By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Five days after recording the biggest win in recent program history, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team will try to keep its perfect league record intact when it hosts SIUE at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Hooper Eblen Center.
STREAK STOPPERS
Saturday's victory over Belmont ended the Bruins' 47-game winning streak over OVC opponents. It was TTU's first victory over BU since March 8, 2013.
ROAD WARRIORS
Tech picked up its fifth road win of the season at Belmont, which ties Jacksonville State for the most in the OVC, and matches the total number of such victories in the Kim Rosamond era.
It's the most road wins in a season since the 2012-13 team won eight games behind enemy lines. With seven road matchups left in 2018-19, Tech has plenty of opportunities to improve on that mark.
GROWING SEASON
The victory improved the Golden Eagles' record to 10-3, giving the program its best start through 13 games since the 1989-90 season when Bill Worrell's team also went 10-3 out of the gate. The 10th win also matches the highest win total in Rosamond's tenure.
SIGHTING IT IN
Tech's recent hot shooting has moved them up to third in the OVC in both 3-point percentage (33.1%) and free throw percentage (74.1%). Seven Golden Eagles shoot 72 percent or better from the charity stripe, and three of them – Kesha Brady (89.1%), Jordan Brock (86.1) and Mackenzie Coleman (83.3) are above the 80-percent plateau.
SIUE PROFILE
SIUE is in its eighth year as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, and has produced an impressive 76-40 combined record. The Cougars won at least 12 league games in four of those campaigns, and have finished third or better in the OVC standings in five of them.
SIUE came in third in the OVC last season, recovering from a 4-10 nonconference mark to finish above .500 (17-15) with a 13-5 ledger in league play.
This year's Cougar team was tasked with replacing 2017-18 all-conference guard tandem Donshel Beck and Lauren White, and is off to a 6-7 start to the regular season with a 1-1 mark in the OVC. They fell to Southeast Missouri in their league opener before beating Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
Sophomore Allie Troeckler is the only Cougar averaging double-digit points this season with 10.1 per game, but she receives solid support from five other players who contribute at least 7.0 per contest.
One of them, senior center Sydney Bauman, averages 7.1 points, leads the team and ranks third in the OVC with 8.5 rebounds per game, and is one of two players in the league who average two or more blocks per game. (The other is TTU's Anacia Wilkinson.)
Troeckler is productive on the glass as well, pulling down 6.5 rebounds per tilt, while Nakiah Bell paces the club in assists with 2.6 per game. Bell is also the team's best 3-point shooter with 26 makes and a .338 clip.
SERIES NOTES
The first two meetings between Tennessee Tech and SIUE were played as nonconference games in 2010 and 2011. The Golden Eagles won both of those encounters, with the latter coming by double digits in Edwardsville.
SIUE responded by taking the first two OVC matchups betweeen the two clubs, downing Tech twice in 2011-12. The second meeting that season was particularly memorable, as the Cougars escaped Cookeville with a 64-62 overtime victory.
Tech would avenge that loss with two straight victories, winning 66-56 in Edwardsville in 2013, and 72-66 in Cookeville in 2014.
SIUE has since reclaimed control of the series, prevailing in each of the last five meetings. Only one of those games was played in the Hooper Eblen Center.
The two most recent meetings have both been decided by single digits. The first came in Nashville during the First Round of the 2017 OVC Tournament. Despite a game-high 25 points from Shug Hickson, and 19 from Hannah Goolsby, Tech fell 77-69.
SIUE won the lone meeting last season by seven points, 65-58, in Edwardsville. Down 16 points after three quarters, Tech fought till the end, and whittled the deficit down to five points with one minute left.
Mackenzie Coleman turned in a huge game, scoring a career-high 22 points with 12 rebounds for a double-double. Akia Harris had nine points, five rebounds and three assists, while Jordan Brock had eight points and dished out a team-high four helpers.
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Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
