By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Two weeks remain in the regular season and the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team will close out the home portion of the campaign on Thursday against Lindenwood and Saturday against UT Martin.
Tipoff on Thursday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Roger Ealey and Frank Harrell will have the broadcast on 106.1 The Eagle, while Dylan Vazzano and Michael Cooper will call the action on ESPN+ (subscription required).
The Golden Eagles (15-9, 9-5 Ohio Valley Conference) have almost locked up at least the third or fourth seed in the conference tournament in Evansville, standing two games ahead of fourth-place SIUE (7-7) and three games over Southeast Missouri (6-8) and UT Martin (6-8) and four games back of first-place Eastern Illinois and Little Rock (both 13-1).
Tech is already four games ahead of Southern Indiana, Tennessee State and Morehead State (all three at 5-9). Lindenwood currently stands in last place with a 1-13 mark in the league.
The Lions may only have one conference victory, but it was a big one as LU defeated UT Martin 84-75 at Hyland Arena. Masyn McWilliams led Lindenwood with 25 points, while Mary McGrath pulled down 10 rebounds to complete a double-double with 16 points. The Lions had five players score in double figures as they shot 61.7 percent for the game, knocking down 14 3-pointers. Lindenwood also outrebounded the Skyhawks 35-28.
UTM had 17 steals in the game and the Lions 26 turnovers, but the Skyhawks only collected 14 points off turnovers.
Since then though, Lindenwood dropped a 16-point decision to SIUE and a 23-point loss at Southern Indiana to fall to 2-20 on the overall season.
As a team, the Lions are scoring an average of 56.8 points and allowing 71.3 a game, while shooting .403 from the field, .306 from long-range and .659 from the free-throw line. Lindenwood is averaging 29.4 rebounds, 7.1 steals, 1.9 blocks and 19.9 turnovers.
McGrath leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds respectively, while Devin Fuhring (10.9 ppg) and Emily Benzschawel (10.0 ppg) are both averaging double-digit scoring.
Tech won the first meeting between the two teams 72-35 back on Dec. 31 as Reagan Hurst led all scorers with 12 points, with Anna Walker and Jada Guinn scoring 11 and Maaliya Owens chipping in a dime. Peyton Carter had a team-best seven rebounds, while Hurst also had five steals. The Golden Eagles scored 42 points in the paint and converted 27 Lindenwood turnovers into 28 points.
For the season, Owens leads Tech in scoring with a 14.2-point average and stands 10 3-pointers away from tying Dana Bilyeu's senior record for 3-pointers made in a season. Bilyeu hit 74 in the 1992-93 campaign and Owens has knocked down 64 long-rangers this year. Guinn is also averaging 9.9 points a game, while Reghan Grimes is averaging 9.0.
As a team, Tech is averaging 69.0 points a game and allowing 64.4. while shooting .424 from the floor, .326 from 3-point range and .761 at the free-throw line.
Tickets for Thursday's game are available by calling (931) 372-3940, visiting the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or by visiting TTUsports.com.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
