Near triple-double by Hayes keys Tech to OVC win, hold on first place
Tennessee Tech scored the final 11 points of the game to pull away to a 74-57 Ohio Valley Conference victory over UT Martin Thursday night and remain tied for first place in the league standing.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The battle for first place met all
expectations for 35 minutes.
Tennessee Tech and UT Martin matched each other Thursday night in
the Eblen Center before the Golden Eagles used a late run to pull
away to a 74-57 victory and hold onto a share of first place in the
Ohio Valley Conference.
Tacarra Hayes’ notched her fifth career double-double with
18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. The all-OVC junior guard
flirted with another triple-double, handing out nine assists.
She was one of five player to score in double digits for coach
Sytia Messer’s squad. Freshman guard Briana Jordan added 13
points, Rachel Glidden netted 12, while both Molly Heady and Kylie
Cook contributed 10 points.
Tech’s balanced offense was enough to outlast the one-two
backcourt scoring punch of UT Martin’s freshman duo of
Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome. Butler, who ranks
16th nationally in scoring and is the top-scoring
freshman in the country, finished with 24 points, while Newsome had
17. Jaclissa Haislip finished with nine points and 10 rebounds for
the Skyhawks.
With the win, Tech improved to 11-4 overall and 5-1 in the OVC, keeping pace with Eastern Illinois (5-1 OVC), which downed Eastern Kentucky Thursday night. UT Martin saw its overall mark dip to 9-8 while the Skyhawks OVC record moved to 4-2.
Tech also improved to 6-1 at home this year.
After trailing for most of the first half, the Golden Eagles
pieced together a 12-2 run behind Hayes and Heady. It erased UT
Martin’s early 17-11 lead and gave the home team a 23-19
advantage with 5:25 to play.
The Golden Eagles went up by as many as seven late in the half, a
3-pointer from Glidden and a jumper by Jordan making it a 31-24
Tech lead.
Newsome, who had eight in the first half, closed the period with
two free throws for a five-point difference at intermission.
UTM shot 30.3 percent (10-for-33) in the opening half, including
2-for-11 from long distance. Butler had 13 points at halftime. The
Golden Eagles hot 43.8 percent in the first 20 minutes (14-for-32)
including 2-for-12 from outside the arc. Hayes was the leading
scorer with 11 at the break.
The Skyhwaks battled back to within one point a couple of times
in the second half, before Haislip’s 3-pointer with 8:20 to
play tied the contest at 51-51.
Jordan hit a layup and followed with a 3-pointer to score the next
five points and give Tech a 56-51 lead, an advantage that grew to
10 points after a Cook 3-pointer and two free throws by Heady with
five minutes on the clock.
UT Martin got it down to six points, 63-57, as Newsome hit a layup
with 2:39 to go, but Tech scored the game’s final 11 points,
including 3-pointers by Cook, Jordan and Glidden.
The Golden Eagles finished with a 43-38 edge in rebounds. Tech
shot 43.5 percent for the game (27-for-62) and heated up to 40
percent from long range (10-for-25) after going 8-for-13 in the
second half.
Tech’s next task is Saturday evening when Murray State visits Eblen Center
for a 5:30 p.m. contest. That game is Putnam County Night, with
residents of Putnam County receiving a $1 ticket offer.
It’s also Basketball Alumni Night for both the women’s
and men’s team.
For tickets, call (931-372-3940) or visit the Athletics Ticket
Office in Eblen Center.
/strengthgraphic.jpg?max_width=767)
/GreenmanAdded515.jpg?max_width=767)
