By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – If there's one positive in playing the same opponent in consecutive games, you already know who you're facing. You know what worked and what didn't. It doesn't make anything easier, but you know what to expect.
That's the case Tuesday night as the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team faces Belmont at the Hooper Eblen Center to open the final week of the regular season. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Roger Ealey will handle the radio duties on 106.1 The Eagle, while Dylan Vazzano and Michael Cooper will tackle the broadcast on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Saturday did not go Tennessee Tech's way in Nashville, outside of a 30-point outburst for senior Jordan Brock. The Golden Eagles gave Belmont a fight, but things slipped away in the second half. Tech still won the battle on the boards, only had two more turnovers than the Bruins and got to the free-throw line more.
But the offense went cold in the third quarter, giving Belmont time to pull away. Tech was 3-for-15 from the floor in what turned out to be a crucial momentum shift in the contest.
The Bruins had 26 points from freshman Destinee Wells and 23 from Conley Chinn to lead the way.
But Saturday is done and gone. The teams are back to work and preparing for Tuesday's showdown.
More importantly, the game is a crucial one in the Ohio Valley Conference standings as the teams enter the final week of play. With the Bruins unable to complete the entire league slate, currently with 14 completed conference games of the 18 scheduled dates so far, the tournament field in Evansville, Ind., will go to the traditional 1-vs.-8 format instead of the merit-based bracket that was originally planned for this season.
With that, UT Martin (15-2 OVC, .882) continues its grasp on the OVC lead by just under a tenth of a percentage point over Belmont (11-3 OVC, .786). Southeast Missouri snuck back ahead in the standings at 12-6 (.667), while the Golden Eagles (11-6, .647), Jacksonville State (10-6, .625), Austin Peay (9-6, .600) and Murray State (10-8, .556) are bunched up for the next spots. Eastern Illinois (8-10, .444) and Eastern Kentucky (7-10, .412) are still battling for the last spot.
Belmont's numbers haven't changed much. Wells leads the team in scoring with 16.2 points per game, while Chinn (12.6) and Tuti Jones (10.3) are averaging in double figures. Allison Luly leads the team in rebounds with 4.7 boards a game, while Chinn (4.6), Maddie Cook (4.2) and Jones (4.1) are averaging over four rebounds each.
As a team, the Bruins are allowing 58.4 points a game, while scoring 69.1. Opponents have a 36.6 to 34.7 rebounding edge, and Belmont is shooting .433 from the field, .347 from3 and .676 at the free-throw line.
Tech has four players averaging double digits in scoring, led by Kesha Brady at 12.0, followed by Jordan Brock (11.1), Anna Jones (10.8) and Mackenzie Coleman (10.6), while Jada Guinn is close behind at 9.1. Jones leads the team in rebounding with a 6.3-carom average, closely followed by Coleman (6.1) and Guinn (6.1).
Tech is outscoring opponents 68.0 to 61.1, outrebounding foes 35.4 to 31.3 and is shooting .429 from the floor, .333 from 3 and .752 from the line.
