By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After winning two of three games on their road trip, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team will return to the Eblen Center, where they have not lost all season, to take on Austin Peay in an Ohio Valley Conference matchup Thursday night at 8 p.m. CT.
IN PRIMETIME
For the first and only time this season in the Eblen Center, the Golden Eagles will play in the second half of a league doubleheader. The game will start after the men's tilt, which will is being broadcast on ESPNews at 6 p.m.
HOME COOKIN'
The Golden Eagles will look to build on their perfect 8-0 home record on Thursday night. A ninth win would be the best start in program history since the 1992-93 team completed an undefeated 13-0 run in the Hoop.
EFFICIENT OFFENSE
With a season-low seven turnovers on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky, the Golden Eagles have reduced their average over the last three games to 9.3 per outing.
COMING FROM BEHIND
While Tech has only trailed at halftime on five occasions this year, the EKU game marked the first time the team has come back to win after being behind at the break.
FREE THROW FLOW
Tech made 21 of 26 free throws (80.8 percent) against the Colonels, giving the team a mark of 80% or better in five of its last six games. Its season rate of 75.9% leads the OVC, and stacks up as No. 20 nationally.
Both Jordan Brock and Kesha Brady are clipping at 88.1% from the line for the year. If either of them can continue that pace, it will surpass Kim Grizzle's mark of 87.2% for the Tech single-season record.
Brock and Brady currently rank second and third in the conference, respectively, in free throw shooting and both are included in the top 25 in Division I.
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM
Kim Rosamond's third venture through an Ohio Valley Conference schedule has proven to be a grand one so far, as Tech has posted a 7-1 record through eight games. An eighth league victory over Austin Peay would become her best showing in the conference season, eclipsing the seven wins put up by the 2016-17 squad.
AUSTIN PEAY PROFILE
Austin Peay is one of the five original members that remain in the Ohio Valley Conference, and has compiled a 250-367 record since the first season of women's basketball, 1977-78.
Austin Peay has won three OVC regular-season titles (1995-96, 2002-03 and 2003-04) and seven conference tournament championships (1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010).
Coach David Midlick's team is 9-10 so far in 2018-19 and has a 4-4 record in the OVC, which ties them with SIUE for sixth place in the standings.
The Governors ranks as high as fourth in the league in scoring offense (70.7 ppg), 3-point percentage (.326) and free-throw percentage (.727), but are last in the league in field goal percentage defense (.464) and rebounding (35.2 per game).
Keisha Gregory leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game, which ranks 10th in the OVC. Arielle Gonzalez-Varner lends strong support with the league's 13th-best average, 12.6 ppg.
Gregory sits atop the conference and is third in Division I in free throw percentage with a sparkling 92.9% season mark.
Gonzalez-Varner paces her club in field goal percentage (.514) and rebounding (7.9 per game). Those marks are third and sixth, respectively, in the OVC. She's especially effective on the offensive glass, pulling down 3.6 offensive rebounds per game.
Brandi Ferby's 52 assists lead the Govs, with Gregory right behind with 51. Ferby is also fifth in the league in 3-point percentage (.400) and eighth in steals per game (1.9). She's been an expert thief in conference play, collecting 3.0 steals per contest to pace the OVC.
SERIES NOTES
The Austin Peay series is the longest in Tech history against a current Ohio Valley Conference team, as the two programs have matched up 98 times over 48 seasons. Tech owns a 77-21 advantage in the head-to-head.
TTU won their first 18 games against Austin Peay, before the Govs snapped the streak with back-to-back victories in 1979 and 1980.
The Golden Eagles resumed control in 1981, and recorded arguably their longest stretch of dominance against any team in their history. Tech won 45 of the next 49 renewals with AP, which improved their series ledger to 63-6 through the 2001-02 regular season.
Austin Peay then put together its longest winning streak in the series, prevailing in five straight through the end of the 2003-04 season.
TTU has won 14 of the last 24 matchups since the beginning of the 2004-05 campaign.
Kim Rosamond will be searching for the second win of her tenure against Austin Peay, having battled the Govs in three matchups that have all been decided by four points or less.
The victory came on Jan. 11, 2018 when Tech edged AP, 63-59 in Cookeville. Jordan Brock and
Mackenzie Coleman formed an excellent freshmen duo, scoring 17 points and 15 points, respectively. Akia Harris scored seven points, dished out nine assists, and grabbed six rebounds.
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Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
