By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
VALPARAISO, Ind. – Tennessee Tech knew going in that all five of Valparaiso's starters could score. What the Golden Eagles didn't count on was that several players off the bench also knew how to light up the scoreboard.
The Crusaders (3-1) poured in 3-pointers from all around the arc, hitting 10 in the first half on the way to a huge lead that eventually finished with a 79-61 victory for the home team. The Golden Eagles saw their record dip to 1-2, all on the road.
Tech's season-opening, four-game road swing wraps up Tuesday night with a 7 p.m. game at Mercer. The Golden Eagles will finally get back to Eblen Center for their first regular season home game next Saturday (Nov. 29) when Georgia visits for a 6 p.m. contest.
At Valpo, three players came off the bench to go 6-for-9 from long range in the opening half after the Crusaders opened an 11-point lead just five minutes into the contest.
Tech's last best hope came with 11 minutes to play in the opening half when Mariah Dean scored a layup and Tionne Herron dropped in a 3-pointer to bring the Golden Eagles within five, 17-12.
Enter Jessi Wiedemann, who knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and the Valpo lead was back to a dozen. Another non-starter, Dani Franklin made back-to-back 3-pointers and the home team was up 13, and the difference grew to 16 on a trey by Jessica Carr.
Valpo was 10-for-18 from downtown in the first half to build a 48-34 lead at the intermission.
After the break, Valpo worked the ball inside and used a quick first step to beat defenders to the glass in expanding the margin to as many as 21 points midway in the half.
Then, when Tech sliced the difference down to 13 with about eight minutes to play, the Golden Eagles had a series of mistakes that prevented them from closing the gap any further.
In addition to shooting so well (53.7 percent overall for the contest and 54.5 percent from long range), the Crusaders also owned a decisive 44-26 advantage in rebounds. It was more than enough to overcome 21 turnovers.
Tech shot 38.5 percent for the game including 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from long range. Tech had only 11 turnovers, but it was those shooting numbers that halted Tech's chances.
Jessica Carr led all scorers with 16 points, going 4-for-5 from long range, and also had a game-best six assists. Abby Dean added 15 points while Franklin finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Jasmyn Walker had eight points and 10 rebounds, while Wiedemann finished with nine points on 3-for-4 trey. Annemarie Hamlet was the third bench player to do damage, adding eight points and seven rebounds.
Tech was led by Candace Parson with 12 points and Samaria Howard with 12 points and five rebounds. Mariah Dean, who was effective inside, finished with 11 points while Tia Nicholson topped Tech's rebounding effort with seven.
