By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – As tough as it was for the Tennessee Tech women to leave the court after Friday's 69-56 loss to UT Martin in the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships in the semifinal round, there was little reason to hang their heads.
The loss stung, sure, especially after a thrilling victory over Jacksonville State the day before, and as the Golden Eagles made a push to unseat the top-seeded Skyhawks, looking forward to the future was probably the last thing anyone on the Tech bench hoped to do.
But make no mistake, while it was UT Martin celebrating its victory on Friday and advancing to the title game on Saturday, there is a lot for the Tennessee Tech squad to look forward to.
Looking at the big picture – Tech returns its starting five, its senior core and three All-OVC selections as Kesha Brady, Jordan Brock, Mackenzie Coleman, Megan Clark, as well as junior Anna Jones and sophomore Jada Guinn are all back next season. There's a great group of young players, including sophomore Maaliya Owens, who had a big game for Tech on Friday.
The cupboard is certainly not bare as the Tech women return arguably the most experienced team it has fielded in some time. This is a team that the senior leadership already posted one of the best turnarounds in the NCAA two seasons ago. Now it's the first Golden Eagle team to post three consecutive winning seasons since 2005-06.
"I can't say enough about the kids I get to coach every day," said Tech head coach Kim Rosamond. "In five short years, to be in the position to even be talking about reaching a championship game, we've been in two semifinal games in the past three years. Now we have an opportunity with what we have returning to take that next step. It's not going to happen overnight and it's not going to happen unless we make it happen. There's some things we need to do, some steps we need to take to get there, but I think we have the team to do that."
The sky is the limit for the Golden Eagles.
They will remember Friday. The feeling of defeat serves as a stark reminder and the team will grow from it, just like they did following 2020's overtime finale against Southeast Missouri. The difference this time around is the team will have a full offseason, time to work and improve unlike the pandemic-stricken days a year ago as they have learned to work within the protocols and make the most of the time they have.
"I am extremely proud of our team," Rosamond said. "Today was not our best effort. Yesterday was one of the best games that we've put together all year – our mentality, how we played, how we shared the basketball and just the toughness that we played with. We played hard today, but when you shoot 35 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three – when you play them, not only do you have to guard them, you have to put points on the board, because they're going to put points on the board."
Friday was an aberration. Brock had 12 points, well down from the 32 she scored at UT Martin in February. Brady had eight and Jones had nine, while Coleman had five.
Brady did get hobbled slightly in the third quarter, and Owens made the most of the time – sparking a Tech run, scoring seven consecutive points for the Golden Eagles in the period as she ended the contest with a team-high 12 points.
"We played hard and got some open looks," Owens said. "We got the shots we wanted, but just coldn't get it in."
Yet it wasn't from a lack of effort – the exact opposite. UT Martin's defense made the Golden Eagles work for the points. Tech's defense forced the Skyhawks into plenty of mistakes – 15 turnovers is only just part of the story – and while the Golden Eagles were able to convert those into 11 points, it wasn't enough to stay on top for long.
"We got opportunities," Rosamond said. "We'd cut it to three or we'd cut it to five. There were four or five times in the game where we were right there, knocking on the door. We didn't make the plays and they did. We got good looks – I don't know that I'd say our offense flowed well today – and we tried to attack better in the second half. Some of them went in, others, when we needed them the most, just didn't. We just weren't able to generate enough offense off of our defense today."
It definitely was a battle. While the Skyhawks surged out early and led by as many eight in the first half, it wasn't until the third quarter that UTM extended its lead to double-digits and 13 at its peak, after the Golden Eagles got back within three.
"It was more about mentality," Owens said. "Between all of my teammates, we told ourselves we weren't going to lose, take advantage and match their physicality. We figured out how they were guarding us on screens. We tried to attack the gaps. It just wasn't long enough of a run to bring us all the way back into it."
UT Martin ended the game with four double-digit scorers as Maddie Waldrop ended the contest with 19 points on a nearly perfect game with a 7-for-11 effort from the floor, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 3-for-3 at the line, while also collecting eight rebounds and blocking three shots. Paige Pipken had 15 points and five assists on a 6-for-8 day and 3-for-4 at the line. Seygan Robins had 12 points and six rebounds, while OVC Player of the Year Chelsey Perry, in her first action back since February 18, scored 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Dasia Young was also a force, pulling down nine rebounds and blocking four shots to go along with seven points.
"They really took us out of everything we tried to do offensively," Rosamond said. "We didn't respond well to their physicality. We've got to learn to respond better. They did a nice job of keeping us in front and not allowing us to get to the rim
While the Golden Eagles had a tough time igniting the offense, Tech hung in there, staying within striking distance for most of the game. The second half was not kind though, exemplified by a 3:55 field goal drought to end the contest. In the final 20 minutes, the Golden Eagles shot 9-for-33 from the field (27.3 percent).
Tech was able to draw fouls from the Skyhawks, but it wasn't enough to put them at the line as the Golden Eagles were 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. UTM was 13-for-15 at the line on just three more Tech fouls.
The loss aside, now the Golden Eagles look to the future and making that next step.
Photo | Michael Dann, OVC Photo