By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Thanksgiving holiday is out of the way and the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team is ready to get back in action as they load up to go to Murphy Center to take on long-time rival Middle Tennessee.
Thursday's game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. tip as the Blue Raiders host their annual Education Day contest. Dylan Vazzano will have the broadcast locally on 106.1 The Eagle, while the game will also be carried over ESPN+ (subscription required).
It will be the first contest for the Tech women since Nov. 20 – 11 days – and is the only game for the Golden Eagles until Dec. 10 – another nine-day gap with finals week in progress next week – as Tech hosts Alabama A&M the day after Winter Commencement at the Hooper Eblen Center.
The Golden Eagles (3-2) used that time to put their last outing in the rearview mirror. After an 0-for-11 start against Northern Kentucky as the home Norse raced out to a 19-0 lead before Tech hit its first bucket of the game. The Norse won the game 75-53.
Reghan Grimes had a breakout game, posting new highs in scoring (14) and rebounds (eight) in her freshman campaign, while Anna Walker added 11 points and seven boards and Jada Guinn scored 10 points and pulled down seven caroms to pace the Golden Eagles.
Tech entered the week ranked No. 25 in the first in-season CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll as it was released this week.
Middle Tennessee comes into Thursday's matinee with an identical 3-2 record. The Blue Raiders split their action at last week's Las Vegas Invitational, dropping a 72-67 decision to Texas Tech before rebounding with a 79-54 win over Missouri State. Middle Tennessee also has double-digit wins over Southern Illinois (90-38) and Belmont (80-62) to its credit after falling to Mercer 76-75 in the season opener.
The Blue Raiders can score, averaging 78.2 points a night thus far, while shooting .434 from the floor and .328 from long-range with an average of eight 3-pointers. Four MTSU players are averaging double-digit scoring, led by Savannah Wheeler (17.2 ppg). Kseniya Malashka (14.4 ppg), Macon County product Jalynn Gregory (11.8 ppg) and Courtney Whitson (10.4 ppg and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game) are also averaging double-digits in the point column.
Middle Tennessee has also hit the international market when it comes to players, welcoming aboard Anastasiia Boldyreva (Russia), Malashka (Belarus), Anabel Latorre Ciria (Spain) and Jada Grannum (Canada) to the lineup.
Tech will also square off with legendary head coach Rick Insell for the 17th time. Insell is 15-1 against the Golden Eagles since he took over at MTSU in 2005-06, but the Tech win came under the direction of Kim Rosamond in the 2018-19 campaign as the Golden Eagles won 68-64 in the Eblen Center. Tech continues to hold a 55-46 record in the all-time series against the Blue Raiders.
MTSU won last year's battle in Cookeville 65-47 as the Golden Eagles had a tough night shooting with a 27.1-percent clip –including 2-for-15 in the second quarter. Jada Guinn led Tech with 11 points, while Maaliya Owens and Mackenzie Coleman each had nine points. Gregory led the Blue Raiders with 15 points, while Whitson had 10.
Owens lead the Golden Eagles in scoring this season with 11.6 points per game, while Walker is averaging 11.2. Walker and Grimes share the team-lead in rebounds with a 5.4 average, while Guinn leads the team in assists with a 3.2 per-game average.
Tech is shooting .381 from the floor, .341 from long-range and .760 from the charity stripe.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or visit TTUsports.com to order.
Photo | Emily Armstrong
