By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech's strong start continued Thursday night as the Golden Eagles claimed a big 84-56 victory over Jackson State in the Hooper Eblen Center to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2010-11.
The Golden Eagles will have a chance Tuesday night to make it 5-0 Tuesday night as Tech heads to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee for a 6:30 p.m. start.
Scoring was at a premium early on in the opening quarter, but once the Golden Eagles started to connect, Tech was able to pull away. The Golden Eagles were 7-for-17 from the floor in the first ten minutes and 11-for-12 from the line. With that performance, Tech outscored the Tigers 26-12 in the opening stanza. JSU (1-2) was 4-for-22 from the field in the quarter.
The Golden Eagles' shooting continued to heat up in the second and the third quarters. Before the half, Tech shot 7-for-13 from the field, including three 3-pointers and another 7-for-8 at the charity stripe. In the first half alone, the Golden Eagles were 18-for-20 at the line to help build a 50-29 advantage into the intermission.
The third quarter saw Tech shoot 10-for-16 from the floor.
Graduate guard Peyton Carter led all scorers as she poured in a career-high 21 points, while also tying her career marks in 3-pointers made with five and assists with seven as well as going 6-for-6 at the line. Transfer Taris Thornton had a strong showing as well, collecting 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting with eight rebounds. Graduate forward Anna Walker narrowly missed a double-double as she scored 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 at the stripe with nine rebounds.
Tech dominated the glass, outrebounding the Tigers 51 to 31, which included 15 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second-chance points. The Golden Eagles also had 22 assists on 29 made shots.
Jackson State's physical style of play led to a combined 42 fouls – 24 against the Tigers and 18 against Tech. That led to an 18-for-22 effort for the Golden Eagles at the line and 13-for-19 for JSU.
For the game, Tech ended shooting 29-for-26 – a 46.8-percent performance – including 8-for-20 from long-range. JSU was 20-for-66 (30.3 percent) from the field and 3-for-15 from 3-point range.
Taleah Dilworth led the Tigers with 18 points, while Tierney Kelsey scored 13 points. Zoe Cooper led the team on the glass with seven rebounds, while Diaka Berete had a team-best four assists.
Following Tech's trip to Murfreesboro, the Golden Eagles will travel to ETSU, Samford and Colorado before returning home on Dec. 6 to take on the University of the Cumberlands for Tech's annual Education Day game.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Jim Dillon
