By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team will try to get some momentum building on Thursday as the Golden Eagles head up to Morehead State for a Thursday night battle.
Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. Central time. Rob Schabert will have the call on 106.1 The Eagle, while the game will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).
After a tough battle with Little Rock on Saturday, the Golden Eagles look to get back on the winning side of things with under a month to go in the regular season. Tech (13-7, 7-3 Ohio Valley Conference) stands in third as February play begins, three games behind conference leader Eastern Illinois, who is still undefeated in league play at 10-0. Little Rock, whose only loss is to the Panthers, stands at 9-1.
From there, it's a little bit of separation as the Golden Eagles have a two-game cushion on UT Martin and SIUE, both at 5-5, while Southeast Missouri and Morehead State are at 4-6 in the league. Southern Indiana, who Tech has still yet to play, as well as Tennessee State stand at 3-7 in the conference. Lindenwood is still looking for its first OVC win of the season.
The last time the Golden Eagles squared off with Morehead State back on January 12 in the Eblen Center, Tech rolled off the first 12 points of the contest and never looked back as the Golden Eagles soared to a 21-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter, holding the visiting Eagles to just 20 points in the first half.
Tech dominated the glass – especially on the offensive end with a lopsided 15-2 effort – and forced Morehead into 17 turnovers in the contest. MSU leading scorer Veronica Charles had 14 points, while Melissa Secchiaroli had 10 points.
For Tech, Maaliya Owens scored a career-high 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting as she drained six 3-pointers, while Kiera Hill was also in double figures with 10 points. Jada Guinn had seven rebounds, seven points and six assists, while Reghan Grimes had nine rebounds to go along with her six points.
In conference play, Morehead State is averaging 63.1 points, while allowing 67.3, The Eagles are shooting .419 from the field, including .317 from 3-point range with an average of seven treys a game. MSU is also shooting .593 from the free-throw line.
Charles leads the team in scoring in OVC play as well, averaging 11.5 points, while Sophie Benharouga is averaging 9.9 points. Both players are averaging 4.6 rebounds to lead the team as well. Sandra Lin is averaging 6.0 assists per game, while Charles is averaging 2.7 steals.
Morehead State has won two of its last three OVC games with wins at Lindenwood and over SIUE sandwiching a 58-45 loss to Little Rock. The Eagles lost four games before those three contests.
The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, have won five of their last seven – both losses to Little Rock.
Owens leads the team in scoring in OVC play with 14.2 points a game, followed closely by Guinn at 13.0. Guinn is also shooting .641 from the floor in league play, while even with Grimes for the rebounding mark at 5.9.
Tech is shooting .441 from the field, .295 from 3-point range and .773 from the free-throw line. The Golden Eagles average 5.2 3-pointers and 13.3 free throws.
The Golden Eagles will then return home Saturday for their Saturday contest against Southeast Missouri at the Eblen Center. The Play4Kay contest is set for 1 p.m.
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.
