2017 OVC Women's Basketball Championship - First Round

3/1/2017 8:33:55 AM

#1 BELMONT 74, #8 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 59
NASHVILLE -Picking off right where it left off last season at Municipal Auditorium, the No. 1 seed Belmont University women's basketball team (25-5) posted a 74-59 victory over No. 8 Southeast Missouri (13-17) Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the 2017 OVC Tournament.

Belmont extended the nation's second-longest active winning streak to 19 games and improves to 33-1 in its last 34 OVC games. BU has won 23-straight conference games including last season's run through the OVC Tournament.

Five Bruins finished in double figures, paced by senior Lauren Thompson (Franklin, Tenn.) who tallied 16 points. Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) finished with 12 points and tied a career best with 14 rebounds, compiling her fifth double of the season. Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) scored 14 including 12 in the first half. Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) had 10 points, six rebounds and four blocks while Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) scored a big 11 points off the Bruin bench.

With 25 wins this season, the Bruins have tied the 2006-07 team (25-7) for the most wins in Belmont's Division I history.

Belmont will face either UT Martin or Austin Peay Friday, March 3 at Noon CT in the OVC semifinal round.

Belmont finished just 5-of-20 (25.0%) from three-point range and 25-of-61 (41.0%) from the field overall but dominated the rebounding battle, 51-37.

Roy also tied her career high with six assists, while notching a pair of steals and a block. Smith tied her season best with nine rebounds.

All-OVC guard Bri Mitchell scored a career-high 32 points on 12-of-29 shooting from the floor for SEMO and fellow senior Olivia Hackmann returned from injury after missing the previous 11 games.
The Bruins faced an 8-7 deficit at the first quarter media timeout and trailed 7-2 early as the Redhawks came out determined from the jump. After the media timeout, Belmont scored the next six points to take a 13-8 lead, forcing the Redhawks to call a timeout of their own at the 3:21 mark.

Belmont would take a 21-12 lead into the second quarter as it closed the period on a 14-4 run following the media timeout. Smith led all scorers with nine first quarter points and helped stabilize Belmont early, scoring the team's first two baskets after SEMO jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
Belmont led 43-30 heading into the intermission outscoring the Redhawks 22-18 in the second quarter. SEMO opened the second with a 6-0 scoring spurt as Mitchell nailed a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to trim the Belmont lead to just 21-18 with under eight minutes remaining in the frame. BU adjusted and found its footing offensively, carrying a double digit lead into the break. Roy had nine points after the first 20 minutes and helped build Belmont's lead in the second quarter.

The Bruins shot just 3-of-10 from the arc in the first half. Maggard and McCabe combined to score only four points but Jones provided a spark off the bench, registering eight points. Smith paced Belmont with 12 at the break while Mitchell was the catalyst for SEMO with 17 first half points. Belmont held a significant advantage in terms of points in the paint, 22-4, and had 11 second chance points compared to SEMO's two.

Belmont outscored SEMO, 19-15 in the third and led by as many as 18 in the frame. Thompson scored six points in the third as the Bruins grew their lead.

SEMO scored the fourth quarter's first six points to shrink the gap to just 11 at 62-51 with eight minutes left, but Belmont struck right back as it scored five-straight points to extend the lead back to 16 after Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) connected on a transition three which forced the Redhawks to call timeout. SEMO outcored Belmont 14-12 in the fourth but the Bruins held on for the gritty victory.

Jones came through in a big way for Belmont, scoring her most points since Dec. 31, 2015 at Austin Peay.

The Bruins were +14 on the boards and +16 in points in the paint and had 17 assists on 25 made field goals.

Belmont led for all but five minutes in the contest.

The Bruins return to the floor Friday, March 3 when they compete in the OVC Tournament Semifinal.

#7 EASTERN KENTUCKY 73, #2 MOREHEAD STATE 67
NASHVILLE - The No. 7 Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team upset No. 2 seed Morehead State, 73-67, in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.

Senior Jalen O’Bannon – who was voted first team All-OVC on Tuesday – led the way with a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds. She added four assists and two blocks.

Fellow seniors Mariah Massengill and Alexus Cooper also came up big in the victory. Massengill finished with 11 points and a team-high five assists, while Cooper posted 14 points, four assists and three steals.

The EKU bench played a pivotal role, as well. Junior Madison Wood contributed eight points, seven rebounds and a career-high five blocks, while senior Marcella Rocha came up with a team-best four steals.

EKU (11-19) used a 13-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 62-41, when Wood converted a layup just over a minute into the fourth quarter. However, Morehead State (21-9) stormed back with a 21-6 run and pulled to within five, 68-63, when Darianne Seward buried a three-pointer with just over a minute to play.

The Eagles made it a five-point game again, 71-66, when KayK Tate knocked down a triple with 14 seconds on the clock.

Massengill, however, calmly sank a pair of free throws on EKU’s next possession to push the lead back to seven, and EKU held on for the postseason win over its in-state rival.

Miranda Crockett led four Eagles in double figures with 16 points. She also had six rebounds and three steals.

Eastern stifled Morehead State to 37 percent (23-of-63) shooting from the field and 26 percent (5-of-19) shooting from the floor.

The Colonels, meanwhile, overcame 22 turnovers by shooting 48 percent (24-of-50) from the floor. EKU also out-rebounded Morehead State, 39-34, and blocked a season-high eight shots.

EKU ran out to a 10-point lead in the game – 15-5 – when Massengill went coast-to-coast for a layup with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter. A bucket by Wood with less than 30 seconds on the clock made it an 11-point advantage, 26-15, at the end of the first.

Eastern grabbed its largest lead of the first half, 35-20, when Cooper converted a pair of free throws with 3:53 showing on the clock in the second quarter; however, Morehead State scored four unanswered points to close the half and cut EKU’s lead to 11, 40-29, at the break.

After picking up her second foul and sitting out the last 1:26 of the first half, O’Bannon exploded out of the locker room and scored EKU’s first 10 points of the second half. Her final point of the streak, a free throw, sparked the 13-2 run that ended when Wood gave the Colonels their largest lead of the day, 62-41, just over a minute into the fourth quarter.