By Layne Weitzel, TTU Sports Information

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech women's basketball wraps up this week's brief two-game road trip at East Tennessee State.

The game tips off Friday at 6 p.m. CT inside ETSU's Brooks Gym.

The Golden Eagles fell to longtime rival Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro on Tuesday night by a score of 58-44. Tech flipped the script from its season opener against Tennessee Wesleyan, which featured an offensive outburst of 84 points but a less-than-stellar defensive effort. Against MTSU, Tech performed well defensively but struggled to score.

"It wasn't perfect, but I don't know that it could've gotten a whole lot better on the defensive end," said head coach Kim Rosamond at Tuesday night's postgame press conference. "I was very proud of our effort defensively and on the boards. Offensively, we've got a lot of work to do."

Tech will look to put a full game together against the Buccaneers on Friday in its second road contest of the young season. ETSU (2-1) has played two road games of its own, a loss at Tennessee and most recently a win at Appalachian State, and opened the season with a home win versus Cincinnati.

The Golden Eagles hosted ETSU last season on Dec. 11, falling to the Bucs 82-76. In that game, Tech out-rebounded the visiting Bucs 48-36, with 13 boards coming from Anacia Wilkinson, and then-junior Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson paced Tech with 21 points. ETSU's Tianna Tarter, now in her senior season, led her team with 30 points, 10 rebounds and three assists – she is sure to play a role in Friday night's game as well.

History is on Tech's side, as TTU holds a 20-4 series advantage over ETSU.

• 2016 record: 16-14, 8-6 Southern Conference
• Notables: ETSU senior guard Tianna Tarter took an elbow to the face in the first quarter of Sunday's game at Tennessee (which the Lady Vols won 87-49) and left with a broken nose. She returned two games later to start at Appalachian State, finishing with a team-high 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals… Tech assistant coach Courtney Strauthers, ETSU head coach Brittney Ezell and ETSU assistant coach Keisha McClinic all have ties to the University of Alabama – Strauthers played for the Crimson Tide from 2007-10, Ezell won letters for Alabama from 1995-98 and spent the following five seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in Tuscaloosa and McClinic was a Crimson Tide graduate assistant for two seasons and spent the 2011-12 season as the director of operations.