GAME NOTES: Game 22 -- vs. Austin Peay (PDF)
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With two games remaining in Tennessee Tech's regular season, a trip to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Evansville, Ind., is locked up. The question now is where the Golden Eagle women will finish in the standings.
Tech entertains Austin Peay on Thursday night at 5 p.m. in the Hooper Eblen Center. Roger Ealey will provide the call on 106.1 The Eagle, while Dylan Vazzano and Michael Cooper will broadcast the game on ESPN+ (subscription required).
As the final two games loom on the horizon though, the Golden Eagles have to look past two tough outings against Belmont and focus once more on what's ahead. Following Tuesday's loss to the Bruins, the Tech women (13-8 overall, 11-7 OVC -- .611) slipped into sixth in the league standings as Jacksonville State (14-7 overall, 11-6 OVC -- .647) and Austin Peay (12-8, 10-6 OVC -- .625) moved ahead. Tech's opponent Saturday, Murray State (13-10, 10-8 OVC -- .556) is nipping at the heels, while Eastern Illinois (10-13, 8-10 OVC -- .444) holds on to the final spot at present, with Eastern Kentucky (8-14, 7-11 OVC -- .389) making a push, the latter two unable to catch Tech in the standings.
Austin Peay has split its last six games and is 5-3 since last playing the Golden Eagles. The Govs took a 65-49 victory on Monday night at Eastern Kentucky as D'Shara Booker led the way with 21 points and nine rebounds. APSU is 6-3 on the road this season, 4-2 in the conference games among those.
Tech won the previous meeting 66-61 on January 21 in Clarksville. The Golden Eagles outscored the Govs 20-10 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory, working the paint to collect 36 points. Jordan Brock and Anna Jones led the way with 15 points each, while Maggie Knowles led APSU with 13 points.
The series is heavily in Tech's favor, collecting an 80-22 record all-time against Austin Peay as the Golden Eagles dominated into the early 2000's. APSU's longest winning streak came with five games between March 2002 and February 2004 after only winning six of the first 69 meetings. Since then it's been fairly even. Tech has won the last three contests and four of the last six.
For Austin Peay, Knowles leads the team with a 9.9-point average, while Brianah Ferby is averaging 9.8 points. Booker is close behind with an 8.8-point clip, while also leading the team in rebounding with 6.0 caroms a game.
The Governors are averaging 65.9 points a game, while allowing 60.9. The team is shooting .391 from the field, .300 from 3-point range and .680 from the free-throw line, while averaging 36.9 rebounds a game.
Tech, meanwhile, tout four players averaging in double-figure points, led by Kesha Brady with 12.3, followed by Jones (11.0), Brock (10.7) and Mackenzie Coleman (10.6). Jones and Jada Guinn lead the team in rebounds with identical 6.1-board marks. The Golden Eagles are averaging 67.4 points per game and allowing 61.8, while shooting .426 from the field, .326 from 3-point range and .749 from the charity stripe. Tech is also averaging 35.2 rebounds.
The last two games have been tough for the Golden Eagles. Despite winning six of the last 10 games, the two defeats to Belmont loom large. While a lot of the factors come down to the matchup, Tech saw its shooting percentage fall to 58.5 points in the two games against the Bruins, while allowing 75.0. The Golden Eagles maintained a lead on the boards 30.0 to 28.0, but shot .394 from the floor, .277 from 3 and .710 at the line, with Belmont shooting .541, .378 from 3 and .882 at the line.
The bright side is the Golden Eagles won games against these final two opponents on the road, and giving it another go in front of a friendly crowd, wins should help boost momentum heading into the conference tournament.
