By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the first and third quarters, Tennessee Tech and Belmont were evenly matched point for point. It was the second and fourth quarters, however, that made things a bit tricky on Tuesday night.
The Golden Eagles were held to single digits in the even quarters and Belmont took advantage, taking a 77-56 victory in the Eblen Center.
"It was a tough night," said Tech head coach Kim Rosamond. "I know our kids are disappointed, we're disappointed. The credit goes to Belmont – they did a lot of things well tonight. Offensively these last two games, we've really struggled and that's a credit to them. We've got to find some answers for Thursday night. We've got to learn from it and be ready to finish this thing out strong."
Tech fell to 13-8 on the year, 11-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play, with just two regular-season contests remaining with the Golden Eagles hosting Austin Peay on Thursday and Murray State on Saturday. The loss dropped Tech into the six-spot in the current standings, falling behind the Governors (10-6) by percentage points and a game up on the Racers (10-8).
The trio of Kesha Brady, Anna Jones and Mackenzie Coleman scored in double digits to lead Tech as Brady collected 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting and a 6-for-9 night at the free-throw line. Jones had 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 4-for-4 at the stripe and Coleman was 4-for-8 and 2-for-2 at the line for 10 points.
The Golden Eagles were 0-for-9 from beyond the arc to begin the game and finished 4-for-23 from long range. The credit went to Belmont however as the Bruins' defense created some hurried looks and difficult to make shots.
Still Tech kept it close in the first quarter and took a 16-13 lead to close out the first 10 minutes as Brady knocked down a 3-pointer in the final seconds. However, Belmont surged in the second quarter, shooting 42.9 percent from the floor, while Tech was only able to get two field goals to fall, hitting at a 16.7-percent rate. Three of Tech's seven points came at the charity stripe and Belmont led 33-23 at the half.
Jones gave Tech a spark in the third quarter and the Golden Eagles were able to collect 24 points in the period. Tech hit eight of its 12 shots, was 3-for-4 from 3 and 5-for-5 at the line. Still, the Bruins collected one more point in the third, scoring 25 to extend their lead.
Tech went 4-for-13 in the fourth quarter, allowing Belmont to inflate its lead.
Conley Chinn led the Bruins with 22 points, while Destinee Wells added 19. Whitney Hay chipped in with 12 and Tuti Jones scored 10. Belmont handled the ball well, collecting 20 assists on 29 buckets.
The Golden Eagles' defense tried to slow down Belmont as Coleman blocked four shots and collected six rebounds. Jada Guinn led both sides with seven boards, while Megan Clark also pulled down six caroms.
Belmont was able to turn the tide though, creating 23 points off 15 Tech turnovers, and had 17 points off of eight offensive rebounds.
Photo | Matt Dexter, TTU Athletics
