COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Following a 1-0 start in OVC play, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team has hit a few speed bumps over the past week, losing each of its last three conference games. The Golden Eagles will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when they take on visiting Eastern Kentucky at the Eblen Center.
The Lady Colonels are 5-0 in conference play and 8-6 overall and are coming off of a 79-67 victory at Jacksonville State on Thursday. EKU has been especially stingy on defense this season, allowing just 59.8 points per game by its opponents.
Newcomers have been the sparkplug for Eastern Kentucky as freshman Alex Jones leads the team in scoring (11.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg) and transfer junior Talisha Davis is second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) while leading EKU with 38 assists.
The Golden Eagles are coming off of a 71-63 loss against Morehead State on Thursday, Tech's first defeat at home this season. Tech held an eight-point lead early in the second half but could not hold on as the Morehead State poured in seven second half 3-pointers to claim its fifth victory in conference play.
Leading the way on Thursday was sophomore Tacarra Hayes who etched her name in the Golden Eagle record book with just the ninth triple-double in Tennessee Tech history. Hayes set career highs with 12 assists and 10 rebounds to go along with 15 points just three games after recording the first double-double of her career against Bluefield College.
Hayes has filled the stat sheet in virtually every category this season and is among the conference leaders in multiple categories. The Lebanon, Ky., native is second in the OVC in scoring (15.1 ppg), third in steals (1.9 spg), third in assists (4.1 apg) and 10th in field goal percentage (41.8 percent).
On the defensive end of the floor, freshman Katherine Barker made the most of her first-ever start as she held Morehead State's Chynna Bozeman - the OVC's leading scorer - to a career-low three points. Barker, a 5-foot-9 guard from Dunlap, Tenn., forced Bozeman to take difficult shots all night as she finished just 1-of-8 from the field. Barker has turned into Tech's defensive stopper as she also slowed down three-time OVC Freshman of the Week Ta'Kenya Nixon in the game against Eastern Illinois.
Tip-off for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tickets are still available and can by purchased by visiting or calling the Tennessee Tech Ticket Office at 372-3940.
Fans can hear all the action for free on Teamline either online or on the phone. The broadcast can be accessed through Tennessee Tech's athletic Web site, TTUsports.com, or fans can call 1-800-846-4700 and enter the team code 0654 to catch all the action. TTUsports.com will also have live stats for the game, while Web streaming can be accessed through ovcsports.tv.
