By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
MARTIN, Tenn. – An 11-0 run in the second quarter provided a big lift for the Tennessee Tech women on Saturday afternoon and while the host UT Martin squad made things interesting in the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles held on to take a 61-49 victory over the Skyhawks at the Elam Center.
Tech (9-5, 3-1 Ohio Valley Conference) earned its third-straight road victory and will spend the next week at home as the Golden Eagles host Morehead State on Thursday and Tennessee State on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles had four players in double-figure scoring, led by true freshman Reghan Grimes with 12 points – as well as a team-high six rebounds. Maaliya Owens scored 11, while Jordan Brock and Reagan Hurst each had 10 points.
Jada Guinn had eight points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals in the contest, putting her in some elite company in program history. She becomes one of six Tech players to score 750+ points, 300+ assists, 500+ rebounds and 125+ steals, joining Tech Hall of Famers Janet Holt, Pam Chambers, Tacarra Hayes, Chris Moye and Cecilia Ramsey.
Anaya Brown led the Skyhawks (6-9, 2-2 OVC) with 13 points and nine rebounds. Shae Littleford added 10 points. Sharnecce Currie-Jelks, UTM's leading scorer who had 30 points on Thursday night, went down with a second-quarter injury, ending her day with five points and one rebound.
The first quarter was slow-starting for both teams as there was a combined eight missed shots to open the contest before Currie-Jelks gave the Skyhawks the first points of the game at the 7:40 mark. After a free throw for UTM a minute-and-a-half later, Owens answered, draining a 3-pointer to tie the game at 3-all at the six-minute mark.
Leads swapped back and forth but it was Grimes who put Tech into double-digits first with a pair of free-throws with 1:16 left in the quarter. Diamond Cannon answered with a layup on the other end to make it 11-10 UTM and that was how it stood as the first quarter came to a close.
Tech finished the opening stanza shooting 3-for-14, the Skyhawks 4-for-11.
It didn't stay that way for long – the Golden Eagles surged to an 11-0 run, outscoring the Skyhawks 13-3 to close out the first half. Tech shot 73.3 percent in the quarter, powered by seven points from Kiera Hill in the paint, while Owens and Guinn both were perfect from the field – Maaliya knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and Guinn completing a trio of close shots.
The Golden Eagles took a 38-26 lead into the intermission.
UTM made a furious comeback, outscoring Tech 13-11 in the third and continued to chip away in the fourth, cutting the Golden Eagle advantage down to six points – 51-45 with 7:19 remaining. Tech outscored the Skyhawks 10-4 over the final stretch to preserve the victory.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information