By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Without a doubt, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team is starting to heat up at the right time. With a 77-66 victory over Western Illinois, one of the Ohio Valley Conference's top offensive units and none-too-shabby on defense either, the Golden Eagles pulled together a tremendous team effort to collect their fourth win in a row – the longest current streak in the conference.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles technically sit in fifth just by percentage points, having played one more game than the four teams sitting in front of them, but they have the same number of wins – eight – as Morehead State, Eastern Illinois and Little Rock sit deadlocked in a three-way tie for second.
Tech (13-12, 8-6 OVC) is idle Saturday and will return to action next Thursday in the Eblen Center as it hosts SIUE and Eastern Illinois.
Make no mistake – while the Golden Eagles were able to build a couple double-digit leads, Thursday's game was a battle with eight ties and seven lead changes. Even though Tech led for over 27 minutes of the 40-minute narrative, Western Illinois hung with the Golden Eagles.
It was in the fourth quarter that the momentum shifted. From there, the Golden Eagles were able to build as much as a 13-point lead. A lot of that came at the free-throw line as Tech drew eight fouls and earned 14 shots at the stripe, knocking down 12.
Credit goes to Peyton Carter there. As she drew seven fouls in the contest, she went 7-for-8 at the stripe, including 5-for-6 down the stretch. Then, with 38 seconds remaining in the game, Carter drained a dagger, sinking a 3-pointer to make it a 77-64 lead – the only field goal Tech hit in the final 4:50 of the game – and outscoring the Leathernecks 23-15 in the final quarter.
Entering the final period, the Golden Eagles led 54-51.
Carter's stat line was pure hustle – tying Kiera Hill for the team-high of 16 points, then collecting eight boards, five assists and five steals. All three of her field goals in the game were clutch 3-pointers. Hill went 6-for-11 from the floor with a 4-for-5 effort at the stripe, pulling down five caroms with an assist and a steal.
Anna Walker had 14 points as she shot 50 percent for the game with three boards, an assist, two steals and two blocks. Reghan Grimes almost had a double-double, adding in 10 points on 3-for-5 field-goal shooting and 4-for-6 at the line and grabbing nine rebounds.
For the Leathernecks (16-8, 7-6 OVC), Raegan McCowan ended the game with 18 points, shooting 5-for-16 from the field and 8-for-10 at the stripe. Mallory McDermott had 16 points, including four 3-pointers as she commanded WIU's 10-point run midway through the third quarter with back-to-back treys followed by a jumper to give the Leathernecks a 48-47 lead with 1:47 remaining in the quarter.
Tech ended the quarter 3-for-3 on field goals with a Hill jumper, Walker going on the fast-break off a turnover for a layup, then a Carter 3 to retake the lead.
Addi Brownfield and Anna Deets also added 10 points for WIU.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale for the final two home games of the campaign. Call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Jim Dillon
