By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team (4-11, 1-1 OVC) suffered their first conference lost of the season on Saturday to SIUE (5-9, 1-0 OVC) by a 60-49 margin. The victory gave the Cougars the 5-4 lead in the series and extended their winning streak to three games in-a-row won over the Golden Eagles, also marking the longest winning streak in the series to date.
"Our effort was just not there tonight," head coach Kim Rosamond remarked. "We didn't come out ready to play. SIUE was a tough team and had a better effort than us and our first quarter really cost us in the end."
After three minutes of played tied at 2-2, Tech's Hannah Goolsby drained one from just inside the arc to give Tech the lead at 4-2. However, SIUE quickly found some momentum and retook the lead at 6-4, causing the Golden Eagles to call for a timeout. After the break, SIUE's Nakiah Bell drained one from downtown to further extend the Cougar lead to 9-4. Then two threes in-a-row from Treyvonna "Trey" Brooks held Tech within four of SIUE at 15-11 with 3:37 to go in the quarter. The Cougars continued to capitalize on their lead and pulled ahead by 10 at 21-11 to close out the first, holding the Golden Eagles scoreless for the last 3:37 minutes of the quarter.
Tech opened up the second quarter with a jumper from Hickson at the 8:58 mark to cut the SIUE lead down to 21-13. However, a bucket and two at the line from Gwen Adams put SIUE back up in double-digits leading the Golden Eagles 25-13 with 6:37 to go in the quarter. Tech continued to battle, holding on defensively waving off an SIUE bucket for almost three minutes until SIUE's Donshel Beck got the layup to end the scoring drought and extend the Cougar lead out to 27-17 with 3:43 on the clock. As the quarter began to wind down, SIUE added a couple more points at the line to close out the first half leading Tech 30-17, while also holding the Golden Eagles to a 4:42 scoring drought.
At the break, the Golden Eagles were shooting 26.7 percent from the field and 10 percent from the three-point range while the Cougars were shooting 34.5 percent from the floor, 50 percent from downtown, and 90 percent from the charity stripe. SIUE was out-rebounding Tech by a 22-19 margin, and the Cougars forced eight Tech turnovers while allowing just six.
Adams added two at the line within the first 10 seconds of the quarter, and then both teams remained scoreless until Anacia Wilkinson got a bucket at the 8:22 mark to cut the SIUE lead down to 32-19. A fast-break layup from Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson pulled the Golden Eagles within 11 points of the Cougars at 34-23 and 6:06 remaining in the quarter. From there, Tech went on to cut the SIUE lead down to single digits at 36-27 with a layup by Wilkinson dished out from Goolsby with 4:57 on the clock. After a 2:57 scoring drought, SIUE's Adams hit the layup to extend the Cougar lead out to 39-27 with 2:26 remaining in the quarter. From there, SIUE clung to the double-digit lead they created early on in the contest to end the third quarter with a 43-30 advantage over Tech.
The Cougars and Golden Eagles battled back-and-forth to open the fourth quarter, with Tech holding the slight advantage with a 6-5 run to bring the SIUE lead down to 48-36 with 6:39 remaining in the contest. Brooks then drained one from downtown to further dig into the Cougar lead at 48-39 and 5:59 on the clock, however, SIUE's Bell responded rapidly with a bucket of her own from beyond the arc to restore the Cougar 11-point lead at 51-39. Then with just over four minutes remaining in the contest, Hickson fouled out of the game leaving the Golden Eagles with seven points and seven rebounds. Despite the loss, Tech continued to pursue and a jumper from Akia Harris followed by a Brooks layup cut the SIUE back down to single digits at 53-45 and 1:55 on the clock.
The Golden Eagles continued to pursue the Cougars and another jumper from Harris with 1:21 remaining further cut into the SIUE lead down to six at 53-47. Unfortunately, foul trouble once again got to the Golden Eagles as Brooks fouled out of the game with 1:12 on the clock departing with 16 points and six rebounds under her belt and a score of 55-47 in favor of the Cougars. Fouls continued to hold Tech back as Asia Harper became the third Golden Eagle to foul out, leaving the contest with four points and five caroms. Despite Tech's efforts for a comeback were great, SIUE held on a claimed their first OVC victory at 60-49 over the Golden Eagles.
Brooks led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and six rebounds in the contest, while freshman Harris tallied eight points and four assists and teammate Wilkinson recorded eight points and six rebounds for Tech. Adams notched a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds in the contest. Three other Cougars found themselves in double-figures: Beck tallying 17 points and eight rebounds while White posted 10 points.
"Trey kept us in it in the first half," Rosamond continued. "Especially on the offensive end. We couldn't get anything going on the offensive end, which affected our defense. This is something we must learn from and not allow to affect ourselves defensively again."
As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 35.9 percent from the field, 11.8 percent from the three-point range, and 20 percent from the line while the Cougars shot 29.8 percent from the floor, 42.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 79.3 percent from the charity stripe. SIUE corralled 44 boards to Tech's 40 and forced 17 Tech turnovers while allowing just 15.
Tech returns to action on Thursday, January 5, when the Golden Eagles return home to host OVC in-state rival Austin Peay in a 5:30 p.m. contest at the Hooper Eblen Center.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
