By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The non-conference slate is in the books. Now it's time for the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team to focus on the main task – winning the Ohio Valley Conference.
The league slate starts in Edwardsville on Thursday night as the 6-4 Golden Eagles take on 1-10 SIUE.
The Golden Eagles were picked to win the OVC during the preseason Media Day back in October.
Tipoff for Thursday's game is slated for 5 p.m. Roger Ealey will have the call on 106.1 The Eagle, while Randy Moehlman will have the broadcast on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Tech wrapped up the non-conference slate last week against Tulane in the Green Wave's holiday tournament. The Golden Eagles advanced to the championship game after their game against VCU was cancelled after the Rams had to pull out of the four-team event. Tech battled hard but the Green Wave used a third-quarter surge to pull away and break the Golden Eagles' three-game winning streak.
The Golden Eagles' only road win of the season so far has come at ULM back on December 17, but the road contests have included a hearty slate of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Tulane.
SIUE opened the season with eight straight losses but don't be fooled by the results. The Cougars have seen action against Saint Louis, Eastern Michigan, Purdue, Memphis, Xavier, Iowa State, Louisville, Liberty and Washington. SIUE's lone win was a thrilling comeback to top Northern Illinois 62-60 on Dec. 17.
In that game, SIUE recovered from a 15-point deficit, powered by Molly Sheehan's career-best 18 points, then KK Rodriguez hit the go-ahead layup with four seconds remaining to give the Cougars the victory over the host out of the Mid-American Conference.
Since then, the Cougars dropped an 80-78 neutral-site contest to Liberty, then a 71-40 decision to Washington.
SIUE is averaging 54.9 points a game while allowing 84.1 – a number certainly inflated by the schedule its faced so far. The Cougars are shooting .330 from the floor, .272 from 3-point range and .718 at the free-throw line. They are averaging 5.7 3-pointers, while allowing 5.8, then hitting an average of 11 free-throws, allowing 15.4. SIUE is also averaging 33.1 rebounds per game to its opponents' 42.2.
The competition has also forced the Cougars into a 22.3 average in turnovers, while SIUE is creating an average of 15.7 takeaways a game.
Niya Danfort is the Cougars' leading scorer, averaging 11.3 points, but she's only seen action in three total games – not playing since Nov. 17 at Purdue. From there, the scoring numbers drop with Sofie Lowis leading the way with 8.9 points, Sheehan 8.5 and Ajulu Thatha 8.3.
Thatha leads the team in rebounds with a 5.9 average and has the most steals and blocks on the team with 17 and seven respectively.
Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles are led in scoring by Maaliya Owens with 12.4 points a game, while Anna Walker is also scoring at a double-digit clip with an even 10-point average. The freshman combo of Reagan Hurst and Reghan Grimes are averaging 8.7 and 8.2 points respectively.
Grimes currently stands as the team's top rebounder, claiming 6.0 boards a game, while Walker is averaging 4.8 caroms. Jada Guinn leads the Golden Eagles in assists (3.8 apg) and steals (1.4 spg).
As a team, the Golden Eagles are averaging 66.2 points a game, while allowing 66.1. Tech is shooting .408 from the field, .322 from beyond the arc and .740 at the stripe. On average, the Golden Eagles are hitting 6.5 3-pointers and allowing 4.5, while Tech is knocking down 12.5 free-throws to its opponents' 14.8. Tech is also averaging 33.9 rebounds to 36.7.
The Golden Eagles are one victory away from a program milestone as they are looking for their 1,000th win, which would make them the 21st Division I women's basketball program to surpass the millennium mark. Rutgers is the next closest at 998. Head coach Kim Rosamond is also two wins away from reaching a personal milestone as she presently has 98 career victories.
Tech closes out the first weekend of OVC action on Saturday as the Golden Eagles head to Lindenwood (1-10). The Golden Eagles return home next Thursday to take on Eastern Illinois.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale. Call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or visit TTUsports.com to order.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
