January 13, 2010

Tech stays in state for match-up with UT Martin

Thursday night, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team will travel across the state to Martin for a match-up against the Skyhawks of UT Martin. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Thursday night, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team will travel across the state to Martin for a match-up against the Skyhawks of UT Martin. The meeting will be a crucial one for both teams as the head coach Sytia Messer’s Golden Eagles seek to even their conference record, while UT Martin is still in search of its first OVC win this season.

After starting their conference slate with a win at Jacksonville, the Golden Eagles (7-8, 2-3 OVC) dropped three straight before getting back on the winning track last Saturday against Eastern Kentucky. Tech handed EKU, which entered the game 5-0 in the OVC, its first loss of the season in conference action by a convincing 28-point margin, 75-47.

A trio of Golden Eagles have been carrying the team of late as Kellie Cook, Tacarra Hayes and Kylie Cook are each averaging more than 12 points per game over Tech’s last three contests.

Kellie Cook, who was recently named OVC Freshman of the Week, posted a team-leading 20.3 points per game over the last three games. She also chipped in with 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per contest. Against Eastern Kentucky, Cook got the Golden Eagles off to a fast start, scoring 13 of the team’s first 15 points on three 3-pointers, a pair of free throws and a mid-range jumper to help put the team ahead, 15-0, less than four minutes into the game before tying her career high with 23 points.

Hayes narrowly missed OVC Player of the Week honors last week after averaging 18.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game. One game after recording the ninth triple-double in Tennessee Tech history, Hayes flirted with another as she finished the game against EKU with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. In addition to putting up gaudy numbers over her past three contests, Hayes has been ultra efficient on offense, converting on 55.0 percent of her field goal attempts.

The rim must look huge to Kylie Cook of late as she has been on fire from 3-point range. Cook is averaging 3.3 made 3-points her game over her last three contests while shooting at a 55.6% clip from downtown. A 5-foot-11 forward, Cook has made four trifectas in each of the team’s last two games and is averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over the team’s last three.

Tech has owned the all-time series against UT Martin, holding a 42-12 mark against the Skyhawks. Recently, the Golden Eagles have fared even better, winning 12 of the last 13 meetings between the two teams.

UT Martin enters Thursday’s game with a 2-12 record this season and 0-5 mark in conference play. The Skyhawks are led by junior Alecia Weatherly who has earned OVC Newcomer of the Week honors four times this season and leads the team in scoring (11.6/game) and assists (27) while ranking second in rebounding (6.2/game).

Tip-off for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Fans can hear all the action for free on Teamline either online or on the phone. The broadcast can be accessed through Tennessee Tech's athletic Web site, TTUsports.com, or fans can call 1-800-846-4700 and enter the team code 0654 to catch all the action. UT Martin’s athletics Web site, utmsports.com, will also have live stats for the game, while Web streaming can be accessed through ovcsports.tv.