By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As the buzzer sounded at Assembly Hall sounding the end of the contest, there were tears.
Of course there would be – the tremendous journey the Tennessee Tech women's basketball went on was an arduous one with a lot to celebrate. The Golden Eagles accomplished a lot – the program's 10th Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship, its 11th NCAA tournament appearance, its fourth NCAA tournament victory.
But with the bonds the team built, the sisterhood they formed, the tears were earnest and deserved.
So as top-seeded Indiana walked off the court with a 77-47 victory over the 16th seeded Golden Eagles, the time to mourn the end of the season was short. After all, Tech women's basketball still has a lot to celebrate.
"I am unbelievably proud of our team, our student-athlete and what they have been able to accomplish this season," said Tech head coach Kim Rosamond. I"t was a record-breaking season for us. We have been so close over the last five years and we just kept hitting our head on the glass ceiling. These two young women sitting with me (Jada Guinn and Maaliya Owens) and the group of young women in that locker room busted through that ceiling. We don't plan on going back. I'm just thankful for them and what they've done for Tennessee Tech women's basketball and our university. It's been an unbelievable ride.
"I'm disappointed that we weren't able to have a different outcome today, but that takes nothing away from what this group of young women have been able to accomplish."
While the final score reached a 30-point margin, it really wasn't indicative of the effort the Golden Eagles (23-10) put into the contest. Tech fought to the bitter end, the Golden Eagles kept pushing as hard as they could to try to find success against the No. 3-ranked team in the country and a favorite to reach the NCAA Women's Final Four in Dallas.
Tech certainly came out with a solid game plan following assistant coach Allison Clark's scout. Just like in the Golden Eagles' First Four victory over Monmouth, Peyton Carter knocked down a 3-pointer on Tech's first possession to try to set the pace.
But Indiana wasn't fazed. After a five-point stretch for the Hoosiers, both teams seemed to match each other shot for shot for a while. Tech shot 36.9-percent from the field, but was 4-for-7 from 3-point range in the first quarter. The two teams ended the opening period all square at 18.
The last time the game stayed tied was at 22-22 with 6:23 remaining in the first half. From there, the Big Ten regular-season champions went on a 17-0 run leading to a 21-9 second quarter for Indiana to take a 39-27 halftime lead. Tech shot 28.6 percent from the field in the quarter, including 1-for-6 from downtown.
The Hoosiers held Tech to 20 points in the second half, outscoring the Golden Eagles 17-12 in the third before closing the door with a 21-8 showing in the fourth quarter as Jada Guinn scored six of Tech's eight points. The Golden Eagles shot 4-of-17 from the field in the final stretch.
Indiana finished the game with three double-digit scorers, led by Sydney Parrish with 19 on 7-of-14 shooting, Grace Berger had 17 points and 12 from Yarden Garzon. The Hoosiers were without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Mackenzie Holmes, who averaged 22.3 points and 7.3 boards. Holmes was banged up during the Big 10 tournament and was announced as scratched from the contest just before tipoff.
Parrish led Indiana (28-3) in rebounding with eight boards. The Hoosiers had 11 blocks in the contest, including three each for Lilly Meister and Berger.
Tech saw double-digit scoring from just Maaliya Owens, who collected 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting. Guinn finished with eight points, while Reghan Grimes and Kiera Hill each had six points.
So what's next? With the OVC tournament crown and an NCAA tournament victory, the natural step is forward.
"Everything is a process, right?" posed Rosamond. "We've been in a process for the last seven years to get here. I said it the other day. We have not skipped a step. Some people jumped off the bus because it maybe took a little longer than what they wanted it to take, but our kids have stayed in it. We've had some people right there with us that kept believing in us. But that's the next step. We had to get here first. I think we've represented Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Tech women's basketball pretty dang well."
Even though Saturday wasn't the result Tech hoped, there is promise there for what's to come.
"Today you saw what we can do in that first quarter," Rosamond said. "The second quarter we just dug ourselves such a deep hole. It was all in transition defense really in that second quarter is where we let them get going. But the next step is now we've got to build on this. Now we have to take it to where during the regular season we handle our business and make sure moving forward scheduling-wise there are some things we can do now that we've been to this point, so we do get out of that 16-seed and not having to play a No. 1-seed on their home floor.
"Everything is a process. We will keep believing and trusting in our process, and I think this team has set us up for continued success in the future."
