2018 OVC Women's Basketball Championship - Semifinals

3/2/2018 9:10:29 AM

#1 BELMONT 63, # 4 JACKSONVILLE STATE 53
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - No. 1 Belmont women's basketball fought down to the final seconds in the OVC tournament semifinals and pulled out a gritty victory over No. 4 Jacksonville State. The Bruins extended their winning streak to 21-straight games with a 63-53 win over the Gamecocks, also marking their 45th consecutive league win.

For just the third time in program history, BU has now won 30 games in a single season. The squad's 30-3 overall record is its best in the University's Division I era and the best in nearly 25 years. The historic win also puts Belmont in the OVC tournament championship game for the third consecutive season.

Junior guard Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) carried the Bruins with 20 points, including four made three-pointers. She was joined by senior guard Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) who tallied 19 points and eight rebounds as well as Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) who recorded her second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 12 boards.

Jacksonville State (19-12) was led by a pair of 10-point performances from Kiana Johnson and Tasha Magruder. Collectively, the Gamecocks shot 33 percent from the field and compiled 34 rebounds.

The Bruins got out to a slow start as the Gamecocks netted the first six points of the game before a pullup jumper from Maggard got BU on the board. However, JSU continued to extend their lead going up by seven, 12-5, at the 3:55 mark. An and-1 from McCabe fired the Bruins up as they continued to chip away at their deficit. Smith tried to knot it up with four seconds on the clock, but a missed free throw that gave the advantage to Jacksonville State, 15-14, after a period.

JSU once again claimed the first buckets of the second stanza with a triple two minutes it. They scored five unanswered before Belmont went on a 5-0 run of its own to tie the game up, 20-20, with 3:56 remaining in the half. From there BU went on a 10-1 scoring spree to claim their first lead, 22-21, of the afternoon. Senior guard Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) had the magic touch after collecting the offensive rebound and laying it in. Maggard used the momentum to drain her first three-pointer of the half as Belmont went up, 25-21, but a last second layup from JSU left it tied, 25-25, at halftime.

Both squads traded buckets to start the third, including Maggard matching a JSU trey to tie it up, 30-30, in the early goings of the frame. The Gamecocks went on to suffer a three-minute scoring drought but the Bruins weren't able to capitalize, only scoring three points in the span. Maggard hit a clutch three to regain the Bruins lead, 36-35, at the 4:06 mark. She netted eight of BU's first 11 points before the squad struggled to find the bottom of the net. Roy sunk a three with time expiring in the third to give BU its biggest lead of the game, 41-37, with a quarter remaining.

Back-to-back buckets, including one from beyond the arc, from Smith helped the Bruins distance themselves, 48-41, at the beginning of the fourth. Maggard made it a double-digit lead, 51-41, with 5:05 remaining in the game after drilling her fourth long-range shot of the day. From then on BU took control of the game, ensuring the Gamecocks wouldn't sneak their way back in. The Bruins hit seven of their final nine field goals and made all six free throw attempts they had in the final minute to secure the victory.

#2 UT MARTIN 69, #3 SIUE 67
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Two free throws by freshman Chelsey Perry with 0.4 seconds on the clock would prove to be the difference for the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team, as the squad pulled out a thrilling 69-67 victory over SIUE in the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship.

The No. 2 seeded Skyhawks (19-13) pulled out a gutsy victory against one of the team’s arch rivals. With the win, UT Martin advances to the OVC Basketball Championship title game for the sixth time in the past eight seasons while improving to 14-5 in tournament play under head coach Kevin McMillan.

Perry, an OVC All-Newcomer selection, paved the way for the Skyhawks’ success once again, scoring a game-high 22 points – including the game-winning free throws at the end of regulation - while tallying six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Junior guard Emanye Robertson ran the point guard position efficiently, tallying 15 points – including nine free throws – while notching seven rebounds, five assists and three steals to round out a strong statistical line. Senior All-OVC forward Ashton Feldhaus also contributed 14 points and six rebounds in the contest.

SIUE (17-14) saw its tournament run come to an end in the semifinal round for the fourth consecutive season. The Cougars were led in scoring by Jay’Nee Alston with a team-high 17 points while Allie Troeckler tallied 11 points.

The Cougars would jump out to an early lead as the Skyhawks struggled to find their offensive stroke. That shortage would be short-lived however as UT Martin strung together a 14-2 run out of the media timeout to assume control of the margin in the opening period. With the big run, the Skyhawks took a 20-15 advantage into the second.

The offense slowed to a snail’s pace for much of the second quarter as both teams combined to make just 4-of-20 field goal attempts in the period. SIUE would make the most of its opportunities from the free throw line however, going 7-of-7 in the quarter while outscoring UT Martin 12-8. The low scoring contest would go into halftime with the Skyhawks clinging to a narrow 28-27 advantage.

UT Martin found a bit of separation in the third quarter, notching its highest-scoring quarter of the afternoon with 24 points. The play of Perry and Robertson proved big for the Skyhawks as the duo combined to score 13 points. With the strong play in the segment, UT Martin took a 52-42 lead into the fourth.

SIUE would not go away quietly however, immediately cutting into the margin just nine seconds into the fourth. The Cougars would storm back, cutting the margin to one point on a pair of occasions before ultimately tying the game on a three-pointer by Bell with 12 seconds to play. With the game tied at 67 points apiece, the Skyhawks would drive down the floor before lobbing the ball to Perry which turned to go up right before the horn but would be fouled on the play, heading to the line with a chance to win the contest with 0.4 seconds to play. The freshman would be clutch in the contest, sinking both free throws to secure a 69-67 semifinal victory.

SIUE was led by Jay'Nee Alston with 17 points while Allie Troeckler added 11.

UT Martin now will turn its focus to No. 23 ranked Belmont for a chance at punching its ticket to a fifth NCAA Tournament appearance. The Skyhawks and Bruins will tipoff from the Ford Center at 2 p.m.