By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
MARTIN, Tenn. – The winning streak is over. Now it's time for Tennessee Tech to build a new one.
The Golden Eagles saw their six-game winning streak come to a close as shots just did not fall for them Thursday night, leading to a 67-37 defeat to UT Martin in the Elam Center.
Tech (15-13, 10-7 Ohio Valley Conference) now falls into a tie for fourth in the conference standings with one game remaining. With the win Thursday, UT Martin leap-frogs into second place with a game left and a half-game lead on Eastern Illinois, who fell to Western Illinois on Thursday to close out the Panthers' regular season.
The Golden Eagles and Little Rock are presently all square in the standings at 10-7 with the two teams battling for at least a first-round bye. The two teams face each other Saturday at 1 p.m. in Little Rock.
Reghan Grimes led Tech in scoring with 12 points as she finished the game 4-for-9 from the field and 4-for-7 from the line, while she also finished with six rebounds.
Anaya Brown led UTM (14-14, 11-6 OVC) with a double-double, collecting 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting and 6-for-7 from the line, while also pulling down 12 boards. Love Mays scored 12 points with seven rebounds, while Kenley McCarn had 11 points and Lexi Rubel had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Tech finished the game shooting 15-for-58 – 26 percent – while hitting just two of 17 3-point tries, a 12-percent completion rate.
The first quarter was tough for the Golden Eagles. Tech was only able to drain two of its 18 shots from the field and went 1-for-8 from long range. Peyton Carter had three points, while Anna Walker had the other two, pulling down six rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Skyhawks were hitting at a hot pace, staying around 50-percent for the half, going on a 12-0 run before the first quarter came to a close. Anaya Brown had 10 points in the first quarter alone as she was 3-for-5 from the field, 3-for-4 at the line and collected seven boards. UTM outscored Tech 16-5 in the first quarter.
Tech shot better in the second quarter, but turnovers stifled the comeback bid as the Golden Eagles lost the ball six times. Tech hit five of its 13 second-quarter shots, while the Skyhawks were 6-for-11, extending their lead as they outscored Tech 17-12 in the second stanza to take a 33-17 halftime lead.
The Golden Eagles mustered 11 points in the third quarter with Reghan Grimes scoring seven of those on 2-for-5 shooting in the period and 3-for-5 at the line. Walker and Yaubryon Chambers had the other Tech points as the Golden Eagles were 4-for-15 and the Skyhawks extended their lead outscoring Tech 19-11.
UTM outpaced the Golden Eagles 15-9 in the final 10 minutes. Reagan Hurst had five points in the last period, going 2-for-2 from the field and 1-for-2 at the line, while Grimes and Cayla Cowart scored the other four points. Brown scored six points for the Skyhawks and Mays five to lead them in the final quarter.
The Skyhawks ended the game shooting 50 percent from the field (24-for-48), 44 percent from 3-point range (7-for-16) and 71 percent at the free-throw line (12-for-17).
