By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech women's basketball witnessed an offensive explosion in its exhibition game with Hiwassee College on Sunday afternoon, reaching triple digits for the first time in the Kim Rosamond era with a 105-57 victory.
"I really liked our start, and I thought we came out with a lot of great energy and jumped on them early," said Rosamond. "There were some things I didn't like in between, but it was really good to get everybody in the game."
"I thought everybody came in ready to play and each player embraced their opportunity, which is something we've talked a lot about. You can't wait for an opportunity, you've got to prepare in a way that you are ready when it comes to you."
Jordan Brock came off the bench to score 15 points and lead an offensive showcase that featured five Golden Eagles in double-figures and a 51-percent team field goal percentage. The Harlan, Ky. native's production came solely from behind the three-point line, where she buried her first three attempts in a row to provide an initial spark for Tech.
Brock's three triples also kept her team in the lead early on, as Hiwassee remained within one point of TTU through the first six and a half minutes. From there, the home team went on a 12-2 run – keyed by four points each from Kesha Brady and Anacia Wilkinson – to end the quarter with a 27-16 advantage.
Brady and Wilkinson would end up being two of Tech's other double-digit scorers, as Brady would total 12 points on four of six shooting, while Wilkinson finished 5-of-8 from the floor for 10 points.
Wilkinson also grabbed eight rebounds in the contest, as one of the main contributors to TTU's massive 50-25 advantage in the rebounding department. Twenty-six of those 50 boards came on the offensive end, and three Golden Eagles – Abby Buckner (6), Wilkinson (4) and Megan Clark (4) – created at least four second-chances each.
"When you look at 26 offensive boards, I thought our second and third effort was really good, and that was another point of emphasis for us," Rosamond said. "And it has to be a team effort, we can't just rely on one or two players. We had a lot of people step up today. I was very pleased with that."
Buckner went on to become the only Golden Eagle to record a double-double in the game, finishing with 11 points and 10 assists.
Junior point guard Akia Harris also had a tremendous impact on the first half, tallying seven points and six assists in 17 minutes. The Chattanooga product didn't play as much in the second half, and still finished just one point short of a double-double with nine points and 10 assists.
"Akia is someone who I think plays kind of a quiet game until you look at the stat sheet and see huge numbers," said Rosamond. "And she's been doing this kind of stuff since her freshman year, it's not like she just started. I always say she's our unsung hero. She does so much for our team and so I'm just excited about the junior year I think she can have."
Harris, along with Kentoria Alexander, were also instrumental in their team's success in transition, recording three steals apiece. The defensive pressure from the Tech backcourt swallowed up Hiwassee's guards on several occasions, as the Golden Eagles scored 31 points off turnovers and 21 on the fast break.
Alexander, who started alongside Harris in the backcourt, also turned in a great all-around performance, tallying eight points, seven rebounds and four assists to add to her steals total.
"We want to play fast, but we also want to be efficient," said Rosamond of her team's effort in transition. "We need to make sure we're protecting the basketball while we're pushing it up the floor, but I think that's a strength of ours – team speed. We need to get defensive stops first, but being able to turn those stops into transition points is exactly what we want to do."
Tech extended its lead in the second quarter to hold a 49-28 lead at the halftime break.
The Golden Eagles nearly doubled up Hiwassee in second half scoring, netting 56 points to the Tiger's 29.
The biggest point differential came in the fourth quarter, when TTU was able to eclipse the 30-point mark and outscore Hiwassee 31-15.
Megan Clark was Tech's leading scorer in the second half, pouring in 10 points, while Riley Masters scored all eight of hers after halftime as well. Masters's numbers are particularly impressive given that she played just five minutes in the contest.
A comfortable lead in an exhibition setting allowed Rosamond to play all 12 members of her available personnel, with 11 of them able to find the bottom of the net at least once.
Overall, Rosamond was happy with her team's first showing of the year, but admits there is still plenty of room for improvement.
"We've got a lot of work to do defensively," she said. "We gave up way too many drives and too many points in the paint off of drives. We've got to work harder to keep the basketball in front of us, and then we have to make sure we make the proper rotations when we do get beat."
"This was a great opportunity for us to get some film against another opponent, and to be able to work to prepare for that home opener. We're pumped to open up on November 6 in front of what I think will be a great home crowd. I think people are really excited about this team, and we're just as thrilled to get a chance to play for them."
Tip time for that 2018-19 opener with Cumberland University will be 6 p.m. in the Hooper Eblen Center.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
