By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information

MOREHEAD, Ky.—The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team (7-14, 4-4 OVC) fell to Morehead State (16-5, 6-2 OVC), 79-65, in their Wednesday evening matchup in Johnson Arena. The Eagle's win brought the series score to 59-24, still in favor of the Golden Eagles.

"I don't think our girls gave up," head coach Kim Rosamond remarked. "We gave them a fight, but Morehead got us to play like they wanted us to play. We got behind in the first quarter and when they score 42 points from the paint and allow 24 turnovers it's hard to come back. I credit Morehead tonight, they came out and played a really tough game."

Morehead State opened game play with a 10-2 run within five minutes of the start. Finally after a 2:42 scoring drought, freshman Akia Harris broke the silence with a layup at the 4:40 mark. Morehead State then went on to extend their lead out to 11 at 15-4 with 3:18 remaining in the quarter. The Eagles continued to hold a tight defense over the Golden Eagles, causing another Tech scoring drought. Finally after 3:24, a Treyvonna "Trey" Brooks layup put two on the board for Tech and brought the score to 17-7 still in favor of Morehead State. The Eagles then closed out the first quarter with a 23-9 advantage over the Golden Eagles.

Anacia Wilkinson opened up second quarter scoring for either side with a jumper from the top of the key at the 8:11 mark cutting Morehead State's lead down to 23-11. Two at the line from Morehead State's Brianna McQueen extended the Eagle's lead out to 32-19 with 3:28 on the clock. MSU continued to dig in on Tech and two at the line from Eriel McKee put the Eagles up by 16 at 40-24 at 44 seconds remaining in the second quarter. With six seconds to go in the first half, a Hannah Goolsby bucket from downtown brought the score to 40-29 in favor of the Eagles heading into the break.

At the half, Tech was shooting 40.7 percent from the field, 25 percent from the three-point range, and 75 percent from the free throw line while Morehead State was shooting 46.4 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 80 percent from the charity stripe. Turnovers were the theme of the first half on both sides, the Golden Eagles allowing 13 to the Eagle's nine.

A Brooks' jumper followed  by a Goolsby three-pointer opened up the second half strong for the Golden Eagles as Tech cut the Morehead State lead down to 40-34 just a 1:20 into the quarter. A Hickson jumper with 5:36 on the clock brought Tech back within nine of MSU at 50-41, however, the Eagles found some momentum and pulled retook a 13-point lead at 54-41 heading into the first media timeout at 4:45 in the quarter. The Golden Eagles continued to battle with the Eagles and held them scoreless for 2:18 until MSU's Miranda Crockett hit a jumper at the 2:09 mark bringing the score to 58-46 still in favor of the Eagles. Morehead State held on and closed out the third quarter leading Tech 61-47.

Into the fourth, Morehead State opened the quarter with a 5-0 run less than two minutes into play to lead Tech 66-47. The Eagles continued to play aggressive and extended their lead out to 73-53 with 4:36 remaining in the contest. Fouls sent Yaktavia "Shu" Hickson to the line where she connected on four-of-four attempts to cut the Morehead State lead down to 13 at 75-62 with 2:07 to go. However, Morehead State held on to the lead they created in the first quarter to top Tech 79-65.

Hickson led Tech with 18 points and six boards, connecting on 9-of-10 from the line. Brooks totaled 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Goolsby posted 13 points with eight rebounds. McQueen led Morehead State with 28 points, connecting on 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. Shay Steele and Eriel McKee scored in double-figures for the Eagles as well: Steele with 17 points and five boards while McKee had 10 points and six assists.

Turnovers got the best of the Golden Eagles as they allowed 24 to the Eagle's 13. Tech shot 36.1 percent from the field, 50 percent from the three-point range, and 77.3 percent from the free throw line while Morehead State shot 46.8 percent from the floor, 23.1 percent from downtown, and 81.8 percent from the charity stripe. The Eagles also outrebounded the Golden Eagles by a 79-65 margin.

Tech returns to action on Saturday when the Golden Eagles host OVC opponent Eastern Kentucky in a 5:30 p.m. contest at the Hooper Eblen Center.

Photo by Thomas Corhern