By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team (7-13, 4-3 OVC) fell to undefeated conference-opponent Belmont (16-5, 8-0 OVC), 89-75, in Saturday's midafternoon matchup at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tenn.
The Bruins victory moved the series score to 25-17, however, still in favor of the Golden Eagles. It also extended Belmont's winning streak to seven games in-a-row in the series over Tech.
A layup from Yaktavia "Shug" Hickson at the 6:18 mark gave Tech the slight advantage at 7-6 to open game play against the Bruins. However, Belmont quickly tied things up at eight before pulling ahead to 13-9 with a bucket by Kylee Smith and 4:39 to go in the quarter. Then a layup from Anacia Wilkinson put Tech within two points of Belmont at 13-11 heading into the first media timeout. After the break, the Golden Eagles and Bruins went over a minute without either side scoring until an Akia Harris jumper at the 2:58 mark broke the silence and tied things up at 13. From there the two teams battled holding ties up to 18-18, however, a Darby Maggard three with 34 seconds on the clock game the Bruins the 21-18 edge heading into the second quarter.
Belmont kept their momentum going into the second quarter and created an eight-point lead at 28-20 with 7:53 left in the quarter. The Bruins continued to apply pressure and took a 13-point lead at 36-23 with a layup from Sally McCabe at the 4:11 mark. From there, Belmont closed out the first half leading Tech 49-31.
At the break, the Bruins were shooting 62.5 percent from the field, 58.3 percent from downtown, and 66.7 percent from the free throw line while the Golden Eagles were shooting 37.5 percent from the floor, 20 percent from the three-point range, and 54.5 percent from the charity stripe. Belmont grabbed 23 off the glass to Tech's 11, however, the Golden Eagles forced nine Bruin turnovers while allowing just two.
As third quarter play started, a McCabe layup quickly put Belmont up by 20 at 51-31 just 30 seconds into play. Tech began to find a spark and fought back to within 12 of the Bruins at 53-41 with a jumper from Treyvonna "Trey" Brooks and 5:51 on the clock. Then after a minute scoring drought, a Hickson bucket further cut down the Belmont lead to 53-43. However, the Bruins once again added buffer to their lead pulling ahead by 17 with a jumper and two at the line by Frankie Joubran and under 2:30 minutes remaining in the quarter. From there, the Bruins closed out the third quarter leading 70-56 over the Golden Eagles.
Belmont continued to capitalize on their lead into the fourth quarter, pushing ahead by 18 (79-61) with a McCabe layup at the 6:59 mark. Two at the charity stripe from Hickson cut the Bruins lead down to 79-66 with 6:19 on the clock, however, the Golden Eagles could not gain enough momentum to surpass Belmont and the Bruins claimed a 89-75 victory over Tech.
Hickson recorded a career-best 37 points in the contest, also leading the Golden Eagles in rebounds with seven. Hickson went 12-for-25 from the field and a career-best 12-for-13 from the free throw line. Harris tallied 15 points and three rebounds for Tech, while teammate Brooks notched 10 points and two blocks. Smith led Belmont with 21 points and five rebounds while McCabe recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards. Darby Maggard added 15 points to Belmont's win, while Joubran grabbed 10 off the glass.
As a team, Belmont shot 57.9 percent from the three-point range, connecting on 11-of-19 attempts. The Bruins also shot 60.7 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. Tech shot 43.3 percent from the floor, 18.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins grabbed 41 rebounds to the Golden Eagle's 25, however, Tech forced 19 Belmont turnovers while allowing just three.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 25, when Tech travels to Morehead State to compete against the Eagles in a 5 p.m. contest.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
