By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After showcasing terrific offensive potential in a 105-57 exhibition win over Hiwassee College last Sunday, Tennessee Tech basketball opens its regular season schedule with a visit from nearby Cumberland College on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in the Hooper Eblen Center.
As the youngest team in the OVC last season, the Golden Eagles appeared much-improved from a team that was 10th in the league in total offense, and looked confident in lighting up the scoreboard despite the absence of skilled forward Mackenzie Coleman.
Ten players scored at least eight points, and five were in double figures, as Tech featured an excellent shooting touch from the field (51.4 percent). The depth throughout the lineup also came to the forefront, as TTU accumulated a whopping 60 bench points.
Jordan Brock, whose 68 three-pointers last season made her the first TTU player to make more than 60 since Blair Bowens in 2008-09, led all scorers against Hiwassee with 15 points on five triples.
Kesha Brady played in her first organized game since a significant injury cut short her freshman season, and scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Megan Clark, a sophomore guard from Tampa, Fla., made the most of her 15 minutes on the floor, adding 12 of her own.
The rebounding effort was also spirited, as Tech doubled up Hiwassee on the glass by a count of 50-25. Twenty-six of those boards came on the offensive end, leading to 22 second-chance points.
Abby Buckner led the charge with 10 rebounds to go with 11 points to record a double-double.
Junior point guard Akia Harris fell one point short of her own double-double, scoring nine points and avidly facilitating the offense with 10 assists.
Cumberland University, located about 50 miles west of Cookeville in Lebanon, has met up with Tech three times in the programs' histories, in a series that started back on Dec. 12, 1984. TTU won that initial matchup along with the two since then, including an 83-52 triumph on Dec. 7 last season, the most recent acquaintance.
Cumberland competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Mid-South Conference. The program comes off a 2017-18 season in which it won 20 games (20-12) and took a fourth-place finish in the MSC with an 8-6 record. Cumberland is picked to finish sixth in its league this year.
The Phoenix lost all five starters and 11 of 15 letterwinners from last year's club, and must replace 80 percent of its scoring, in what will assuredly be a major challenge for first-year head coach Kevin Blum and his staff.
Senior guard Carli Codner-Pinto is CU's top returning player, having played in all 32 games last season with 11 starts, and produced per-game averages of 16.5 minutes, 4.5 points, 1.5 assists, 1.2 rebounds. Her 48 total assists tied for second on the team.
Forward Katherine Griffith and guard Kerrice Watson also saw action in almost every game last year, and averaged 3.6 and 3.5 points per game, respectively. Watson was fourth among the Phoenix in steals with 24 a season ago, while Griffith was sixth in rebounds with 75
Following its matchup with Cumberland, Tech will take on Xavier in Cincinnati on Sunday, Nov. 11, and will not return to the Hoop until its Nov. 16 meeting with familiar foe Middle Tennessee.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
