Photo courtesy of Thomas Corhern

RICHMOND, Ky. --- Paced by senior Tacarra Hayes' third double-double of the season, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team kept the Eastern Kentucky defense on the ropes all night long as the Golden Eagles secured their first Ohio Valley Conference road win of the season by the score of 82-67.

Tech (9-13, 5-3 OVC) handed EKU (10-10, 5-4 OVC) its third OVC loss at home this season. The win extends TTU's winning streak to three games as the

Hayes put together one of her best games of the season as she poured in a game-high 21 points and brought down 14 rebounds for her third double-double of the season, and 12^th of her career. She also dished out five assists and went a perfect 5-of-5 from the line.

Hayes might have made the biggest impact on the court, but she had plenty of help from her teammates, four of which also reached double digits in points.

Sophomore Molly Heady, who has scored at least 10 points in her last three games, continued her offensive trend with 13 points, to go along with seven rebounds. Seniors Brittany Darling and Rachel Glidden each chipped in 13 points as well, while sophomore Jala Harris tallied 12 points and five rebounds. Junior Kylie Cook posted eight points before fouling out.

The game remained close early on as both teams were tied at 23 with 9:03 left to go in the half. The Golden Eagles then took off on a 19-5 run, spurred on by Kylie Cook's eight points, to take a 14-point lead at 42-28.

The Lady Colonels weather the storm however and managed to pull within four at 46-42 before heading into the locker room.

In the second half the Golden Eagles controlled the tempo throughout as they did not allow EKU to pull within two scores the whole way. With 5:47 to go, TTU extended its lead to 15 at 71-58, and would go on to win 82-67.

Marie Carpenter paced the EKU offense with 13 points, while Alex Jones added 11 points and seven rebounds. Jade Barber tallied 12 points as well, to go along with six rebounds.

Tech finished the game shot 48.4 percent from the field, and connected on 7-of-13 (.538) from three point land, while EKU shot 34.4 percent from the field.

TTU won the battle on the boards, posting 45 to EKU's 37, while forcing 15 Lady Colonel turnovers.

Tech is back in action Monday as it heads to Morehead State. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m.