COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With two games left in the regular season, each with Ohio Valley Conference Tournament seeding implications, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team heads to Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State this weekend. The Golden Eagles will face the EKU Colonels at 4:30 p.m. CT on Thursday afternoon, then head to Morehead State on Saturday for a 4:15 p.m. showdown with the Eagles.
The results of the two games will determine where the Golden Eagles are seeded, with possibilities to land anywhere from third to seventh. With two wins, Tech could tie for first place in the East Division and earn the No. 3 seed.
Tech (11-16, 8-6 OVC) faced both of EKU and Morehead State less than 15 days ago, going 1-1 at home.
Against EKU, an early 10-0 deficit haunted Tennessee Tech all night long and the Golden Eagles never quite caught up, falling 74-70. Tech was led by junior Diamond Henderson who put up 28 points, including a three-point basket that pushed her past 1,000 for her career. Freshman Hannah Goolsby added 16 points and Candace Parson scored 14. Kayla Brewer hauled down a career-high 16 rebounds and added blocked four shots. Eastern Kentucky had four players in double figures, topped by Marie Carpenter's 25. Carpenter was 6-of-9 from long range. Pilar Walker added 11 points, nine assists, five rebounds and three blocked shots as EKU won for the first time in the last 10 visits in Eblen Center. Miranda Maples also scored 11 and Michaela Hunter added 10.
Against Morehead State, senior Molly Heady and graduate student Kayla Brewer led the Golden Eagles to victory, 71-58. Heady finished with 14 points, hitting 4-for-4 from long range, and grabbed six rebounds. Brewer added 10 points, a career-high 12 rebounds, six blocked shots, four assists and two steals. Candace Parson netted 12 and grabbed eight rebounds, Diamond Henderson scored a game-high 16 with six assists and three steals, and Hannah Goolsby scored 13. Morehead State was led by Shanice Parker with 15 points, three assists and three steals. Aaliyah Wells added 12 points and Almesha Jones scored 11.
When the Golden Eagles and EKU match up, it will be a showdown of two of the top-three offensive players in the conference. Henderson is currently third in the conference in scoring, averaging 19.4 points per game (20.9 in conference only). EKU's Carpenter is second, averaging 21.7 points per game (21.6 in conference only).
Tech will have it's eye on two of their own players who are currently chasing milestones. Heady is just 33 points shy of the 1,000-point mark. She is averaging 7.6 points per game this season. Brewer is nearing a school record for blocked shots in a single-season. She currently has 54 blocks on the season, one from matching the school record of 55 set by Melinda Clayton in the 1987-88 season. Brewer leads the conference, averaging 2.0 per game on the whole season, and ups it to 3.1 in conference play only.
The games will be avaliable on the the OVC Digital Network and on the radio on 106.1 FM The Eagle with the Golden Eagle Sports Network's own Roger Ealey on the call.
