By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A run in the third quarter and a big defensive effort helped the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team pick up a big win Sunday night as the Golden Eagles defeated North Alabama 73-64 in the Hooper Eblen Center.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign. Tech will get to try to match that season's 4-0 start on Thursday as the Golden Eagles host Jackson State.
Defensively, Tech collected 12 blocks, one short of tying the single-game record of 13 set against Jacksonville State in 2016. It did tie the March 4, 1991, game against Tennessee State, the January 26, 2016, game against Morehead State and the December 29, 2019, game against Tennessee Wesleyan for the second-most.
Individually, Anna Jones set her own personal best with seven blocks, tying her with Diane Seng, Kayla Brewer and Anacia Wilkinson for the fifth-best individual game. Renay Adams and Wilkinson twice hold the single-game record of nine, while Wilkinson also recorded a game with eight.
The two teams battled back and forth with the Golden Eagles taking a 19-16 advantage through the first quarter, then North Alabama outscored Tech 17-12 in the second with the visiting Lions leading 33-31 at the intermission.
After trailing 42-41, the Golden Eagles tied the game and retook the lead on a pair of Grimes free-throws, then surged to a 49-42 advantage before the third came to a close, but the Lions snipped the Tech lead back to 49-46 as time ran out on the quarter.
In the fourth, however, the Golden Eagles went on a 13-2 run to stretch the lead to 10 with 5:40 remaining in the contest, only to see the Lions get back within seven. Tech jumped back out to 70-59 with 2:17 remaining in the contest and UNA was only able to get back within single digits with a pair of free throws with seven seconds left.
With UNA's aggressive style of play, the Golden Eagles were able to draw 21 fouls, converting those to 25 points on 30 shots at the free-throw line. Tech also collected 14 points off of 12 turnovers.
The Golden Eagles ended up shooting 42.0 percent from the field, including a 6-for-10 fourth quarter. Tech drained six of 22 3-pointers, including a 4-for-5 night for Reghan Grimes.
Grimes ended the contest leading all scorers with 20 points, going 5-for-9 from the field and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe. Walker, in addition to her eight rebounds and seven blocks, also scored 14 points, as did true freshman Chloe Larry, who also came down with seven boards. Taris Thornton scored 10 points, including a 6-for-7 night at the line.
Cameron Jones led North Alabama (1-1) with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Emma Kate Tittle and Charity Gallegos each scored 13 points for the Lions, who opened the season with a victory over UT Martin earlier in the week.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Jim Dillon
