By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Thursday's loss at Morehead State bothered the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team. When Saturday came around and Southeast Missouri coming into town, the Golden Eagles were determined to do better.
Junior Anna Walker came out in force, nearly collecting a double-double in the first quarter alone, then solid performances from Maaliya Owens, Reghan Grimes, Jada Guinn and the rest of the Tech lineup helped stave off any late comeback bids by the Redhawks on Saturday as the Golden Eagles claimed a 71-65 victory in the Eblen Center in the team's annual Play4Kay game.
A late six-point run in the fourth quarter – Tech's largest run of the game – was enough to seal the deal. A Flowers layup with 3:35 remaining knotted the game at 60, but the Golden Eagles retook the lead as Grimes took the offensive board off a missed trey from Jordan Brock and scooped it back into the bucket.
Reagan Hurst hit the front end of a pair of free throws to extend the Tech lead back out to 63-60, but Rahmena Henderson sliced the advantage as she hit the second of two charity tosses. Guinn answered with a layup on the other end with 2:10 left in the game.
Jaliyah Green drew a foul from Hurst and knocked down both free throws to cut it back to a 65-63 lead. SEMO, however, did not score again until a buzzer-beating layup from Flowers. In that final 60 seconds, Grimes and Guinn each went 3-for-4 at the line to build that 6-0 run and lock up the victory.
Walker finished the day with 16 points and 12 rebounds after collecting nine each in the first eight minutes of the game. She was 7-of-15 from the floor with two long-range connections as Walker also collected an assist and a steal in the contest.
Owens led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, shooting 6-for-14 with four 3-pointers. She also had four rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks. Guinn continued her efficient shooting streak with a 4-for-7 effort and 11 points as she was also 3-for-4 at the line with one board, five assists, two steals and a block. She has shot over .500 from the field in six of the last seven games and in 14 of the team's 22 games this year.
Southeast Missouri (9-14, 4-8 OVC) had one double-digit scorer in the contest as Henderson picked up 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting with two 3-pointers to go along with five rebounds. Kiyley Flowers had nine and Halle Smith and Alecia Doyle each had eight points, while leading scorer Kennedi Watkins had six.
Tech improved on Thursday's outing as the Golden Eagles dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Redhawks 41-34 with Walker and Grimes – with 10 rebounds herself – able to collect double-digit caroms. Walker had nine offensive boards and Grimes picked up five on the scoring end.
The first quarter was a narrow affair as the Golden Eagles took a 18-14 edge late as the Redhawks went nearly 5:20 seconds with out a field goal, shooting 1-for-10 to close out the stanza. SEMO, however, countered with an 8-0 run in the second quarter as the Redhawks outscored Tech 17-14 with the Golden Eagles taking a 32-31 lead into the intermission.
Both teams scored 19 points in the third quarter, even as the Golden Eagles went 1-for-11 on field goals before the media timeout. As the edge at the quarter remained the same, Tech outscored the Redhawks 20-15 in the fourth for the win.
Tech ended the game shooting 35.8 percent from the field – 24-of-67 – including a 46.2 percent mark down the stretch in the fourth. SEMO shot 45.1 percent for the game, hitting 25 of 31 shots, and was hitting over 50 percent in the third and fourth quarters.
The Golden Eagles were 8-for-23 from 3-point range to SEMO's 3-for-8, while Tech hit 15-of-22 free throws, SEMO 16-of-17.
Tech returns to action on Thursday as it hosts Southern Indiana for the first time. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start, pushed up earlier with ESPNU's selection of the men's game to the national schedule.
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 | Jim Dillon
