By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- On a Wednesday night when senior Samaria Howard became the latest Golden Eagle to join the 1,000-Point Club, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team won its third straight with a 77-69 homecourt victory over Morehead State in Eblen Center.

Tech (10-17/6-8 OVC) got 29 points and eight rebounds from Howard, while senior Mariah Dean notched her second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Junior point guard Lindsey Jennings added six points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. Candace Parson and Yaktavia Hickson each scored 10, giving Tech four players in double figures in the scoring column.

MSU (9-18/3-10 OVC) had three players in double figures, led by Brianna McQueen with 23 points, along with six rebounds and six assists. The Eagles, who have now lost five in a row, also got 14 from Natalie Greenwell and 13 by Eriel McKee. Miranda Crockett added eight points and eight rebounds.

The Golden Eagles appeared to be in cruise control with an 18-point second half lead, and a 15-point bulge in the fourth quarter before a 13-2 run by Morehead State made things interesting over the final minute.

Tech withstood the attack, hitting all four free throws and grabbing two big defensive rebounds to hold on.

Tech forced Morehead State into an early 1-for-11 stretch from the field, and the Golden Eagles took advantage to pull ahead, 15-9 late in the opening quarter.  Two 3-pointers by Hickson were keys to the lead. Tech's 11-4 run erased an early 5-4 MSU advantage. The Golden Eagles weren't able to take greater advantage, however, going without a basket for the final 2:36 of the first quarter, missing two shots and committing two turnovers.

A buzzer beater by McKee after scooping up a loose ball at the free throw line made it 15-11 after the first period.

After trailing 21-16, MSU scored five straight to tie the game at 21-21, but Tech quickly regained control with four consecutive points by Lindsey Jennings and a 3-pointer by Howard. Tech never lost the lead after that.

With nine points on the night and 998 career points midway in the second quarter, Howard sailed in another 3-pointer with 3:38 left in the half to make it a nine-point Golden Eagle lead, 35-26. The lead went eventually grew to a 15-point Tech margin at halftime, 43-28.

Howard becomes the 28^th player in program history to achieve the 1,000-point barrier, the first since Diamond Henderson. Ironically, it was two years ago on the same date (Feb. 17, 2014) that Henderson joined the club.

Down by 18 at one point in the third quarter, Morehead State got things in gear in the fourth quarter, battling back to within nine points, the second time at 65-56 with 5:34 to play.

The Golden Eagles were back up by 15, before Morehead stitched together its closing run.

A layup from McQueen with 1:27 left, then two free throws by Wells finished off a 13-2 MSU run and had the Eagles within four points with 1:23 remaining, 73-69.

MSU had three tries at the iron with just under a minute but couldn't get the ball to drop, and Alliyah Smith pulled down a critical defensive rebound for Tech. Two free throws by Jennings with 26.4 seconds to play halted a scoring drought of 2:52 for the hosts, and gave Jim Davis' team a little breathing room with a six-point lead.

The win avenged a 75-71 Golden Eagle loss at Morehead State on Jan 27, the last time the Golden Eagles finished on the short end of the score, and the last time MSU notched a W.

Tech visits Belmont Saturday for a 3 p.m. game, before wrapping up at home on Saturday, Feb. 27, with a 5:30 p.m. tilt with Eastern Kentucky on Senior Night.