By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information / OVC Media Relations
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Hot on the heels of its 10th Ohio Valley Conference tournament title, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team is taking home another piece of hardware from the conference on Monday as the Golden Eagles were announced as the winners of the Team Sportsmanship Award for women's basketball.
It is the third OVC Team Sportsmanship Award for Tennessee Tech in this academic year as football and women's cross country both received honors. This is also the third time the Golden Eagle women's basketball program has won the award with 2017-18 and 2019-20 standing as the previous recipient.
"We are proud of the first-class manner in which our players conduct themselves on and off the court," said Tech head coach Kim Rosamond. "This is a reflection of how they handle themselves in all areas of their lives. We appreciate the members of the Ohio Valley Conference recognizing our team for such a prestigious award."
The OVC's Team Sportsmanship Awards are voted on by the league's student-athletes and coaches in their respective sports and look to recognize the conference programs deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff, administrators and fans.
"Without sportsmanship, there are truly no meaningful victories," said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. "The recipients of the OVC Team Sportsmanship awards should accept this award with great pride for their fellow competitors have made it clear their teams exemplify the best in intercollegiate athletics. In receiving this prestigious honor other competitors are saying these student-athletes compete with class, respect their opponents and value fair play. That is quite a compliment as those are all traits that will lead to true victories throughout the course of life."
The awards were first bestowed during the 2005-06 academic year.
Tech has three of the 10 awards announced so far this year with nine more to be awarded after the completion of spring competition. The Golden Eagles have won 27 OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards with women's golf claiming seven, football six and women's basketball three.
The Tech women's basketball team finished 13-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play to take the No. 3-seed in the conference tournament earlier this March. The Golden Eagles defeated SIUE 76-62 in the quarterfinal, No. 2-seeded Eastern Illinois 66-61 in the semifinal and regular-season champion Little Rock 54-46 in the championship game, earning the program's 10th OVC tournament title.
Maaliya Owens was named first-team All-OVC, while Jada Guinn was named second-team. Guinn was the tournament MVP, with Kiera Hill, Owens and Anna Walker also earning all-tournament team nods.
Tech defeated Monmouth in the NCAA First Four matchup to give the Golden Eagles their conference-best fourth NCAA tournament victory, then saw their season come to a close against No. 1-seed Indiana at Assembly Hall.
The Golden Eagles ended the campaign with a 23-10 record.
Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator. Five years later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a first-of-its-kind "Sportsmanship Statement," a policy promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics, and has become a model for others to follow across the nation.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
