Posted: Dec 04, 2021
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team will be back in action Sunday afternoon as the Golden Eagles continue their road trip with a visit to Bowling Green to take on Western Kentucky.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. Roger Ealey will provide the call on 106.1 The Eagle, while the game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).
There's no doubt that the schedule has been a challenging one for the Tech women, who now stand in a five-game losing streak, but looking at the opponents – Vanderbilt, longtime rival Middle Tennessee, No. 21 FGCU, New Mexico State, No. 11 Tennessee – it's been an impressive list of challengers. Sunday is no exception.
The Lady Toppers enter Sunday's game with a 5-3 record, but have won four straight games. The current string began on Nov. 21 as WKU cruised to a 96-59 victory over Kentucky State, then an 83-65 matinee victory over Indiana State. The Lady Toppers came back from the Thanksgiving holiday with a 77-65 win over Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State, then defeated Bellarmine 64-55 on Thursday night.
The Golden Eagles will be the third OVC opponent the Lady Toppers will see this season as they fell 63-47 to UT Martin on Nov. 15 in the Preseason WNIT.
Leading the way for WKU is 5-11 senior guard Meral Abdelgawad, who is averaging 14.3 points and 8.4 rebounds. From the floor, she is shooting .427, while shooting .651 from the free-throw line.
Alexis Mead is averaging 12.8 points a game and 4.1 rebounds, while leading the team with 26 total assists. Mya Meredith is also averaging double-figure scoring with 11.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
As a team, WKU is shooting .403 from the floor and .310 from beyond the arc, knocking down 67 of their 216 3-point tries. At the free-throw line, the Lady Toppers are shooting .629. WKU is averaging 70.8 points per game, while allowing 67.3. Through eight games, they have allowed just 38 3-point shots, an average of 4.8 per game.
In contrast, the Golden Eagles are shooting .408 from the floor, including .243 from 3-point range and .699 from the free-throw line. Tech is averaging 63.3 points per game and allowing 66.7. In the last five games, the Golden Eagles are averaging 54.6 points, while allowing 72.6. Opponents are shooting .490 in the stretch, while Tech is shooting .364, including .189 from 3-point range – hitting 18 of 95 tries.
For the full season to date, the Golden Eagles have three double-digit scorers with Anna Jones leading the way with 11.1 points and 6.6 rebounds, while Jada Guinn is averaging 10.1 points with 4.4 rebounds per game and a team-high 30 rebounds, and Mackenzie Coleman is averaging 10.0 points and 5.7 rebounds and a team-high 11 blocks.
The Golden Eagle women continue the road trip on Thursday as they take on Western Carolina, then return home on Dec. 16 for an 11 a.m. battle against Tennessee Wesleyan.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information