COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team travels to the Curb Event Center in Nashville Saturday to take on the Belmont Bruins in Ohio Valley Conference East action. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season, as the Golden Eagles caged the Bruins one month ago, defeating Belmont 58-52 in the Eblen Center.
Tennessee Tech (11-10, 5-3 OVC) vs. Belmont (13-9, 8-2 OVC)
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013
5:00 p.m. CT
Curb Event Center - Nashville, Tenn.
The Broadcasts
TV: none
Radio: Fox Sports Radio, 106.1 The Eagle (Roger Ealey)
Webcast: OVC Digital Network
Live Stats
Setting the Stage
The in-state rivals will meet again, as the first and second place teams in the OVC East. Tech has dropped three of its last four games, but has yet to fall to an East Division opponent.
The Golden Eagles are just 4-5 on the road and are pitted against a Belmont squad that is 7-2 on its own court.
Earlier this season, Tech's defense held the Bruins to just 18 points in the first half and just two offensive rebounds in the entire contest. A strong second half by Belmont threatened to eliminate Tech's lead, but the Golden Eagles persevered with a six-point victory Jan. 5.
A Glance at the Golden Eagles
In its last outing, Tech struggled offensively, shooting just 10 percent from behind the arc, a season low. Despite the low numbers, the Golden Eagles still lead the OVC with a 42.3 field goal percentage and an even more impressive 45.7 conference field goal percentage.
Red-shirt sophomore Diamond Henderson continues to lead the Golden Eagles with 15.6 points per game. Jala Harris averages 12.6 points per game but is turning in 14.5 points per game in conference action. Harris also leads Tech with 4.1 assists per game.
Just one week ago, senior Kellie Cook turned in her best shooting performance of the season, scoring 23 points and going 7-9 from behind the arc. Cook didn't get a shot off against Murray State, but averages 5.1 points and 1.1 three pointer per game in OVC play.
Candace Parson was Tech's go to center in the past two games, picking up twelve rebounds, four offensive and eight defensive. Head coach Jim Davis has harped the importance of rebounding since the beginning of the season, and freshman Mariah Dean has come off the bench and averaged 2.0 rebounds per game, and a career high seven boards against UT Martin.
As a team, the Golden Eagles average 65.1 points, 6.2 three-pointers, 34.8 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 7.9 steals and 2.4 blocks per game.
A Look at the Bruins
Belmont has the highest-ranked scoring defense in the league, allowing just 58.5 points per game this season and holds the second-best rebounder in the conference in Jordan Coleman, who is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game.
The Bruins enter Saturday's conference off a road win over Morehead State thanks to shooting 77.8 percent from the floor in the second half. The Bruins had three players scoring 15 points or more in the contest. Senior Katie Brooks leads the Bruins in scoring, tossing in 10.2 points per game. Coleman adds 9.6 points to her 9.8 boards, and Alyssa Visbeen rounds out the leaders with 9.2 points per game.
As a team, the Bruins average 62.1 points, 5.2 three-pointers, 35.6 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 5.5 steals and 3.6 blocks per game.
Series History
This will be the 32nd meeting between Belmont and Tech. The Golden Eagles hold a 21-10 advantage.
In their last meeting, Henderson lead all scorers with 17 points. Williams added 13 points and six rebounds with Harris adding 12 points and five assists.
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