THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 80, Jacksonville State 53
@Eastern Kentucky 61, Tennessee Tech 60
@UT Martin 79, Austin Peay 70
@Murray State 77, Tennessee State 69
Eastern Illinois 74, @SIU Edwardsville 63
MOREHEAD STATE 80, JACKSONVILLE STATE 53
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State's women's basketball team ranks among the nation's top teams in three-pointers and the Eagles proved that once again Thursday night against Jacksonville State at Johnson Arena. MSU hit a school record 17 treys and won handily over the Gamecocks, 80-53.
The Eagles improved to 17-6 and 10-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The 2009-10 team became just the fifth in school history to record at least 17 wins in a season. JSU fell to 6-16 and 3-9 in the OVC.
Sophomore Ashley Martin, one of four Eagles in double figures, scored a team high 16. Sophomore Abby Steel tallied a career high 15 points, including 12 in the second half, while junior Chynna Bozeman scored 14. Bozeman, who hit nine of her 13 triples at Austin Peay Sunday, was 4-for-4 tonight. Freshman Ashar Harris notched 12 points and nine rebounds.
Destine Lane led the JSU squad with 16 points, including four three-pointers. She also had seven boards. Danielle Vaughn scored 14.
Martin sparked a 10-1 run to begin the game for MSU as she scored eight of the first 10. She hit a pair of three-pointers and a layup off a pass from Bozeman.
After JSU climbed back to within 13-6, the Eagles went on a 7-2 run to push the first-half margin out to 20-8 with 12:35 left. MSU continued its barrage from beyond the arc, hitting seven of their first nine. The lead ballooned to 29-11 at the six-minute mark and went all the way to 37-15 with just more than two minutes left.
MSU ultimately led 40-20 at the half, shooting 48 percent overall and 77 percent (10-of-13) from three-point range. Martin was 4-of-5 from distance and scored 14 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Gamecocks were limited to 26 percent from the floor.
The Eagles went on to lead by as many 36 in the second half with 7:29 left.
MSU finished the game 17-of-31 from three-point range and out-rebounded the Gamecocks 45-37. MSU also dished out a season high 24 assists on its 28 made field goals. JSU shot 33 percent for the game.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 61, TENNESSEE TECH 60
RICHMOND, Ky. - Freshman Shakeyia Colyer connected on a driving lay-up with 18 seconds left and senior Colette Cole swiped the ball away from a driving Tacarra Hayes with five seconds to go to help Eastern Kentucky edge Tennessee Tech, 61-60, Thursday night at McBrayer Arena.
The Lady Colonels (10-12, 6-6 OVC) snapped a six-game conference losing skid that began with a 28-point loss to Tennessee Tech in Cookeville.
The Golden Eagles (9-13, 4-8 OVC) led by four with 47 seconds left in the game. After an EKU timeout, Sarah Fraser-Jones knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner with 30 seconds to go. Eastern fouled immediately and sent Hayes to the line but the sophomore missed the front end of a one-and-one. Colyer drove the length of the floor and laid it in with 18 seconds on the clock to put the Lady Colonels on top by one.
Cole stripped Hayes of the ball but left Tech with one last chance when she missed both free throw attempts with four seconds remaining. However, the Golden Eagles failed to get off a shot before the horn sounded.
Colyer led EKU with a career-best 17 points. She also had four rebounds and only turned the ball over twice in 36 minutes on the court. Alex Jones added 15 points and five boards. Fraser-Jones finished with 10 points, five assists, five rebounds and one three-pointer.
Eastern turned the ball over 15 times and had only four turnovers in the second half. The Lady Colonels had averaged 23.5 turnovers in their last two games. EKU also turned the tide at the free throw line. In two games last week Eastern was out-scored 43-6 at the charity stripe. Against TTU, the Lady Colonels held a 14-13 advantage at the line.
Tiara Hopper came off the bench to lead Tennessee Tech with 17 points. Hayes added 16 and Krystal Stirrup contributed 13 points.
After a three-pointer by Kylie Cook got the Golden Eagles on the board and drew the visitors within one, 4-3, the Lady Colonels went on an 18-2 run, including scoring 13 unanswered points. Colyer connected on a pair of three-pointers and a lay-up during the run. Nadia Mossong's driving lay-up capped the run and gave EKU a 22-5 lead with 13:25 left in the first half.
A jumper by Brittany Coles and a free throw from Jones with 10:09 showing on the clock kept the margin at 17, 26-9. However, after the free throw Eastern went over three and a half minutes without scoring and the Golden Eagles put together a string of seven unanswered to get within 10, 26-16. TTU stretched its run to 14-2 to get within five, 28-23, with 3:02 remaining before intermission.
The Lady Colonels carried a five-point advantage, 34-29, into the locker room at the break.
The Golden Eagles drew closer and closer through the first seven minutes of the second half. TTU closed the deficit to one on three occasions before taking a 44-42 lead on a deep three-pointer by Cook with 13:06 left in the game.
The lead changed hands six times over the next four minutes. EKU suffered through a scoring drought that last more than four minutes, but the best Tech could do is ease out to a three-point advantage on a free throw by Hopper with 5:45 left in the game. After a jumper by Hayes made it a four-point game, 58-54, with just over three minutes remaining, the Golden Eagles only scored two more points.
Tennessee Tech shot 50 percent from the field for the game and held a 31-30 rebounding advantage. Eastern Kentucky shot 41.5 percent from the field.
UT MARTIN 79, AUSTIN PEAY 70
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team used another hot shooting night, and a career-high 25 points from Alecia Weatherly, to knock off Austin Peay 79-70 at home Thursday night. UT Martin had four double-digit scorers to out shoot the visiting Lady Govs and in addition to Weatherly's career night, Erica Glisson also added a career-best 12 points in the game.
The win improves UT Martin's record to 6-15 on the year and 4-7 in Ohio Valley Conference. The win also marks the first time the Skyhawks have won back-to-back games since the 2006-07 season which was also the last time they beat the Lady Govs. Austin Peay falls to 8-15 on the year and 7-5 in league play with the loss.
The Skyhawks opened the game with a three-pointer by LaBrica Ward at the top of the key and never looked back. After Austin Peay answered with a jumper from Whitney Hanley, Ward again connected with another three-pointer and Weatherly added a leaner in the lane to give the Skyhawks an 8-2 lead less than five minutes in.
After the Lady Govs made their second basket of the game at the 15:10 mark, they went cold from the field over the next three minutes. During that time UT Martin continued to shoot the ball very well and put together a 12-0 run. Weatherly and Cali Cupples both drained three-pointers during the run, while Ward also added a layup through traffic in the lane.
Austin Peay ended its scoring drought with three straight buckets from Nicole Jamen to cut the Skyhawk lead to 20-10 with 9:37 left in the half. UT Martin answered with another three-pointer from Cupples which sparked another run for the Skyhawks that saw them extend their lead back to 16 at 26-10 with eight minutes left.
After a Lady Govs basket to cut the lead to 26-12, UT Martin rattled off another eight consecutive points to move ahead by 20 for the first time. Included in the run was another three-pointer from Cupples, her ninth consecutive make from behind the arch dating back to her 6-6 showing against Murray State.
UT Martin went on to close out the half with a 21 point edge at 40-19, marking the most points it has scored in a half this season. The Skyhawks shot 50 percent from the field in the opening half and a blistering 70 percent from three-point range.
At the half Weatherly had 16 points, while Ward added 10 and Cupples registered nine points on her trio of three-pointers. Jamen was the only player for the Lady Govs to score more than three points in the first half with her team-leading 10.
In the second UT Martin picked up where it left off when Weatherly drained a three-pointer to push the Skyhawk lead to 43-19. After Austin Peay answered with a jumper from Jasmine Raymer, Darnisha Lyles put back a rebound to put the Skyhawks back on top by 24, their largest lead of the game.
Austin Peay cut the lead back under 20 with a three-pointer from Whitney Hanley at the 13:42 mark, setting the score at 51-33. Both teams traded baskets over the next nine minutes, which didn't allow the Lady Govs to move any closer to the Skyhawks than 18 points. A Paige Smith layup with 5:45 remaining pushed the Skyhawk lead back to 22 and they seemed to be cruising home for the victory.
Austin Peay mounted one more rally though and over the next three minutes went on a 15-2 run to cut the Skyhawk lead to single-digits at 67-58 with 2:31 left. It was the first time the Lady Govs had been within single-digits since the 14:17 point of the first half.
A pair of Ward free throws ended the Lady Govs run and put the Skyhawks back on top by 11 with two minutes remaining. Brooke Faulkner then hit a three-pointer for the Lady Govs with 30 second remaining to cut the lead to eight, but that was as close as Austin Peay could come. Down the stretch Glisson hit five free throws to seal game for the Skyhawks and set the final score at 79-70.
In addition to Weatherly's game-high 25, Ward also finished the night with 18 points and Smith added 10 to go along with the 12 points Glisson poured in at the free throw line. For the game UT Martin shot 51 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. The Skyhawks also were 27-of-32 at the free throw line, as compared to Austin Peay only going 5-of-9.
MURRAY STATE 77, TENNESSEE STATE 69
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women's basketball team earned its fourth-straight home victory, with a 77-69 win over Tennessee State at the Regional Special Events Center. The win gave the Racers their 10th win of the season and improved their record to 10-12 overall and 5-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Senior Kayla Vance led a trio of players with double-digit scoring for MSU. The West Paducah, Ky., native tallied 20 points, while fellow senior Mallory Luckett added 15 and freshman Tessa Elkins tallied a career-high 10. Elkins also added a career-best seven rebounds, with Luckett adding nine boards and eight assists.
The opening half of action was a back-and-forth battle; with no team leading by more than three points until the Lady Tigers took a 24-20 lead with 8:54 remaining in the first half. The Racers quickly tied the game with a 4-0 run of their own and the battle resumed through the opening 20 minutes. The score looked like it was going to be tied at 34 heading into the locker room, but a last second triple by Kayla Lowe gave the Racers a 37-34 advantage.
TSU came out of the intermission and quickly tied the game again twice in the opening minute of action. After a tie at 39 (19:12), MSU went on a 4-0 run over the next minute to take the lead for good. The Racers never trailed the rest of the game and despite a few small runs by the Lady Tigers, never let TSU get closer than one point the rest of the half.
MSU was up by nine, with just under four minutes to play, when the Lady Tigers made their final push of the game. TSU went on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to three (68-65). The Racers then increased the lead back to as many as 10 on nine free throws to end the game on a 9-4 run.
Free throws were a key to the game, as MSU went 17-of-20 from the charity stripe and the Lady Tigers went just 18-of-31.
Tennessee State had four players reach double-figures led by Oby Okafor with 18 points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 74, SIU EDWARDSVILLE 63
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Maggie Kloak scored a season-high 21 points and Ta'Kenya Nixon put together a double-double performance as Eastern Illinois women's basketball won a program-record 10th consecutive game, 74-63, at SIU Edwardsville Thursday evening.
The 10-game win streak is the longest single-season run in team history. Previously, the Panthers (15-8) won their final game of the 1982 season an AIAW program and their first nine games of the 1983 campaign as an NCAA Division I program.
Kloak was 6-of-9 from the field and 9-of-11 at the free throw line. Nixon finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, her team-leading third double-double of the season. Dominique Sims scored 12 and Sydney Mitchell added a career-high 11 points off the bench.
The Panthers were without Ashley Thomas, who was held out of the game to rest a lingering back injury. Starting forward Chantelle Pressley played only the first three minutes of the game before leaving with an apparent leg injury.
Eastern shot 57 percent from the field, highlighted by a 65 percent showing in the first half. The Panthers outscored SIUE 20-5 at the free throw line, making 15-of-21 at the charity stripe in the second half.
SIU Edwardsville's aggressiveness on the defensive end forced 23 EIU turnovers, 15 coming on steals. However, the Cougars (6-18) were also whistled for 20 fouls in the game. Raven Berry and Ashley Bey, SIUE's top two players, both fouled out long before the stretch run. They were limited to a combined 11 points.
Eastern led wire-to-wire but blew the game open with a 10-2 run to open the second half. The Panthers would enjoy a double-figure advantage until the three-minute mark when SIUE finally pulled within nine. Kloak and Sims both scored four points during the 10-2 surge.
Mitchell accounted for all eight of EIU's bench points in the first half. Kloak scored 12 of her 21 in the second half.
Eastern led by as many as 14 in the first half after a 3-pointer by Kelsey Wyss at the 11:31 mark. But SIUE got back into the contest with an 8-2 spurt. The Cougars got as close as four down late in the first half but Nixon and Mitchell both connected on short jumpers in the final two minutes before the break.