as she was 8-for-8.

The Panthers outrebounded the Redhawks, 43-29, on the night. Both Chantelle Pressley and Sabina Oroszova added five rebounds for EIU.

Courtney Shiffer scored 13 points to pace three Southeast Missouri players who scored in double figures. Brittany Harriel and Bailie Roberts both chipped in 11 points. Roberts also had a team-high eight rebounds.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 4 against Morehead State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. inside Lantz Arena.