By Jonathan Caudle, TTU Sports Information
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Tennessee Tech women's basketball stifled a Western Carolina second-half rally to secure a 62-58 win on Tuesday evening at the Ramsey Center, closing out its seven-game road stretch.
"Sometimes you just have to go on the road and find a way to win," expressed head coach Kim Rosamond. "The only thing pretty was the W at the end of this, but anytime you can go on the road, overcome a bad shooting night, and fight through adversity, you grow as a basketball team. We had a lot of people step up tonight and refuse to lose, which started with Kesha Brady, who made huge plays on the offensive end down the stretch."
Junior Kesha Brady led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, narrowly missing a double-double with nine rebounds, and adding an assist and a steal. Junior Mackenzie Coleman joined Brady in double-digits with 17 points, seven boards, two steals, and an assist. The freshmen duo of Jada Guinn and Maaliya Owens were also major factors for Tech. Guinn tied for a team-high nine rebounds, while Owens knocked down multiple clutch 3-pointers as she finished with nine points, and added two rebounds, two steals, and an assist in the win.
"I thought Kenzie gave us some solid minutes and was very efficient," said Rosamond. "I'm also really proud of how Jada and Maaliya stepped up in crunch moments for us. There are a lot of positives we can take from tonight, even though we didn't play at our best. This game could have slipped away from us with the way the second half went, but credit our players for finding a way."
The Golden Eagles were missing a key piece of depth for their inside game against Western Carolina. Tech's junior Taylor Lamb missed her third-straight game dealing with a back injury that dates back to the Golden Eagles matchup against Detroit Mercy during the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.
The Golden Eagles secured the opening tip, but it was the Catamounts that got on the scoreboard first to take the early lead, 3-0. The Golden Eagles responded with four unanswered to take their first lead of the contest, 4-3. Western Carolina netted a pair of layups in the paint to retake the 7-4 lead, but the Golden Eagles would hold the Catamounts to only three points from the 7:40-minute mark to the end of the period on a 10-3 run to close out the opening frame with a four-point advantage, 14-10.
Tech broke things away in the second period. Over the first five minutes of play, the Golden Eagles produced a 7-0 run to extend their lead to double-digits, 21-10. Tech maintained their 11-point advantage before a pair of buckets from Coleman gave Tech its largest lead of the contest at 29-14 with 1:53 to play in the second. Western Carolina knocked down a three to cut the lead to 12, but an Abby Buckner layup would close out the half and send Tech into the locker room ahead 31-17.
The second half was a different story, however, as the Catamounts set their sights on a comeback. Tech maintained a 13-point lead, 35-22, through the first media timeout of the second half. Over the following six minutes of clock, Western Carolina started to inch back into the game as they held Tech to only two field goals over their nine attempts to even up the contest at 39 apiece with 1:26 to play. Tech broke their dry spell during the final minute from a Brady layup and a huge 3-pointer from Owens to bring its lead back out to five after a 5-0 run to close out the third.
Brady opened the final quarter with a 3-point jumper to push Tech's lead to eight, 47-39. Western Carolina responded on a 10-2 to even up the contest at 49 with 5:29 to play. But the Golden Eagles locked in over the final five minutes of play, outscoring the Catamounts 13-9 to seal the 62-58 road victory.
"We are looking forward to sleeping in our own beds for a few nights and stepping back onto our home floor for the first time since Nov. 12," said Rosamond. "We have a tough opponent in Lipscomb on Saturday, and we need a great home crowd to help us finish strong going into the holiday."
Up Next
The Golden Eagles return to the Hooper Eblen Center for their first home contest in over a month as Tech hosts Lipscomb for an afternoon clash on Dec. 21. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. CT.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
