By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team will be back in action inside the Hooper Eblen Center for the first time in 29 days when it hosts UNC Asheville, a recent power in the Big South Conference, for its Education Day game at 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
The Education Day game features a special matinee tip time to accommodate droves of elementary school students from all over the area that will be in attendance to support the Golden Eagles.
Aside from it being the team's first home date in nearly a month, the game with Asheville will be TTU's first against any opponent in two weeks.
A December 4 loss at Arkansas concluded a four-game road stretch in which Kim Rosamond's team went 2-2, as they split games against Charleston Southern and Old Dominion on Thanksgiving weekend, prior to beating Wichita State in the Shockers' Charles Koch Arena on Dec. 2.
Now back within the friendly confines of the Hoop, Tech looks to win its fourth home game in a row to the start the season, and become the first Golden Eagle team to do so since 2009-10.
With five wins on the year, Tech is tied with three others for the third-most victories among Ohio Valley Conference teams – even after the two-week break.
Although the numbers have come down slightly in recent games, Tech is still fourth in the OVC in team free-throw shooting at 71.3%, and is close behind the Nos. 2 and 3 teams, UT Martin (73.5) and Austin Peay (71.5) respectively.
Tech also ranks in the top half of the conference in scoring defense at 61.5 points allowed per game, and that stinginess was evident in the past two games.
First, TTU held Wichita to just 45 points on 33.3-percent shooting in their own gym, then limited UA to 65 tallies, the Razorbacks lowest point total in a victory this season.
UNC ASHEVILLE PROFILE
UNC Asheville competes in the Big South Conference, where it turned in a 12-6 record last season, to go with a 17-16 overall mark in the ledger.
Prior to last season, seventh-year coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick's club won back-to-back Big South Conference Tournament championships in 2015-16 and 2016-17, which also brought NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Bulldogs are a perfect 5-0 inside Kimmel Arena this season, their home venue, but have yet to win a road game in three tries for an overall record of 5-3.
UNCA and TTU have played one common opponent so far this season, Western Carolina. Much like Tech did, Ashevlle beat the Catamounts handily, 74-49, back on Nov. 17.
Senior guard Sonora Dengokl leads the offense with 14.1 points per game. She also chips in on the boards with 3.6 rebounds game, and is second on the team in assists with 1.8 per game.
While Dengokl did not see game action in 2017-18, she averaged 8.1 points and 5.2 rebounds during conference play in 2016-17 while being named Big South Conference Tournament MVP, and helped the Bulldogs to their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
UNCA has 10 players that average at least 2.5 rebounds game, but just two that average more than 4.0 in leaders Ali Trani (4.4) and Brooke Jordan-Brown (4.3).
They average 40.5 rebounds per game as a team, and are second in the Big South in rebouding margin at plus-4.2.
Mock Kirkpatrick's team employs a stingy brand of basketball, as it leads the Big South in scoring defense with 54.8 points allowed per game.
UNCA's glaring weakness is its free throw shooting, which ranks last in the BSC at 59.6 percent as a team.
SERIES NOTES
Tech has previously met UNC Asheville five times in women's hoops, with the Golden Eagles currently claiming a 4-1 advantage in the series.
The two teams played four years in a row from the 1999-2000 season through 2002-03, with Tech taking all four of those decisions by an average margin of 25 points.
TTU won the first meeting 73-60 in Asheville on Dec. 30, 1999, then followed with an 80-59 victory the following year in Cookeville.
The Golden Eagles' most impressive win in the series came on Dec. 15, 2001 when Bill Worrell's club traveled to Asheville and handed the Bulldogs a 43-point defeat, 89-46.
Tech would win 69-46 on their home floor the next year, before the most recent meeting on Nov. 25, 2016 ended a 14-year hiatus.
Asheville would prevail in that matchup, 77-65, in what was Kim Rosamond's sixth career game as the head coach at Tennessee Tech.
Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson had 23 points to lead the Golden Eagles in that contest, while Akia Harris - then a true freshman - scored five points with five assists and two steals in 28 minutes.
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Photo by Thomas Corhern
