SATURDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 49, @Eastern Kentucky 46 (OT)
@UT Martin 60, Tennessee State 51
@Morehead State 80, Tennessee Tech 45
Eastern Illinois 71, @Southeast Missouri 41
Austin Peay 76, @Murray State 72
JACKSONVILLE STATE 49, EASTERN KENTUCKY 46
RICHMOND, Ky. - Despite going scoreless for 11 minutes in the first half and trailing by 11 with less than seven minutes remaining in the game, Jacksonville State defeated Eastern Kentucky 49-46 in overtime Saturday night at McBrayer Arena. The Gamecocks ended regulation on a 12-1 run and scored the first five points in overtime.
Freshman Shakeyia Colyer hit a three-pointer at the 6:48 mark to put the Lady Colonels (10-13, 6-7 OVC) on top 43-32, however, Eastern scored only one point the rest of regulation. Brittany Coles hit the first of two free throws with 22 seconds left to make it a two-point game, 44-42, but she missed the second that would have stretched the margin to three.
Zenobia Pitts missed a three-pointer for Jacksonville State (7-16, 4-9 OVC) with 17 seconds remaining, but the Gamecocks secured the rebound. JSU got two more chances to tie the game, the final one a jumper in the paint by Brittany Wiley with only one second showing on the clock sent the game to overtime.
The Gamecocks scored the first five points of the second half to extend their late game run to 17-1. A free throw by Pitts with 25 seconds left in the extra frame left Jacksonville State on top 49-44. However, three missed free throws by JSU in the final 25 seconds gave Eastern Kentucky a chance.
A put-back by Sarah Fraser-Jones cut the deficit to three with 16 ticks remaining. Wiley missed both free throw attempts with the clocked stopped at 10. Fraser-Jones got off a potential game-tying three pointer at the buzzer but the shot was short.
Poor shooting doomed the home squad. EKU out-rebounded Jacksonville State by six, had 16 offensive rebounds and blocked 10 shots, but the Lady Colonels shot just 25 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from the free throw line. Eastern turned 16 offensive boards into only eight points.
Wiley led the Gamecocks with a game-high 23 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. She was the only Gamecock to score more than six points and attempted 22 of JSU's 63 shots.
Colyer finished with career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (9). Freshman Alex Jones grabbed 14 rebounds and scored nine points, but made just 2-of-13 attempts from the field.
The Lady Colonels fell behind 10-5 after making just two of their first 11 attempts from the field. Wiley connected on a lay-up to stretch the margin to five with 14:03 left in the opening half. However, the Gamecocks would go more than 11 minutes before scoring again.
Eastern scored 14 straight to take a 19-10 lead. Five of EKU's points during the run came at the free throw line. A lay-up by Cherie White capped the run and put the home squad on top 19-10 with 4:11 to play before intermission.
Candice Carmine's basket at the 2:54 mark finally put a stop to the JSU scoring drought. Carmine's basket began an offensive spurt for the Gamecocks. Jacksonville State totaled eight points in the final three minutes and cut the deficit to three, 21-18, on a jumper by Wiley with five seconds left in the first half.
Wiley's jumper 15 seconds into the second half brought Jacksonville State to within one, 21-20, but the Lady Colonels answered with a 13-2 run to build some separation. Three-pointers by Colyer on consecutive possessions pushed Eastern in front 31-22. A traditional three-point play by Jones capped the run and stretched the lead to double digits, 34-22, with 13:09 to go.
Jacksonville State would get within six, 38-32, on a lay-up by Danielle Vaughn with 7:47 remaining, but a minute later, Colyer's third trey pushed the lead back to double figures, 43-32.
JSU's game-ending run began with 10 unanswered capped off by a three-pointer from the right wing by Karisma Boykin, and a fast break lay-up by Wiley, that made it a one-point game, 43-42, with 1:33 showing on the clock.
UT MARTIN 60, TENNESSEE STATE 51
MARTIN, Tenn. - LaBrica Ward turned in another career-night as The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team outlasted visiting Tennessee State Saturday night for a 60-51 win. Ward netted 25 points to set a new career mark, while also pulling down a career-best 12 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double. Alecia Weatherly added 21 points on the night to give UT Martin its first game this year with multiple 20 point scorers.
The win is the third consecutive for the Skyhawks and improves their record to 7-15 on the year and 5-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Tennessee State has now dropped five of its last seven games and sits at 8-14 overall and 5-8 in the league.
For the third consecutive game the Skyhawks opened with a Ward three-pointer on their first possession. The trey helped spark a 12-0 run by UT Martin over the first 4:30 of the game. During the run Weatherly, fresh off a career-best 25 point showing against Austin Peay, drained a pair of three pointers and converted two free throws to score eight consecutive for the Skyhawks.
Tennessee State got its first bucket of the night at the 15:30 mark when Meredith Stafford connected on a three-pointer. UT Martin answered Stafford's bucket on its next possession with a running jumper from Ward, but then went cold from the field and didn't connect on another field goal until the 6:11 mark.
Over that nine minute span the Tigers were able to mount a 12-2 run, with UT Martin's only points coming from Ward at the free throw line, and cut the Skyhawk lead ton only 16-14 with 9:06 left in the half. Ward ended the Skyhawks drought from the field with her second three-pointer of the night at the 6:11 mark.
Tennessee State later used a pair of Stafford free throws to tie the score at 20 apiece with four minutes left in the half. A Darnisha Lyles put back put the Skyhawks back on top and despite the Tigers tying the score two more times, UT Martin was able to carry a 26-24 edge into the locker room after a Weatherly bucket to close the period.
In the first UT Martin's hot shooting early on cooled off to only 34 percent, but the Skyhawk defense was able to limit Tennessee State to only 25 percent shooting from the field. Ward netted 13 points to lead all scores at the break, while Weatherly added 10.
A pair of free throws from Weatherly was all the Skyhawks could manage the first five minutes of the second half as they came out of the locker room unable to connect from the field. Tennessee State tied the game at 28-28 on a Stafford jumper, but the UT Martin defense was able to prevent the Tigers from moving in front.
Ward connected on the first field goal of the half for the Skyhawks with a three-pointer from the corner with 15 minutes left to put UT Martin back on top 31-28. Three free throws from Ward stretched the lead to four before Stafford responded with a three-pointer for the Tigers to pull them back within one at 34-33 with 12:53 left.
UT Martin held onto its advantage until Kesi Hess hit back-to-back three-pointers during a personal eight point scoring run for the Tigers. Hess' first three-pointer at the 7:10 mark gave Tennessee State its first lead of the day at 40-38. It was a short-lived lead though as Weatherly converted a three-point play on the Skyhawks next possession to regain the lead.
Hess then hit her second from three-point range at the 6:30 mark to move Tennessee State back in front and spark her teammates from three-point range as well. The Tigers then pushed their lead to its widest margin of the game at 49-43 with back-to-back threes from Jasmin Shuler and Stafford.
After missing her first nine shots of the game, Skyhawk Cali Cupples found her shooting touch late and hit a three-pointer with 3:36 left to pull UT Martin back within two at 49-47. A pair of Ward free throws tied the game and set up Weatherly to put the Skyhawks back on top with her running jumper in the lane with 1:29 left.
Cupples hit her second three-pointer of the game then Ward and Glisson added three free throws to put UT Martin in front 58-49 with 16 seconds left. Tennessee State added a late jumper from Pierce with seven second left, its first since the Stafford three-pointer at the 4:58 mark, before Weatherly set the final score at 60-49 with a free throw to seal it.
MOREHEAD STATE 80, TENNESSEE TECH 45
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State didn't take much time to decide the outcome of its game with visiting Tennessee Tech Saturday night. A 21-6 run to open the game helped the women's basketball Eagles go on to defeat the Golden Eagles 80-45.
MSU improved to 18-6 overall and 11-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference, winning their fifth consecutive game and equaling MSU's longest success streak of the year. The 18th win also allowed this year's Eagle squad to become the fourth winningest MSU team since 1981-82. TTU fell to 9-14 and 4-9 in the league.
For the second straight game the Eagles placed four players in double figures. Ashley Martin and Courtney Lumpkin led MSU with 15 points each. Chynna Bozeman scored 12, while Tiffanie Stephens tallied 10. Lumpkin also had seven assists. The Eagles grabbed a season high 60 rebounds to TTU's 44. Freshman Ashar Harris, the OVC's leading glass cleaner, pulled down 18.
MSU was relentless on the offensive glass early, and that led to a 12-4 lead in the first six minutes. The Eagles upped the lead to 16-4 in the next three minutes. TTU started the game 2-for-14 from the field.
The margin increased to 21-6 with 9:54 left in the first half. Bozeman hit her first trey at the 10:21 mark on the clock and then backed it up with a 10-foot jumper 25 seconds later. Tech continued to misfire and the Eagles' transition game continued to heat up. With 3:07 left in the first half, the Eagles were up 37-13.
MSU led 44-17 at the break, shooting 45 percent and out-rebounding the Golden Eagles 34-16. It marked the fifth straight half the Eagles had eclipsed the 40-point plateau.
The Eagles went on to lead by as many as 38 in the final half.
MSU shot 42 percent for the game (28-of-67) while holding the Golden Eagles to just 22 percent. The Eagles hit 8 of their 24 three-pointers and 16 of their 21 free throws.
TTU got a 12-point, 10-rebound double effort from Kellie Cook. Allison West Mason scored a career high nine points in a career high 23 minutes.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 41
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Maggie Kloak, Dominique Sims and Sydney Mitchell all scored 12 points and Eastern Illinois women's basketball shot 51 percent from the field, cruising to its 11th consecutive victory, 71-41, at Southeast Missouri State Saturday evening.
The win was EIU's first in Cape Girardeau since 2001, snapping a nine-game losing streak. The current 11-game win streak is now officially the longest ever in the 37-year history of the program.
Four Panthers scored in double-figures for the second game in a row. Ashley Thomas rounded out that quartet, scoring all 10 of her points in the first half. The 12 points for Mitchell were a career high, the second consecutive game in which the freshman has posted a new benchmark.
Eastern (16-8, 11-1 OVC) tallied 20 assists on its 26 field goals. Ta'Kenya Nixon led the way with six assists to go along with seven points and nine rebounds. Sims also grabbed nine rebounds, finishing one shy of a double-double.
Three players off the SEMO bench - Brittany Harriel (12 points), Erika Lane (11) and Shelah Fields (9) - accounted for 32 of their team's 41 points. Three Redhawks' starters were held scoreless and Lesley Adams and Patricia Mack both fouled out. Southeast (7-15, 4-8 OVC) has been without three starters due to injury for a long stretch of the season.
The Panthers doubled up SEMO in the rebounding column, 40-20, tallying 16 second-chance points on their 13 offensive boards. Eastern also kept the home team off the free throw line. The Redhawks shot only two free throws and none in the second half.
The Panthers took control of the game with a 19-0 run that wrapped around the halftime break. Southeast didn't score for 11 and a half minutes, the final nine and a half minutes of the first half and the first two minutes after halftime. All 19 EIU points came from, Kloak (6), Thomas (6), Sims (4) and Pressley (3). Thomas connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of the first half and Pressley capped the big run with a triple early in the second half.
Kloak scored seven consecutive points for EIU at one point in the first half, registering nine of her 12 points in the opening 20 minutes. Kloak and Pressley were a combined 9-of-14 from the field.
Eastern put the game away with 12-2 run in the second half. Sims connected on three field goals during the surge
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead with a 10-0 run after SEMO scored the first points of the game. Four different EIU players scored during the early spurt. But after a Mitchell layup on an inbounds play at the 16:33 mark, Eastern didn't score again for four and half minutes. The Redhawks put together a 9-0 run during the stretch, taking a one-point lead.
The game was back and forth over the next three minutes and was tied at 17-17 when the SEMO scoring drought began.
The Panthers swept their four-game road stretch and have now posted six of their 11 consecutive victories on the road. The six-game win streak on the road matches the longest of that sort during Sallee's six-year tenure.
AUSTIN PEAY 76, MURRAY STATE 72
MURRAY, Ky. - Twenty-point outings by junior Ashley Herring and sophomore Whitney Hanley led Austin Peay State University women's basketball team to a 76-72 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Murray State, Saturday night, at the Regional Special Events Center.
Unlike its slow start two days previously in a loss at Tennessee Martin, Austin Peay (9-15, 8-5 OVC) broke out quickly against Murray State and built a 23-10 lead in the opening 10 minutes. The Lady Govs made eight of their first 14 field goals in building the lead.
Murray State (10-13, 5-7) slowly chipped away at the lead the rest of the half and Austin Peay helped along the way committing eight of its 14 turnovers in the final 10 minutes. The Racers closed the half with a 15-8 run over the final 9:53 to slash the Lady Govs lead to six points, 31-25, at halftime.
Neither team made much headway through the second half's opening eight minutes with Austin Peay still leading by six points, 45-39, at the 12:12 mark.
Murray State finally put together an 11-4 charge over the next three-plus minutes to take its first lead of the game, 50-49, with 8:57 remaining. The two teams would trade the lead three times and battle through four ties over the next seven minutes.
It wasn't until freshman Meghan Bussabarger hit her first three-pointer at the 1:31 mark that Austin Peay regained the lead for good, 71-68. She would help solidify the advantage on the Lady Govs next trip with a free-throw line jumper. Austin Peay closed the game by making three of four free throws to set the final margin.
Herring and Hanley became the first APSU duo to score 20 points in the same game this season. Sophomore Jasmine Rayner tied a career high with 17 rebounds and added 14 points for her season's sixth double-double. Junior Brooke Faulkner handed out a career-high seven assists, the most by an APSU player this season.
Murray State's Kayla Vance led all scorers with 23 points. Mallory Luckett added 10 points and 11 assists.