COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A 16-1 opening act by Tennessee Tech in the first four minutes brought the curtains down quickly on Morehead State Saturday night as the Golden Eagles clinched the top seed in the Ohio Valley Conference East Division with a crowd-pleasing 73-53 victory in Eblen Center

First-year coach Jim Davis started his five seniors on Senior Night, and all five put points into the book, including a career-high 21 by Lashay Davis and 22 from Jala Harris (photo below). That departing pair each scored eight points in Tech’s opening flourish. All five seniors are on target to graduate on time.

Sophomore Diamond Henderson added 14 points while junior Molly Heady finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Morehead State (9-21/5-11 OVC) was topped by Terrice Robinson’s 23 points, while Kailee Howe added 11.

With the win, Tech (18-11/12-4 OVC) has earned the top spot in the league’s East Division standings, and will head to the OVC Tournament next week in Nashville sith byes into the semifinals on Friday.

Harris lit the fuse with a 3-pointer just 10 seconds into the night, and Davis made it 6-0 one minute later. Davis had a layup and Harris followed with her own, and the margin was at 10-0.

The pair wasn’t finished.

After MSU got one free throw, Davis drained another 3-pointer, and Harris knocked down Tech’s fourth trey of the contest at the 15:39 mark for a 16-1 lead.

Tech took its lead to as many as 23 points before the end of the half, finally heading to the break with an 18-point bulge, 35-17.

Morehead State rallied briefly early in the second half, using a 3-pointer by Allie Turner and a three-point play by Robinson to pull within 12 points, 35-23, with 18:17 to play.

But that was it for the visitors. Tech quickly regained a 20-point advantage and reached its largest lead of the night at 24 points when Harris made another 3-pointer with 8:17 to play for a 62-38 difference.


Tech's five seniors and their families at a post-game recognition, from left, Lashay Davis, Kellie Cook, Jala Harris, Kylie Cook and Katherine Barker.