By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.—A strong second half and Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson double-double guided the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team (4-10, 1-0 OVC) to a victory over OVC-opponent Southeast Missouri (6-8, 0-1 OVC). The Golden Eagles topped the Redhawks 74-63 to open conference play on a high-note.
"We held one of the best offensive teams to 63 points tonight," head coach Kim Rosamond remarked. "But I'll tell you what, when you can shoot the ball the way we shot the ball tonight. And when you've got a player like Yaktavia Hickson that just goes off it solves a lot of problems. We really got it done on both ends of the court tonight."
Tech's victory over Southeast Missouri snapped the Redhawk's two-game winning streak in the series, and brought the series score to 32-20 in favor of the Golden Eagles.
Southeast Missouri's Hannah Noe opened up game play with a three within the first 30 seconds of the start. However, Tech quickly got on the board and a layup from Treyvonna "Trey" Brooks gave the Golden Eagles the 6-3 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Redhawks silenced their scoring drought at the 5:46 mark when SEMO's Olivia Hackmann hit one from downtown to cut the Tech lead down to 8-6. Tech continued to pull ahead into the first media timeout leading Southeast Missouri 13-8 with 4:33 on the clock. The Redhawks battled back to tie the game at 13-13 at the 3:55 as Southeast Missouri's Dolapo Balogun got the layup and drew the foul to go to the line and complete the three-point play. The Golden Eagles refused to let the Redhawk comeback get to them, and quickly created a five point lead at 20-15 with 2:16 remaining in the quarter. A last-second layup from SEMO's Hackmann then ended the first quarter with a score of 23-18 in favor of Tech.
After more than a minute scoring drought to kick off the second quarter, the Redhawks' Iyanna McCurdy put two-points on the board to cut the Golden Eagle lead down to three at 23-20. Southeast Missouri continued to battle back and tied the game again at 25-25 with a jumper from Hackmann at the 7:49 mark. A Hickson three-pointer at the 7:22 mark quickly put the Golden Eagles back up on top with a score of 28-25. However, the Redhawks remained in hot pursuit as a bucket from downtown by SEMO's Noe gave the Redhawks their second lead of the contest at 30-28 with 5:42 remaining in the quarter. Heading into the latter part of the quarter, a jumper from Lindsey Jennings at the 2:11 mark ended an almost five minute scoring drought from the Golden Eagles and brought Tech within three of the Redhawks at 33-30. Southeast Missouri then went on to close out the first half leading Tech 35-32.
At the half, the Golden Eagles were shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from downtown, and 75 percent from the three-point range while the Redhawks were shooting 35.3 percent from the floor, 29.4 percent from the three-point range, and 85.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles forced four Redhawk turnovers, while allowing five and each team grabbed 20 off the glass.
Tech tied things up right away to start the third quarter with one at the line from Harper followed by a jumper by Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson at the 9:14 mark to bring the score to 35-35. A minute later Hickson hit one from beyond the arc to give Tech the lead once again at 38-35. The Golden Eagles continued to keep the pressure on as another three-pointer this time by Brooks put Tech up by six at 41-35 with 7:36 to go in the quarter, causing Southeast Missouri to call for a timeout. Southeast Missouri finally recorded their first points of the quarter when Mitchell hit a jumper at the 7:10 mark to cut the Tech lead down to 41-37. The Golden Eagles remained hot and created a 10-point lead at 47-37 with a layup from Hickson with 5:35 on the clock. A three from Noe with 3:55 remaining in the quarter brought Southeast Missouri back within five of Tech at 47-42. Two threes in-a-row from Hickson extended the Golden Eagle's lead out to 52-46 with 1:27 to go in the quarter, however, the Redhawks persisted and held Tech to a score of 54-48 at the end of the third.
Into the fourth quarter, back-to-back threes from Akia Harris and Brooks put Tech up by 12 at 60-48 at the 8:41 mark. The Golden Eagles kept their momentum going into the latter half of the fourth quarter, pulling ahead by 14 at 67-53 with a jumper by Brooks. Tech remained strong and claimed a 74-63 victory over Southeast Missouri.
"She was in the zone tonight," Rosamond commented on Hickson. "When she plays at this level and plays discipline basketball, Yaktavia is one of the best players if not the best player in this league. I'm so pleased with where she is at right now and with how she is leading our team."
Hickson led the Golden Eagles with 30 points and 12 boards, notching her first career double-double and second 30-point game of the season. Two other Tech players found themselves in double-figures, Brooks totaling 16 points, while Harris tied her career-high with 12 points in the contest. Hackmann led Southeast Missouri with 19 points and six rebounds, while teammate Mitchell recorded 13 points and grabbed eight off the glass.
As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 52.6 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from the three-point range, and 71.4 percent from the free throw line while the Redhawks shot 29.2 percent from the floor, 24.1 percent from downtown, and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe. SEMO outrebounded Tech by a 43-36 margin and forced nine Golden Eagle turnovers while allowing just seven.
The Golden Eagles will return to action on saturday when they travel to Edwardsville, Ill., to take on OVC-opponent SIUE in a 12 p.m. contest at the Vadalabene Center.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
