By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Tennessee Tech turned its defense into offense and the Golden Eagles drained some clutch 3-pointers to build a third-quarter lead and scrape out a big win over Western Illinois to advance.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles (16-14) move into the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships quarterfinals to take on No. 3-seed UT Martin at 3:30 p.m. Dylan Vazzano will have the call on 106.1 The Eagle, while the game will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Maaliya Owens, who was selected to the All-OVC first-team roster on Tuesday, put on a show, collecting 23 points as she was 8-for-18 from the field, including six 3-pointers. Owens needs three 3-pointers to tie her single-season record of 92 set last season as she now stands with 89 3-pointers on the season to give her the top two 3-point scoring seasons in program history.
She wasn't the only Golden Eagle who was knocking down treys as Peyton Carter also had a smooth stroke from long-range, hitting five of her eight tries to collect 15 points.
Reghan Grimes and Anna Walker were able to muscle their way into the paint as Grimes scored 17 points and Walker 14. Grimes was 7-for-10 from the field, adding a 3-for-3 effort at the line. Walker was 5-for-7 and 4-for-4 at the line. Tech collected 26 total points in the paint.
Walker also finished the game with a double-double with 10 boards – the third in her career and first this season.
As for creating offense from defense, the Golden Eagles were able to force 14 WIU turnovers and score 20 points on the giveaways.
OVC Freshman of the Year Raegan McCowan was still able to put together a tremendous game in the first-round affair, scoring a game-high 27 points and collecting 10 rebounds for the double-double. McCowan was 10-for-19 from the floor and 7-for-8 at the line.
Addi Brownfield added 12 points and Mallory McDermott scored 10.
The Leathernecks were 18-for-23 from the charity stripe as Tech was whistled for 24 fouls. The calls put the Golden Eagles in some foul trouble as Walker, Grimes and Reagan Hurst had to tiptoe around four fouls and was able to avoid the fifth disqualifier.
WIU (18-12) had eight offensive rebounds in the first half for 11 second-chance points, but the Golden Eagles were able to slow them down on the offensive glass in the second half, holding the Leathernecks to just five more offensive boards and only four more second-chance points.
The first quarter was a close battle. The Golden Eagles were slowed a bit early with six turnovers in the first 10 minutes, but made up for it with a 7-for-15 effort shooting, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range with Owens knocking down three and Carter two. Tech had a 6-0 run midway through the period, but WIU answered with a small streak of its own to cut it to a 21-17 Golden Eagle lead at the end of the quarter.
Tech had a six-point lead early in the second, but the Leathernecks answered back as McCowan and Brownfield scored eight points each to outscore the Golden Eagles, who had 15 total points in the quarter. WIU used an 8-0 run to take a 39-36 lead at halftime.
The momentum shifted in a big way for Tech in the third quarter as the Golden Eagles outscored WIU 23-9, taking advantage of a 14-0 run midway through the period. Carter was key during the stretch as she was 3-for-3 from deep for nine points, while Owens had six and Grimes four with Hurst and Yaubryon Chambers also chipping in with a bucket.
Tech was 7-for-14 from the field in the third, while WIU was 2-for-16 with McCowan scoring seven of the team's nine points.
The Leathernecks outscored Tech 21-19 in the fourth quarter, but was only able to get as close as eight points in the final 10 minutes.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles improve to 52-28 all-time in the OVC tournament and are all but guaranteed a winning season for the sixth season in a row, the first time for the program since 2001-02.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
