Tech stifled by East Tennessee State on road

Tech stifled by East Tennessee State on road

By Layne Weitzel, TTU Sports Information

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – There was no denying East Tennessee State's dominance Friday night, as the Buccaneers defeated Tennessee Tech 74-55 on their home court and dropped the Golden Eagles to 1-2 on the season.

Tech was overwhelmed by the Buccaneers' quickness, athleticism and physicality, and it showed on the stat sheet. ETSU (3-1) dominated the rebounding battle 49-25 and collected 29 points off turnovers compared to Tech's 19 (although both teams each had 28 turnovers). The Bucs also totaled 21 second-chance points, while Tech had eight.

"That was just an old-fashioned butt-whooping there," said head coach Kim Rosamond. "That's the only way you can put it. We struggled again with their pressure. We knew what they were going to do and we worked on it all week, but we just didn't do a good job handling it. This was a team that went to Tennessee (ETSU's lone loss) and had 21 offensive boards. There was no way we could out-jump them or out-run them, and we had to be solid and fundamental in our box-outs and we weren't."

Senior guard and Johnson City native Tianna Tarter continued to have Tech's number, as she put up 30 points and 10 rebounds against Tech in Cookeville last season. Although Tarter wore a face mask to protect her broken nose, an injury she suffered at Tennessee on Sunday, she didn't play timidly. Tartar scored 13 points and also collected six steals and two rebounds. Freshman guard Erica Haynes-Overton led for the Bucs with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Jordan Brock led for Tech in her first career start, collecting 12 points and two rebounds.

Despite Tech's loss on Tuesday at Middle Tennessee State, Rosamond was proud of her team's effort. She felt differently about tonight's game.

"We've got to get better, we've got to stay together and we've got to go back to work after this one," she said. "When we left Middle Tennessee, I really felt like that was a game that we could grow on and earn some confidence from because of the way we competed. Tonight's a different story. Tonight is very, very disappointing, and I know our players are disappointed, but we still have to learn from this and grow from this one as well."

UP NEXT
Tech has a quick turnaround for its next game, hosting Radford (1-1) Monday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. CT.
 
Season tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now. Call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or log on to ttusports.com to order yours today.
 
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Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information