By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A Golden Eagle defense that held Jacksonville State scoreless for six minutes and blocked a school-record 13 shots helped Tennessee Tech (9-17/5-8 OVC) capture a 51-49 Ohio Valley Conference victory in overtime Saturday night in Eblen Center.
The Gamecocks (10-15/5-8 OVC) forged a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Tech bounced back with a 10-0 run and a lock-down defense that helped take the game to the wire.
A layup just before the buzzer in regulation rolled along the back of the iron and came off, denying Tech of the win in regulation.
A 3-pointer by Brianna Benson in the overtime lifted JSU into a 45-44 lead and a layup by Destiny James with 1:10 left had the Gamecocks on top, 47-46.
Tech scored the next five points, beginning with a jumper off the glass by Samaria Howard and two free throws by Mariah Dean. One more free throw by Howard set things up at 51-47 with 16 seconds left.
A JSU layup with five seconds remaining was the final marker. Tech missed two free throws, giving the visitors one final fling but Benson's 3-pointer from in front of the JSU bench was wide of the mark as the horn sounded.
Howard led all scorers with 25 points, including 10-of-13 at the free throw line. Senior Mariah Dean posted her second career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. She also recorded five of the team's record 13 blocked shots.
Lindsey Jennings chipped in with eight points, for rebounds and three assists.
Benson's 16 points led JSU, while Tyler Phelion finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Tech held a slight, 48-45 edge in rebounds. The Golden Eagles shot 28.6 percent for the game overall while JSU hot 25 percent.
Tied at 24-24, JSU got two free throws, a layup and a 3-pointer from Benson with two seconds left in the third quarter to wedge open a seven-point advantage, 31-24 heading to the fourth period.
The teams exchanged baskets and free throws, and were still seven points apart when Benson hit another 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Gamecocks a 10-point lead, the largest margin of the night.
But the Tech defense took over, forcing the Gamecocks through a stretch of 5:57 without a point and the Golden Eagles scratched their way back into the contest with a 10-0 run.
Tech was up 7-6 after the first quarter, and a 3-pointer by Howard from the top of the key with 41 seconds to play were the final points in the low-scoring opening half as Tech went to the dressing room with a 16-14 lead.
Each team had a three-point lead in the first half; beyond that there was no breathing room for either squad. At one point, Tech missed 13 consecutive shots, while JSU had 11 straight misses in one stretch and missed nine-in-a-row another time.
Tech remains at home for its next contest, a Wednesday night visit from Morehead State for a 6 p.m. game in Eblen Center.
