By Jocelyn VerVelde, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
Click here for the 2014-15 women's basketball schedule
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team announced its 2014-15 schedule, and for the second-straight year, the opening half of the season is heavy with road trips. However, the intense road schedule is complimented by eight home doubleheaders with the TTU men's basketball team this season.
The non-conference portion of the schedule is made up of 14 games, 10 of which will be played on the road.
"I really like to think there are three seasons in a year," head coach Jim Davis said of the 2014-15 schedule. "You look at your non-conference schedule as one season, you look at the OVC [Ohio Valley Conference] schedule as another season, and you look at postseason as the final season. We want our non-conference schedule to prepare us for the OVC, and we want the OVC regular season to prepare us for postseason play. The tougher the non-conference schedule is, the more it helps us and prepares us for the OVC schedule."
Following a home-opening doubleheader, where the women's squad will face Tennessee Wesleyan in an exhibition game on Nov. 6, the Golden Eagles hit the road for four straight road games.
The road trip opens with a voyage down south to Miami, as the Golden Eagles head to Florida International on Nov. 14. Just four days later, Tech will take on its first of two Atlantic Coast Conference teams. On Nov. 18, the Golden Eagles face Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. A trip north will follow as the Golden Eagles play at Valparaiso on Nov. 22. The final game of the first road stretch of the season will be played a bit more regionally as Tech takes on Mercer in Macon, Ga., on Nov. 25.
Following a 23-day hiatus from the Hooper Eblen Center, the Golden Eagles will play host to Southeastern Conference member Georgia. The Bulldogs are one of five opponents this season that finished the 2013-14 season in the Top-100 RPI rankings. The SEC foe finished 47 in the RPI rankings.
"The Georgia game is on a Saturday night and we expect a great crowd in the Hoop for that," said Davis. "It will be a test for us, playing a team out of the SEC. It's going to be challenging, but it is going to help our team so much mentally and with every phase of the game. If we go into these big games with the right mind set and the right attitude, and maybe knock those teams off or at least compete well against them, it will be an inspiration and a boost for our basketball team."
The second stretch of road games starts with a journey to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a showdown with Southern Mississippi on Dec. 3. Southern Miss. is the second highest RPI team TTU will play this season, coming in at 30 in the RPI rankings.
One of the most notable games on the schedule falls on Dec. 6 as the Golden Eagles head to Clemson; the school where head coach Jim Davis coached for 18 seasons. He is the winningest basketball coach – men or women – in Clemson history and was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Clemson is the second ACC program the Golden Eagles will face this season.
"We are going over there to win a basketball game. It's not about me," Davis commented on playing at the university where he made a name for himself. "It's an opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference, so it's going to be a challenge, but we are going there to win."
The Golden Eagles will wrap up the second road swing by traveling to Atlanta, Ga., as they face Georgia State on Dec. 13.
December 16 marks the day the Golden Eagles return home following a 17-day absence as they host South Alabama.
The final road trip of the non-conference portion of the season will be more localized, as the Golden Eagles will not leave the state of Tennessee. Tech will open by traveling across I-40 to Nashville, as they will take on the Bison of Lipscomb on Dec. 18.
On Dec. 20 and 21, TTU will head to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga to partake in the Chattanooga Basketball Classic. The first opponent the Golden Eagles will face will be North Carolina A&T on the 20th. N.C. A&T looks to be a formidable foe as they are one of Tech's Top-100 opponents, falling in at 85. The Golden Eagles will then face Morgan State on the 21st.
"In this 'Classic' we will be facing two teams from the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference in Morgan State and North Carolina A&T," Davis said. "A&T is a very solid program, where-as Morgan State has been traditionally less strong. These are two games we fully expect to win, no matter how strong the opponents are. It gives us two games that are only a couple of hours down the road; our fans can travel and cheer us on. It's also an opportunity for us to move to another part of the state and play before TTU fans that are in Chattanooga, the Cleveland area, and even north Georgia."
The final non-conference game of the season will take place in the Hooper Eblen Center as the Golden Eagles return home on Dec. 28 to face a familiar foe in Middle Tennessee. TTU and MTSU have faced off at least once in the last 44 seasons. The Blue Raiders are also the highest rated opponent the Golden Eagles will face this season, coming in at 17th. They also finished ranked 22nd in the final Associated Press poll of the 2013-14 season.
Following the lengthy pre-conference portion of the season, Tech fans will be happy to know that the Golden Eagles will be part of seven more home doubleheaders throughout conference play.
"For Tennessee Tech, doubleheaders are a good thing and we expect the crowds to be much, much bigger because of them."
As always, the Ohio Valley Conference will prove to be full of tough tests and thrilling contests. The Golden Eagles kick off league action and the New Year on Jan. 1, hitting the road and heading north for a dual with Eastern Illinois. Other road contests for Tech in the OVC include trips to SIUE, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State, Belmont, Jacksonville State, Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.
The Golden Eagles will host Murray State, Austin Peay, UT Martin, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Tennessee State, and Belmont in doubleheaders throughout the season.
In addition to the seven conference doubleheaders, the Golden Eagles host Morehead State on Jan. 28.
Something exciting and action-packed will greet fans attending games in the Eblen Center this season with the installation of a large video board and new digital scoreboards. The video board will provide highlights, replays, and other video content for basketball games this season and add to the already electric atmosphere in the arena.
The new system includes four primary 12-by-15 foot video displays, four corner displays, and 28- and 20-foot diameter, full-color upper and lower video rings. The main displays are major updates to the previous fixed-digit center-hung scoreboard installed in the mid-1980s. Additionally, the Eblen Center upgrades will include a new 40-foot wide, full-color digital scorer's table, four 6-by-10 foot fixed digit scoreboards, as well as shot clocks, game clocks and locker room clocks.
Season tickets are on sale now for the 2014-15 Golden Eagle home schedule in Eblen Center. Visit or call the Athletics Ticket Office in Eblen Center (931-372-3940) to order tickets or for additional information.
The 2014-15 Golden Eagle men's basketball schedule will be released Monday, Oct. 6.
