By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
MIAMI, Fla. – Balanced scoring, outstanding defense and a deep bench. Those were the ingredients to success Friday night for the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team, which opened 2014-15 with a convincing, 73-56 victory at FIU.
Two newcomers played key roles, and several returnees provided leadership and quality efforts for coach Jim Davis' squad, which plays next at Wake Forest on Tuesday night.
Junior point guard Samaria Howard (leading break in photo at right) and freshman Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson were outstanding in their Golden Eagle debuts. Howard led Tech with 17 points and added five rebounds and three steals, while Hickson had 12 points and two steals.
Among the returnees, sophomore Hannah Goolsby scored 15 points and played exceptional defense while limiting FIU's leading scorer, Taylor Shade, to 4-for-10 shooting from the floor.
Seniors Candace Parson and T'Keyah Williams, both from nearby Ft. Lauderdale, enjoyed their homecoming game and combined for lockdown defense in the paint. Williams had 10 points, five rebounds and four steals while Parson added nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds, along with two blocked shots and three steals.
The Golden Eagles (1-0) finished the night with 17 steals while shooting 47.7 percent (31-for-65) from the field. Tech was just 2-for-12 from long range, meaning the Golden Eagles went 29-for-53 from inside the arc, a solid 54.7 percent.
Tech held FIU to 31.9 percent shooting, including an 0-for-6 showing from 3-point range. The Panthers (0-1) outscored Tech 26-9 at the free throw line, going 26-for-37 at the charity stripe.
Shade led all scorers with 18 points, hitting 10-for-12 at the free throw line. Tynia McKinzie added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Starting center Marita Davidova, a 6-3 senior from Russia, saw just four minutes of playing time in the first half after logging two early fouls. She finished with 24 minutes, six points and nine rebounds.
FIU jumped ahead in the opening minutes, owning a couple of four-point leads. Tech tied things at 6-6 on a layup by Howard, then took a lead when the junior college transfer followed with another layup for an 8-6 lead.
Tech never relinquished the advantage, moving ahead by as many as 10 late in the first half.
The Panthers pulled within nine twice in the second half, but never got any closer. The first time, Parson buried Tech's first 3-pointer of the year to silence the restless crowd. Later, with FIU within 11 with 11:44 to play, Catherine Taylor's trey from the corner pushed the margin back to 14.
That bomb opened a 10-0 Tech run as the Golden Eagles widened the gap to 21 points. The lead stayed between 17 and 21 points through the final horn as Tech shot 51.6 percent in the second half.
Tech's quickness proved a factor as the Golden Eagles held a 12-4 edge in fast break points. The 17 steals led to 26 FIU turnovers, and Tech's edge in points off turnovers was 29-18.
The biggest difference came in the paint, where the Golden Eagles owned a 50-24 advantage.
