By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Even when Morehead State went on a few runs, Tennessee Tech kept finding ways to climb back. Thursday's game came down to the wire, but the final Morehead stretch came late and even some last-second heroics from Jada Guinn and Kesha Brady weren't enough to knot the game once more.
The homestanding Eagles topped Tech 65-62 on Thursday night at Johnson Arena, but the Golden Eagles (4-3, 2-2 Ohio Valley Conference) won't have long to dwell on the loss as they travel up the road to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday to finish Tech's Death Valley swing.
Ole Miss transfer Gabby Crawford made things difficult for Tech as she ended with a game-high 17 points and 18 rebounds, as she also dished out two assists, had one steal and blocked five shots. Morehead State (2-5, 1-2 OVC) also had three others scoring in double figures as Ellie Jo Johnson had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, Lauren Carter added 11 and narrowly missed a double-double with nine boards, while Ariel Kirkwood added 10 points.
The game was close from the start. Morehead State took the first stanza 14-13, but the Golden Eagles evened the contest right back up to send the game into the intermission even at 25. Both teams scored 14 points in the third, leaving the fourth quarter to decide the outcome.
Morehead State opened the period with a 6-0 run, but Tech responded with a run of its own, capped by an Anna Jones 3-pointer to put the Golden Eagles up. It turned out to be brief as a called foul against Megan Clark led to another stretch for MSU to give the host its largest lead of the contest with 3:25 remaining.
Tech chipped away with Guinn and Brady making some moves to the rim, but as the game entered into late fouls, the difference became tough to counter.
Mackenzie Coleman and Jones were whistled into foul trouble, taking away some but not all of the interior punch for the Golden Eagles against a sizeable Morehead lineup, but Jones was still able to come away with 10 points and five rebounds, while Coleman had nine points and six caroms. Both teams ended up square in the paint with 36 points.
Brady led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 16 points, while Guinn had a career-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting to complete Tech's double-digit lineup.
Jordan Brock was able to knock down a 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter, cementing her name in the Tennessee Tech record books as she hit her 226th career 3-pointer, giving her sole possession of first place. She tied assistant coach Allison Clark with 225 in Saturday's win over Eastern Illinois.
The long-range shots weren't kind to the Golden Eagles on Thursday however as Tech shot 19.2 percent from beyond the arc, hitting five of its 26 tries.
The Golden Eagles also fell on the short end of the rebound battle for just the third time this season as Morehead outrebounded Tech 44-34. MSU got 14 second chances, converting those into seven points.
Tech returns to action on Saturday as it takes on Eastern Kentucky at McBrayer Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
