COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A strong second-half helped the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team pull away from UT Martin on Thursday night as the Golden Eagles took a 70-55 victory in the Eblen Center.

 

With the victory, the Golden Eagles (21-5, 15-2 Ohio Valley Conference) win their 12th straight game – the longest winning streak for the program since 2000-01 and tied for the fourth-longest streak in program history – as well as their 15th straight home contest.

 

Tech continues its first-place tie with Lindenwood, but got a little bit of breathing room as Southern Indiana defeated Eastern Illinois to put the Panthers two games back with three left to play in the regular season. USI and Little Rock are tied in fourth with UT Martin (9-9) standing in sixth, Western Illinois (7-10) in seventh and Tennessee State – Tech's Saturday opponent – in eighth at 4-13, one game ahead of Morehead State, SIUE and Southeast Missouri for the final spot in the tournament field.

 

Anaya Brown led UT Martin with 29 points – including 10-for-14 at the free-throw line – and completed the double-double with 10 rebounds. Brown had nearly half of the team's field goals as she was 9-for-23 out of the Skyhawks' 20-for-58 in the contest. Shae Littleford and Kenley McCarn each scored eight points for UTM (12-17 overall).

 

Peyton Carter set the pace for the Golden Eagles early on as she scored Tech's first 12 points as she went 4-for-4 from long range through the first five minutes of the game. The Golden Eagles led by as many as seven points with 4:17 points in the first stanza, but Tech went nearly nine minutes without a field goal, with the Skyhawks using an 8-0 run to take a 16-15 lead at 1:57.

 

UTM led by as many as eight points in the second quarter, taking a 28-23 lead at the intermission.

 

Tech was outscored in the paint 22-6 in the first half and was outrebounded 18-16.

 

The tide turned in the third quarter as the Golden Eagles scored seven unanswered points to knot the game at 30 as Reghan Grams completed a 3-point play at 6:49. Following a couple of lead swaps, Tech started to build an advantage, jumping out to a five-point lead before the game was tied once more at 38. Tech pushed back out by five once more before the third ended with the Golden Eagles outscoring UTM 22-12 in the period for a 45-40 lead.

 

Tech shot 8-for-14 from the field in the quarter as Reghan Grimes was 3-for-4 shooting and 3-for-3 at the line for nine points, while Chloe Larry was 3-for-3 for six points. In the quarter alone, the Golden Eagles pulled down 15 boards and scored 16 points in the paint to the Skyhawks' four as fouls started to mount against Brown.

 

The Golden Eagles extended the advantage out to 10 with just under eight minutes remaining in the game. Brown hit a pair of free throws with 7:25 left to get it back to single-digits, though that was short-lived as Amelia Pfeiffer sank a layup to get back to a 10-point advantage and the lead continued to inch out to a 15-point advantage three times in the final 90 seconds.

 

Keeley Carter had nine points as she drained three 3-pointers in the fourth to lead Tech to 25 points to the Skyhawks' 15.

 

In the second half, Tech shot 53.3 percent as it hit 16-for-30 from the field to UT Martin's 8-for-31.

 

While UTM still won in the paint, the margin was a lot closer with a 34-28 lead to the Skyhawks. Tech won the battle on the glass with 40 board to UTM's 34. The Golden Eagles also led on assists 20-8.

 

Larry led Tech with 17 points with six rebounds, five assists and a steal. Peyton Carter had 16 points with six rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block. Grimes had 14 points with six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Keeley Carter finished the game with 11 points with six rebounds, six assists and three steals.

 

The Golden Eagles will host Tennessee State Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for Legends Weekend.

 

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.