COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Allison Price saved her best for
last.
The senior point guard, one of four Golden Eagles playing in their
final home game in Eblen Center, pumped in a career-high 17 points
to go with six rebounds and five assists to lead Tennessee Tech to
a 69-53 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Austin Peay Saturday
night.
The victory was No. 799 in the program’s history, and also
clinched the seventh seed in the upcoming OVC Tournament. Tech
improved to 8-20 overall and 6-11 in the league, while APSU slipped
to sixth place with a 13-14 overall record and 9-7 mark in the
conference.
An 8-0 Tech run to close the first half pushed Tech into the lead,
and set the stage for the Golden Eagle victory. Tech held a
double-digit lead for most of the second half on their way to
winning for the fourth time in the last six games in a late-season
surge.
Senior Blair Bowens also reached double figures with 15 points,
along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Tech got its trademark balanced scoring in the box score as Jasmine
White netted nine, Vivian Nwosu scored eight, Meagan Lyons and
Tacarra Hayes had seven and Simone Rutledge chipped in with
six.
Hayes and Rutledge, both freshmen, provided critical play in the
post when both White and Nwosu fell into foul trouble. Each
finished with four, along with Rutledge.
The Lady Govs were paced by Ashley Herring with 20 points and eight
rebounds, along with two steals, while April Thomas had a
double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Nicole Jamen added
eight points.
APSU also needed contributions from the bench, as Herring and Emily
Pollock each fouled out and Jamen and Whitney Hanley had four fouls
apiece.
Austin Peay overcame an early Tech lead and pulled on top at the
13:26 mark of the first half, 12-9, when Herring knocked down her
first 3-pointer. The Lady Govs controlled the lead, going up by six
for their largest margin, 23-17, when Hanley drained a trey with
8:34 to go.
The Golden Eagles came back to tie the contest at 25-25 on a layup
by Price. APSU went up one, before the Golden Eagles scored the
final eight points of the period to take a 33-26 lead into
halftime.
Tech did a great job protecting the basketball, committing only six
turnovers in the first half. That helped to overcome an 18-14
rebounding edge by the Lady Govs.
A 3-pointer by Blair Bowens allowed Tech to grow its lead to 11
points at 39-28. Four times after that, Austin Peay cut the lead to
nine, but the best the Lady Govs could do was get within eight,
54-46, with 7:21 to go, on a 3-pointer by Herring.
An 8-2 Tech run, capped by a 3-pointer from the corner by Price,
made it a 14-point game with 3:09 to play. Tech went 4-for-5 at the
free throw line to maintain its margin, and White canned a 25-foot
3-pointer with 12 seconds to play for the final 16-point
margin.
Tech forced 23 APSU turnovers while committing just 13 in the game.
Rebounds were dead-even at 34 apiece.
The Golden Eagles have one game remaining in the regular season, a
2 p.m contest at Jacksonville State next Saturday (Feb. 28), as the
Golden Eagles bid for their milestone 800th win.