By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team (3-9) fell to Vanderbilt University (10-1) in a midday contest at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn. There, the Commodores topped the Golden Eagles 89-57, bringing the all-time series score to 10-8 still in favor of Tech.
Vanderbilt open game play with a 4-0 lead over Tech. Freshman Akia Harris recorded the Golden Eagle's first points of the contest, cutting the Commodore lead to 4-3 when she buried a three-pointer at the 8:21 mark. Vanderbilt extended their lead out to six at 13-7 with under four minutes to go in the quarter with an Erin Whalen bucket from downtown. A layup from Harris followed by a Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson three-pointer brought the Commodore lead down to two at 16-14 with 2:20 remaining in the quarter. Then two at the line from Hickson closed out the first quarter with a score of 17-16 in favor of Vanderbilt.
The Commodores opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to lead the Golden Eagles at 24-16. Finally, after almost a four-minute scoring drought a foul sent Hickson to the line where she connected on 2-of-2 to cut the Vanderbilt lead down to 24-18 with 6:34 to go. The Commodores continued to play tough and extended their lead to 12 (30-18) with a bucket by Christa Reed at the 4:57 mark. Later on in the quarter, Vanderbilt pushed ahead by 19 at 39-20 with a bucket by the Commodore's Rebekah Dahlman with 2:07 on the clock. Vanderbilt then went on to close out the first quarter with a 45-22 lead over Tech.
At the half, the Golden Eagles were shooting 20.7 percent from the field, 20 percent from the three-point range, and 80 percent from the free throw line while the Commodores were shooting 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from beyond the arc, and 78.6 percent from the charity stripe. Tech and Vanderbilt each grabbed 21 off the glass, however, Vanderbilt forced 11 Golden Eagle turnovers while only allowing five.
Tech came out ready to fight in the third quarter, going on an 11-2 run to kick things off. After the first media timeout the Golden Eagles kept the momentum going as a bucket by Hickson followed by a Wilkinson layup cut the Commodore lead down to 12 at 49-37 with 5:48 to go in the quarter. Vanderbilt quickly regrouped, however, and went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead out to 60-37 with 3:08 to go in the quarter. The Commodores then ended the quarter with a 68-41 lead over the Golden Eagles.
Tech opened fourth quarter play hot once again heading into the fourth quarter opening with a 9-0 run to cut the Vanderbilt lead down to 68-50 with 7:56 remaining in the contest. The Commodores then pulled ahead to 85-54 by the 3:30 mark before claiming an 89-57 victory over the Golden Eagles.
Hickson led the Golden Eagles with a career-high 31 points, connecting on a career-best 11-of-11 at the free throw line. Hickson notches herself as one of now 24 Tech players to ever capture a 30-point game. Harris tallied 10 points for the Golden Eagles with 6 boards and three assists. Reed led Vanderbilt with 25 points in the contest, while teammate Whalen notched 23 points and LeaLea Carter put up 18.
As a team, Tech shot 29.2 percent from the floor, 29.4 percent from the three-point range, and 77.8 percent from the free throw line while Vanderbilt shot 50 percent from the floor, 36.8 percent from downtown, and 85.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles corralled just 39 rebounds to the Commodore's 44 and allowed 18 turnovers to Vanderblit's 16.
Tech returns to action on Wednesday when the Golden Eagles return to Nashville to take on in-state opponent Lipscomb in a noon contest.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
