COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team
will look for a way to beat Southeast Missouri Saturday night when
the two rivals return to Ohio Valley Conference play. A year ago,
Tech shot the ball extremely well in the first game and played
sensational defense in the second, only to lose twice to the
Redhawks.
Tipoff for Saturday's contest is at 5:30 p.m., with the men's game
to follow at 7:30 p.m.
Southeast Missouri comes to Cookeville to kick off the new year
with a 4-8 overall record, including an 0-2 worksheet in conference
play with home losses to Austin Peay (61-50) and Tennessee State
(59-55).
Following a 19-point win over Bethel, the Redhawk women have since
lost four in a row with their most recent being a 60-31 defeat at
Missouri on Monday night.
The Athletics Ticket Office in Eblen Center will reopen
Friday, Jan. 2, for regular business hours from
8 a.m to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m.
The ticket office opens Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
SEMO has played seven of its first 12 at home and also had a couple
of tournament games on neutral courts, so the game at Eblen Center
will be only the team's fourth true road contest. So far, SEMO has
lost road tilts at Florida State, Southern Miss and Mizzou.
The leading scorer for coach John Ishee's team is Tarina Nixon, a
5-6 senior guard from Arizona who is scoring 12.4 points per game.
Crystal Glenn, a 5-10 senior from San Diego, is right behind with
11.3 points per game and a team-leading 8.6 rebounds. Also in
double digits is 5-7 senior guard Sonya Daugherty from St. Louis,
averaging 11.1 points per game.
The trademark of this SEMO squad is defense, holding their foes to
just 59.3 points per game. On the attack, the Redhawks are
averaging 54.6 per contest. SEMO's accuracy has been a concern,
with the team shooting just 33 percent from the field and 27
percent from long distance.
Ishee is in his third season as coach of the Redhawks, taking over
as acting head coach to open the 2006-07 season and being named
permanent head coach in March 2007.
The Golden Eagles are 3-9 following a heart-breaking 63-61 loss
Tuesday night to Memphis. Tech is 1-0 in conference play, posting a
convincing victory over Jacksonville State in early December in
their only OVC action.
Balanced scoring continues to be the mark of this year's Tech
squad, with two players averaging in double digits and three more
just below that two-figure mark. Blair Bowens tops Tech with 13.6
points per game while Meagan Lyons is averaging 10.1 ppg. Jasmine
White is scoring 9.4 points and leads Tech with 6.6 rebounds per
game. Allison Price is averaging 8.6 per game and tops Tech with 35
assists. Freshman Krystal Stirrup paces the bench, averaging 8.4
points and 6.0 rebounds per outing.
A year ago, despite some outstanding efforts by Tech, SEMO claimed
a pair of victories over the Golden Eagles, winning by six in Cape
Girardeau in December and by 10 in Cookeville in February.
In the first meeting, Tech played its most efficient half of the
season and had their hands all over a victory...but couldn't hold
on.
SEMO surged to a 66-60 victory in the second half when Tech lost
its momentum - and it's shooting touch and rebounding edge.
After shooting 54 percent in the first half including 6-for-12 from
outside the arc, the Golden Eagles cooled off to 33 percent in the
second half including 1-for-8 from long range. After owning a 16-12
rebounding edge in the first half, the Golden Eagles were topped
20-10 on the glass in the second period. A late 12-0 SEMO run
proved to the difference.
Lyons scored all of her team-high 14 points in the second half.
Cara Reed was the only other Golden Eagle to score in double
figures, knocking down 10 points. Kristina Tyler had eight points,
eight rebounds and three assists before fouling out.
Blunt led SEMO with 18 points, including a 7-for-8 effort at the
free throw line. Tarina Nixon added 16 points, six rebounds and
five assists, while Lovelady had 11 points and Johnson scored
10.
Tech's defense was sensational in the rematch, holding the Redhawks
to just 25 percent shooting.
However, the Golden Eagles couldn't take advantage, committing 28
turnovers in the contest. SEMO grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and
the Redhawks used those second chances to claim a 49-39 victory in
Eblen Center. Tech fought back to within three points in the final
minute, 42-39, but the Redhawks made seven of eight free throws
down the stretch to claim the win.
Missy Whitney led the Redhawks with 18 points, three blocked shots
and seven steals, while Nixon had 11 points and three steals.
Daugherty had five points, eight rebounds and four steals as SEMO
had 18 steals in the contest.
Marissa Hensley hit 4-for-6 from long range and led Tech with 16
points, but she was the only Golden Eagle to manage double digits
in the lowest-scoring game in Tech's series history with SEMO.
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