COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team heads across I-40 to take on instate foe Tennessee State on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. CST in the Gentry Center.
Tech is looking to bounce back from a heart-breaking loss at Southeast Missouri, where they fell 68-66 in overtime.
Sophomore Catherine Taylor finished with a tied-team-high 12 points, adding three steals, and two assists. Junior Samaria Howard also added 12, finishing with three rebounds. Sophomore Hannah Goolsby dished out a team-high three assists, adding 10 points and three boards. Also finishing in the double-figure scoring was junior Mariah Dean. Dean finished with 11, eight of which came in the second half.
For the game, the Golden Eagles outshot SEMO, 51-percent to just 36.1-percent for the Redhawks. However, the biggest difference came at the charity stripe. Tech made just 14 of its 30 attempts, while SEMO connected on 19 of its 24.
Tennessee Tech (5-13, 2-3) at Tennessee State (7-9, 4-1)
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015
11:00 a.m. CST
Gentry Center (10,600) – Nashville, Tenn.
The Broadcasts
TV: None
Radio: 106.1 The Eagle (Dylan Vazzano)
Webcast: OVC Digital Network
SETTING THE STAGE
This is the 63rd game between these two squads and the Golden Eagles hold a 52-10 advantage. Tech is also on a nine-game win streak against the Tigers dating back to 2009-10 season.
Tech notched an impressive win last season over Tennessee State winning, 79-75 in a battle down the stretch. Strong play in the paint keyed the victory, led by seven blocked shots from former Golden Eagle Kayla Brewer and a then-career-high 20 points from Candace Parson. Another former Golden Eagle, Diamond Henderson, led all scorers with 25 points for the Golden Eagles, and added six rebounds, five assists and three steals in a stellar all-around effort. While they were the only two Golden Eagles to score in double digits, several teammates chipped in with key numbers. Brewer had nine rebounds and a career-best seven blocked shots, and Catherine Taylor notched six points, five rebounds and a career-best four assists.
Four Tigers reached double figures in the last match-up, topped by Brianna Lawrence with 19 while hitting 5-for-8 from outside the arc. Rachel Allen and Chelsea Hudson each recorded double-doubles. Allen had 12 points and 10 assists, while Hudson added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Imani Davis finished with 10 points.
This season, TSU is led by senior Chelsea Hudson, who is averaging 14.9 points per game, while grabbing a team-high 7.4 rebounds. Sophomore Imani Davis follows with 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds.
TSU, currently 4-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play, is forcing opponents into 22.2 turnovers per game, while making 11.1 steals. They are also grabbing 40.1 rebounds per game. In conference play, the Tigers increase their forced turnovers to 23.6, while only committing 13.8 themselves.
Junior Samaria Howard leads the Golden Eagles in scoring so far this season with 13.7 points, while grabbing 4.6 rebounds. Senior Candace Parson is adding 11.8 points per game, while taking a team-high 5.8 rebounds.
Through the season, Tech has forced its opponents into 18.4 turnovers per game, while also adding 7.5 steals and 4.0 blocks in a solid defensive effort.
