By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Four games remain in the regular season and it's shaping up to be a wild finish in the Ohio Valley Conference. The key for the Tennessee Tech women, however, is to win.
With the final two home contests for the Tech women's basketball team coming up this week, the Golden Eagles will entertain SIUE on Thursday and Eastern Illinois on Saturday, both of those games crucial in keeping Tech in great shape in the OVC standings.
Tipoff against SIUE is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Eblen Center. Roger Ealey and Frank Harrell will have the call on 106.1 The Eagle, Dylan Vazzano and Steve Smith will break down the action on ESPN+ (subscription required), while the game will also be available locally on WCTE.
Looking at the OVC standings heading into the penultimate week, Southern Indiana has locked up the regular-season crown outright, defeating Morehead State on Tuesday night to sew up possession of the trophy.
With no teams able to catch the Screaming Eagles two weeks out from the conference tournament, the focus now turns to seeding for the postseason event. Eastern Illinois – Tech's opponent on Saturday – currently stands in second with a 9-5 mark in the league. The Golden Eagles, currently in the three-team logjam for third at 8-6, stand just a game back.
It will not be easy for the Tech women though. In addition to facing second-place Eastern Illinois on Saturday, the Golden Eagles hit the road next week to take on the other two teams tied for third – UT Martin and Little Rock. The fates of the No. 2-5 seeds are going to be in the hands of the Tech women.
One victory out of the four remaining games will virtually assure the Golden Eagles a spot in the OVC tournament field, but the Tech squad isn't looking to just get in. After all, the Golden Eagles have a tournament crown to defend.
Coming into this weekend as one of the hottest teams in the OVC, winning its last four games, Tech (13-12, 8-6 OVC) has been building up momentum. In the current winning streak, the Golden Eagles have won all four games by a double-digit margin – by 10 at Southeast Missouri, 30 at Lindenwood, 16 against Tennessee State and 11 over Western Illinois.
In the four-game stretch, the Golden Eagles are averaging 78.8 points and allowing 62.0. Maaliya Owens is averaging 18.3 points, Anna Walker 13.3 and Peyton Carter 12.3 as the senior leadership of the team is coming out in force to guide the team back to the postseason. In the last four games, Tech is shooting .473 from the floor, .395 from 3-point range and .819 from the line.
Last week also improved Tech's results at home with the pair of victories over the Lady Tigers and the Leathernecks. The Golden Eagles are now 3-4 at home in league play and have a chance to finish the home slate with a winning record.
SIUE, despite its 5-22 record and 2-12 mark in the OVC, is still quite dangerous. Both of the Cougars' wins have come in the month of February as SIUE topped Little Rock 67-61 to open the month, then defeated Lindenwood 69-67 on Feb. 15. The Cougars, however, are 0-13 on the road this season – a mark they would certainly like to snap this week with trips to Tech, Tennessee State, Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois ahead on the radar.
The season shifted dramatically for SIUE following the injury to K.K. Rodriguez, who opened the season as one of the top scoring threats in the conference. She averaged 22.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in the first 10 games of the season and has not played since Dec. 6 against Southern Illinois.
In her stead, Sofie Lowis has been trying to pick up the slack as the junior guard is averaging 11.1 points and 3.3 rebounds. Macy Silvey, who has started every game for the Cougars this season, is averaging 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds, while Ava Stoller is averaging 9.6 points and a team-best 5.0 rebounds.
As a team this season, SIUE is averaging 68.41 points per game and allowing 76.41 as the Cougars are shooting .391 from the floor, .347 from 3-point range and .779 from the line. SIUE is hitting an average of 7.8 3-pointers and 14.9 free throws a game.
In Tech's last meeting with SIUE, the Golden Eagles won 67-58, using the rebounding effort to great effect as Tech won the battle on the boards 44-37 with 20 offensive caroms leading to 21 second-chance points for the Golden Eagles. Owens led Tech with 16 points, while Walker had 13 and Carter collected her second double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.
For the season, Tech is averaging 70.1 points and allowing 65.5 points per game, while shooting .414 from the floor, .333 from 3-point range and .767 from the stripe with an average of 7.2 3-pointers and 14.1 free throws per night. Owens leads the team with a 15.4-point average, while Reghan Grimes (9.6 ppg), Reagan Hurst (9.0 ppg) and Walker (9.0 ppg) are near the double-digit mark.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Jim Dillon
