By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Trailing by 10 with just over six minutes remaining in the contest, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team needed a run at just the right time.
After getting an 11-point streak in the first quarter, the Golden Eagles knew it was possible.
And Tech found it through some incredible play around the lineup as the Golden Eagles went on a 17-2 run to close out the game and take a 66-61 victory over Eastern Illinois on Friday in the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship semifinals at the Ford Center.
With Eastern Illinois, the No. 2-seed, celebrating each bucket it hit to take the lead and start to pull away in the third and fourth quarters, the yells fell silent as the Golden Eagles roared back. As the final buzzer sounded, it was Tennessee Tech celebrating as the Golden Eagles clinched its spot in the conference title game for the second-straight season.
Tech (21-9) will take on Little Rock in the OVC championship on Saturday at 2 p.m. Dylan Vazzano and Frank Harrell will broadcast the game on 106.1 The Eagle, while the game will be carried on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Anna Walker led the Golden Eagles with 22 points, while Maaliya Owens and Jada Guinn each scored eight points in the fourth quarter as Owens ended the game with 21 and Guinn 12. Reghan Grimes helped lead Tech on the glass with nine caroms as the Golden Eagles outrebounded the Panthers 33-28 with 15 offensive boards.
Macy McGlone led the Panthers (21-8) with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Lariah Washington had 20 points as EIU saw points from just five players in the contest. McGlone and Washington never left the court.
After Morgan Litwiller scored the first bucket of the contest off a turnover, the Golden Eagles went on an 11-0 run to take an 11-2 run with 7:01 remaining in the opening period. EIU scored nine straight points to knot the game up at the 4:52 mark, then Walker and Jordan Brock knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and Peyton Carter hit the front end of two free throws to put the Golden Eagles back up by seven. Tech ended the quarter up 20-14.
Eastern Illinois shot 53.3 percent from the field in the second quarter, tying the game at 20 on a Taris Thornton jumper. A Walker 3 gave Tech back the lead at 25-23 and the Golden Eagles were back up by four, but a six-point swing for the Panthers put EIU back up 31-29.
Tech knocked down three of four free throws in the last 10 seconds of the half with Walker hitting one and Cayla Cowart hitting the second two to give the Golden Eagles back the lead at the intermission up 32-21
The Golden Eagles built back a five-point lead, but EIU ended the quarter shooting 83.3 percent and knocking down 10 of 12 shots, outscoring Tech 20-14 in the period to take a 51-46 lead through three. Ten of those points came from McGlone, who went 5-for-5 from the field.
The Panthers started the fourth quarter on a tear, countering an Owens jumper with two Washington jumpers to go up by seven. Grimes sank a free throw, but Washington hit a second-chance layup to go up by eight. McGlone made a pair of free throws to make it a 10-point 59-49 EIU lead with 6:10 left in the game.
Then the comeback started. Owens drained a floating jump shot, then a second-chance bucket in the paint to cut it to six at 59-53. She drew a foul with 4:28 remaining and hit both charity tosses. After a Thornton offensive foul, Guinn pulled up for a jumper and saw it through off of a dish from Peyton Carter. Owens stole the ball from Litwiller with 3:31 left and Carter got the ball over to Walker, who made the jumper to tie the game at 59.
Washington hit a second-chance layup with 2:52 remaining to take the Panthers' last lead of the day. However, it was the only field goal EIU hit in the final 7:09 of the game.
Guinn made a jump shot to tie the game once more at 60. Washington's pass was intercepted by Brock in the Tech offensive zone and Guinn drew the foul. She hit both free throws at 1:53 to take a 63-61 lead.
The senior from Oak Ridge hit a layup with 26 seconds left, then Grimes hit the front end of two free throws with 16 ticks left to close the game on a 7-0 run.
The Panthers finished the game shooting 52.8 percent, but went 0-for-11 from 3-point range. EIU dominated inside, outscoring the Golden Eagles 44-24 in the paint.
Tech returns to the OVC title game for the second year in a row. This time, it will be against Little Rock, who the Golden Eagles went 0-2 against in the regular season. The Trojans won 61-45 at their home arena, but Tech fought Little Rock to a 66-63 loss – scoring the most points any OVC team scored against the Trojan defense. It was the fifth-most points scored against Little Rock outside of Arkansas (93), Oral Roberts (74), Auburn (70) and Alabama (69).
It is Tech's 24th appearance in the OVC championship game with the Golden Eagles holding a 9-14 record in the finale.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
