By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Tenn. – As the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team walked off the court on Thursday following its 79-71 loss to UT Martin in the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships quarterfinal, it was a moment of sadness.
For several members of the Golden Eagle lineup, it was their final game in uniform as their careers came to a close. For some, there lies an air of uncertainty. For others, it's a moment to build on as Tech begins its preparation for the 2024-25 campaign tomorrow.
While the end of the season came much earlier than any of the Golden Eagle players or coaches wanted, it's a bittersweet moment.
The Golden Eagles finish the year at 16-15, their sixth straight winning season – the longest such stretch for the program since the 2000-01 campaign. For those players who have been there for the majority of that tenure – graduate guard Maaliya Owens, for example – it solidified their place among the program's legends.
Owens certainly did that during the course of the contest as she broke her own single-season 3-pointers made record from a year ago, knocking down five against the Skyhawks to finish her final campaign with 94 3-pointers made and the two best seasons in program history. Owens will stand at career's close with 293 3-pointers made, just behind teammate Jordan Brock's 306.
To say the future of the program is in good hands is an understatement. There are an exciting group of newcomers waiting in the wings to bolster the Tech lineup with a talented group of returnees.
However, that doesn't make the defeat on Thursday much easier. UT Martin came out on fire and early on in the contest, the game appeared to be a repeat of the Golden Eagles' defeat one week earlier at the Elam Center.
Kenley McCarn ended the game with 31 points, shooting 12-for-17 from the field and 4-for-6 from long-range. Josie Storey had 14 points, Love Mays added 13 and Lexi Rubel chipped in 11. Anaya Brown had 14 rebounds.
The Skyhawks outscored Tech 23-11 in the first 10 minutes, shooting 70 percent from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles tried to keep pace, but still saw UTM add another couple of points to the deficit before the half as the Skyhawks led 39-25.
UT Martin led by as many as 20 points three times – the final one with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter as the Skyhawks led 54-34.
The Golden Eagles battled back, cutting the deficit down to eight points before the third quarter came to a close as Tech scored 12 unanswered points to close out the quarter, trailing 54-46. The Golden Eagles had the game back within four points at 4:17 left on a pair of Reghan Grimes free throws, then back within five with 1:54 remaining in the game following Owens' fifth 3-pointer of the contest.
However, the Skyhawks went back up by 12 points with 30 seconds remaining by scoring seven straight points. Grimes hit a layup with 28 seconds left to make it a 10-point game, then McCarn hit one of a pair of free throws before Anna Walker hit a 3-pointer with eight ticks left for what was the final margin of eight points.
Tech ended the game with five players in double figures. Owens led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, while Peyton Carter and Grimes each had 13 points. Cayla Cowart scored 12 and Walker added 11.
It was a long-range affair for both games as Tech ended the game 15-for-35 on 3-pointers, while UTM was an efficient 14-for-18 – 77.8 percent.
Speaking of efficiency, the Skyhawks ended the game shooting 61.4 percent, landing 27 of their 44 shots and 11 of 14 free throws.
UT Martin advances to take on Little Rock on Friday in the conference semifinals.
