By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
ASHEVILLE, N.C.—The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team (1-5) fell to UNC Asheville (3-1), 77-65, in Friday's midafternoon contest at the Kimmel Arena. The Bulldog win marked the first time in school history that Asheville has defeated the Golden Eagles, bringing the series record to a 4-1 mark in favor of Tech.
"It was a great effort," head coach Kim Rosamond remarked. "With the exception of the second quarter where we kind of stalled, we played a really solid game of basketball. We've got to be able to put together 40 minutes and four quarters, and we haven't done that yet. There were a lot of positives tonight. This was an NCAA team, picked to win their conference [UNC Asheville], and we battled them. I'm proud of our kids and our growth."
Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson opened up Friday's contest with a bucket from downtown at the 9:27 mark. The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles battled back-and-forth in the first half, but a Treyvonna "Trey" Brooks' jumper at the 4:46 mark gave Tech the go-ahead basket at 10-8. The Golden Eagles further extended their lead to 14-8 with a three from Brooks at the 3:34 mark. UNC Asheville fought back and a three at the buzzer from the Bulldog's Khalia Webb cut the Tech lead down to two at 18-16 heading into the second quarter.
UNC Asheville opened the second quarter going on an 11-0 run to pull ahead 27-18 over Tech with 7:50 to go in the quarter. A layup by Hickson at the 7:08 mark silenced the Tech scoring deficit and cut the UNCA lead down to 27-20. An Akia Harris steal with 5:53 left in the first half set up Brooks to get the layup at cut the Bulldog lead down to five at 27-23. A three from UNCA's Tianna Knuckles with 3:27 to go in the second quarter extended the Bulldog lead to 34-23 over the Golden Eagles. UNC Asheville closed out the first half with a 7-4 run to lead Tech 41-27 at the break.
At the half, the Golden Eagles were shooting 37 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 75 percent from the line. The Bulldogs were shooting 50 percent from the floor, 55.6 percent from downtown, and 90.9 percent from the charity stripe. UNC Asheville forced eight Tech turnovers, while allowing just five, however, the Golden Eagles were outrebounding the Bulldogs by a 17-14 margin.
A Hickson layup at the 8:00 minute mark cut the Asheville lead down to nine at 41-32, which caused the Bulldogs to take a timeout. After the break, Harris hit a layup while drawing the foul to complete the three-point play at the line and bring the score to 43-35 in favor of UNC Asheville. The Bulldogs continued to keep the pressure on and took a 60-46 lead at the end of the third quarter.
UNCA went on a 7-2 run to open the fourth quarter and extend their lead out to 67-48 over Tech. Asia Harper put two on the board at the 5:09 mark with a layup to cut the Bulldog's lead to 69-54. The Golden Eagles pulled within 11 points of the Bulldogs at 73-62 with 1:55 left to go in the game as Hickson got the bucket and one at the line to complete the three-point play. However, Asheville held on and defeated the Golden Eagles 77-65.
Hickson led the Golden Eagles with 23 points and five boards, which marked her first 20-point game of the season. Lindsey Jennings posted 13 points and eight boards for Tech to come up just shy of a double-double, while teammate Brooks totaled nine points and eight boards.
"When Hickson plays like that, I don't think there's a better player in the Ohio Valley Conference," Rosamond continued. "Lindsey Jennings and Hannah Goolsby had a great showing tonight too and gave us some great minutes."
Khaila Webb led Asheville with 20 points and three boards, while teammate Tianna Knuckles posted 18 points and four boards and Bronaza Fitzgerald tallied 13 points and eight boards.
The Golden Eagles shot 36.8 percent from the field, 30 percent from the three-point range, and 68 percent from the line, while the Bulldogs shot 47.3 percent from the field, 50 percent from downtown, and 78.3 percent from the charity stripe. UNCA forced 12 Tech turnovers, while allowing just 11, however, the Golden Eagles grabbed 36 boards to the Bulldog's 35.
The Golden Eagles continue their road contests on Tuesday when they travel to Rock Hill, S.C. to take on Winthrop in a 6 p.m. contest.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
