ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Two of the last three games the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team overcame halftime deficits to emerge victorious. However, the Golden Eagles could not find their second half surge on Wednesday evening as they fell to the St. Louis Billikens, 78-58, at Chaifetz Arena.
Tech suffered its first loss in the month of December, moving to 5-5 overall (1-0 OVC) and snapping a four-game winning streak. On the other hand, St. Louis improves to 5-7 with the win.
Sophomore Tacarra Hayes finished with a career-high 22 points to go along with a team-leading four assists, three steals and one block. The guard finished 7-of-18 from the field and 8-of-12 at the free throw stripe for the Golden Eagles.
Hayes was the lone Golden Eagle in double figures for the game. Sophomore Rachel Glidden and freshman Tiara Hopper both totaled eight points for Tech.
The Golden Eagles forced 21 Billiken turnovers, but St. Louis was able to overcome its mistakes by making 28-of-50 (56.0 percent) from the field and 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from 3-point range. As for Tech, the Golden Eagles had a cold shooting night, making just 20-of-58 (34.5 percent) attempts from the field and 1-of-15 (6.7 percent) from long distance.
St. Louis jumped out to an early 9-0 lead just 3:31 into the game before Hayes converted on a free throw to put the Golden Eagles on the board. Tech chipped away from that point and cut into the deficit until back-to-back buckets by Hayes and Glidden made it a one-point game, 19-18, with 7:02 remaining in the half.
From that point, the Billikens went on a 14-6 run to head into the break with a 33-24 advantage.
After a Hayes lay-up to start the second half cut the deficit to seven, St. Louis scored the next seven points to open up a 14-point cushion. The Billikens maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game with the Golden Eagles coming within 12 (59-47) on a lay-up by freshman Haley Ervin with 8:44 left in the game before St. Louis finished the game on a 7-0 run to capture a 20-point victory.
The Golden Eagles return to the Eblen Center for their next game on December 30 against Bluefield. Single game and season tickets are still available through the Golden Eagle ticket office by calling 372-3940 or visiting TTUsports.com.
