COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - With its five-game road trip now in the rearview mirror, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team can now prepare to make its 2009-10 Eblen Center debut on Monday when the Golden Eagles square off against Lipscomb at 8 p.m.
Tech (1-4) will enter Monday's game on a three-game losing streak after falling to a pair of top-25 opponents in Baylor and Louisville last week and coming up short against in-state foe Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.
On the other hand, Lipscomb has already played seven games and comes in with a 2-5 record. The Lady Bisons have played three OVC opponents so far and have lost against each of them. Lipscomb fell by nine against both Austin Peay and Morehead State before losing by three in overtime against Tennessee State on Saturday.
Monday's match-up marks just the second time that the two programs have met, with the first meeting coming last season. In that contest, sophomore Krystal Stirrup came off the bench to score 12 points and pull down a career-high 10 rebounds, helping the Golden Eagles to a 72-55 win at Allen Arena.
Tech is 2-3 in its last five home openers and will look to its young squad of freshmen and sophomores to step up and even that mark.
Sophomore Tacarra Hayes, who was named to the Islander Tip-Off All-Tournament Team to begin the season and earned OVC Player of the Week Honors that same week, leads the Golden Eagles in scoring (16.0 ppg), rebounding (5.4 rpg) and assists (2.8 apg).
So far this season, Tech has done a good job of forcing its opponents into turnovers. Golden Eagle opponents are collectively averaging 18.4 turnovers per game through Tech's first five games.
Live stats for Monday's game will be available through Tennessee Tech's Web site, TTUsports.com, and Web streaming will be available through OVCsports.tv.
Tip-off for Monday's game against Lipscomb is scheduled for 8 p.m. Single game and season tickets are available through the Golden Eagle ticket office by calling 372-3940 or visiting TTUsports.com.
