Tech women jockeying for position down the stretch
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- And down the stretch they come…
The Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team is rounding the
final turn and heading down the stretch for the Ohio Valley
Conference finish line with a pretty clear picture of where they
stand.
Winners of three of their last four games, coach Amy Brown’s
team is jockeying for a position in the Ohio Valley Conference
tournament, and holds its destiny in its own hands.
Tech is currently in seventh place in the league standings with a
5-10 record with three league games remaining, two of them against
upper division teams in the conference standings. After hosting
third place Tennessee State Thursday night, Tech will welcome
fourth place Austin Peay to town on Saturday.
Tech wraps up the regular season next Saturday (Feb. 28) with a
game at Jacksonville State.
The Golden Eagles might show up Thursday with a bad taste in their
mouth, remembering a 79-75 overtime loss to Tennessee State in
Nashville less than a month ago.
In that game, TSU’s Kendra Appling stole the show, literally.
With 31 seconds to play in a one-point game in overtime, Appling
stole Tech’s inbounds pass, and iced the game.
But this time, the Golden Eagles will be on their home court, and
come into the game with a head of steam, having won three of their
last four games.
A win over the Lady Tigers would put Tech a big step closer to
clinching the seventh seed.
Tennessee State is also battling for position in the OVC standings.
The Tigers are currently in third place at 10-4 in the league, and
are trying to lock up home-court advantage in the opening round of
the tournament.
The Golden Eagles are 3-1 in February, with wins against Eastern
Kentucky, Morehead State, and UT Martin, and a seven-point loss at
league-leading Murray State. In those games the Golden Eagles are
outscoring their opponents by 5.8 points-per-game, and have 55
assists and just 47 turnovers. By comparison, Tech’s
opponents have 80 turnovers in that span.
Tech seniors Blair Bowens, Meagan Lyons, and Allison Price have led
the recent charge. Bowens is putting up 19 points per game in
February, while Lyons is averaging14 points and five boards. Price
has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.5-to-1 and has six steals,
while adding 5.3 points.
The win by TSU earlier this year marked only the eighth time in 51
games that the Tigers have been on the winning side. Tech owns a
43-8 series edge, and has never lost both regular season games to
TSU.
Tennessee State, however, did get a win the last time these rivals
met on the Eblen Center floor, a 69-56 victory last winter.
This year’s first meeting was a thriller in the Gentry
Center. For the second time in three nights, Tech put in overtime
on the job, and for the second time the Golden Eagles suffered a
heart-breaking Ohio Valley Conference road loss.
TSU claimed a 79-75 victory, two nights after Tech had dropped a
two-point, double-overtime contest at Austin Peay.
The Golden Eagles held a three-point lead in the final minute of
regulation, but Kendra Appling's 3-pointer as the shot clock wound
to zero tied things with 24 seconds to go, forcing the overtime
period.
It was a steal by Appling with 31 seconds to go in the overtime
that might have been the decisive play of the night. Down 75-74,
Tech called timeout to set up a play. Appling swiped the inbounds
pass and the Tigers made just enough free throws to hold on for the
win.
Bowens led Tech with 18 points, including four of Tech's five
points in overtime. Lyons scored 16 points and had seven rebounds,
four assists and four steals. Also in double figures, freshman
Tacarra Hayes scored 16 and grabbed seven boards.
Tiffany Jackson, who reached 1,000 in her career total in the game,
led TSU with 23 points and nine rebounds. Appling added 20 points
and five steals, while Charisse Hicks chipped in with 12 points and
six rebounds. Jasmine Smith, one of for post players to foul out in
the contest (along with TSU's Kierra Goodwin and Tech's Jasmine
White and Vivian Nwosu), had eight points and nine rebounds.
