Deja vu? Last NCAA appearance vs. South Carolina ended in Tech win
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Longtime fans of the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team might be feeling a sudden hint of déjà vu after learning the Golden Eagles will be taking on top-seeded South Carolina on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament. There’s good reason for that – it’s not Tennessee Tech’s first time to head down to Columbia, S.C., for the Big Dance. Sure, the situations are different – this time it’s a 1-16 matchup instead of the 6-11 pairing back in March 1989 and that Gamecock squad wasn’t the defending National Champions. But what did happen was the Tech women coming away with the 77-73 upset – the program’s second victory in the NCAA Tournament.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Longtime fans of the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team might be feeling a sudden hint of déjà vu after learning the Golden Eagles will be taking on top-seeded South Carolina on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Women's Tournament.
There's good reason for that – it's not Tennessee Tech's first time to head down to Columbia, S.C., for the Big Dance.
Sure, the situations are different – this time it's a 1-16 matchup instead of the 6-11 pairing back in March 1989 and that Gamecock squad wasn't the defending National Champions.
But what did happen was the Tech women coming away with the 77-73 upset – the program's second victory in the NCAA Tournament.
The 1988-89 Lady Gamecocks put together a strong season that year, starting with a nine-game winning streak – the second-best start in program history at that time – before Georgia gave USC its first loss of the campaign. The squad went 23-6 through the regular season and Metro Conference tournament, winning the postseason event's crown with a 92-65 victory over Southern Miss.
USC had five players averaging double-digit scoring and shooting nearly 55 percent from the field. Led by Beth Hunt, a First-Team All-Metro and tournament MVP, the Lady Gamecock's ace averaged 19.3 points and 9.1 rebounds, while Schonna Banner averaged 14.7 points and 7.5 rebounds. Senior All-American Martha Parker posted averages of 13.7 points and 5.7 rebounds.
Lady Gamecocks head coach Nancy Wilson was looking to become USC's all-time winningest coach with 101 wins, tied with Pam Parsons. She did eventually break the tie, winning 231 games between 1985 and 1997 to become their top winner, but Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks' current skipper, has since more than doubled that total since her tenure began in 2008.
The Golden Eaglettes, led by Bill Worrell early on during his tenure as Tech head coach, posted a 21-7 record and a 9-3 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Golden Eaglettes topped Morehead State 86-63 and Murray State 80-79 to win the OVC tournament for the third of the program's current 11 times. Tech's season included three victories over Southeastern Conference foes with a 63-58 win over Florida, a 66-57 victory over Alabama and an 88-68 win over Kentucky, while taking losses at Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.
Needless to say, the Tech squad was battle-tested.
Sophomore Angela (Brown) Moorehead led the Golden Eaglettes coming into the game with averages of 19.5 points and 9.3 rebounds and claimed the OVC Tournament MVP honor. Junior Melinda Clayton averaged 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds as an All-OVC selection, while sophomore Cecilia Ramsey averaged 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds, standing as Tech's top 3-point shooter.
The stage was set at Carolina Coliseum and South Carolina came out firing. Hunt gave the Lady Gamecocks a 49-38 lead at the half, collecting 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Midway through the first half, USC was already out to an 11-point lead, then extended it to 13 before the intermission came. Clayton hit a layup with four seconds remaining in the first half to cut the deficit down to 11.
Tech ended the front end shooting .545 from the field, but only drew three trips to the line, hitting two of the charity tosses. The Golden Eaglettes had 11 turnovers in the first half, while South Carolina dished the ball around for 15 assists and had six steals.
Moorehead led Tech with 12 points in the first half, while Clayton nearly had a double-double at the recess with 11 points and nine boards. USC shot .613 from the field and was 9-for-11 at the line.
After Karen Middleton hit a 3-pointer 19 seconds into the new half to extend the Lady Gamecocks' lead to 14, the Golden Eaglettes showed why they belonged. Over the next 10 minutes, the winds shifted. Instead of a 52-38 deficit, the game was tied 63-63 as Tech outscored the host 25-11.
Clayton started the run off with two buckets, then Moorehead drained a driving jumper three feet from the basket, prompting a timeout. Ramsey collected a layup to cut the game within six before Hunt hit a fadeaway jumper to go back out by eight. Moorehead got those points right back on a bank shot.
Beverly Hawkins drew a foul from Clayton and hit both free throws to put USC back up by eight, but Dana Scott went coast-to-coast, laid the ball up for the bucket and drew a foul from Lisa Diaz. She hit the free-throw and suddenly Tech was within five points.
Hunt put the Lady Gamecocks on her shoulder and got USC back out by 10 with four free-throws and a pull-up jumper. Moorehead answered with a 16-foot jumper, then Renay Adams hit a pair of charity tosses and Brown hit a point-blank jumper. Scott lined up for a 3-point try from the top of the key and it went in.
At 12:09 to go, it was a two-point game.
After Banner hit a jumper, Ramsey responded with a 12-foot jumper, then – with 9:18 remaining – Moorehead lit up the scoreboard with a layup to the right side to tie the game at 63. It took almost two minutes before either side scored again, but it was the Golden Eaglettes breaking the drought as Adams hit back-to-back layups in a span of 36 seconds to take a 67-63 lead.
The game became tied four more times – the last as Clayton drained a four-foot bank shot with 1:01 remaining in the contest.
With 20 seconds left, Hunt fouled Brown. She missed the first, then hit the second, putting the Golden Eaglettes up 74-73. Hunt then fouled Shawn Monday with six ticks left, who missed the front end of the one-and-one. Martha Parker fouled Monday with four on the clock – she hit the first to give Tech a two-point lead.
Karen Middleton then fouled Scott, who hit both gimmes with just two seconds remaining to put Tech up by the final four-point margin.
With the win, Tech advanced to play No. 3-seeded Iowa, falling in a close 77-75 contest three days later.
Hunt ended the game with 31 points, going 11-for-16 and 9-for-10 at the line. Diaz scored 13, while Banner had 10. USC was 14-for-17 from the line and saw its shooting cool dramatically, hitting just nine of 27 shots in the second half, while the Golden Eaglettes were 16-for-34.
Tech ended the game with four double-digit scorers, led by Moorehead with 23 points and nine rebounds. Clayton completed her double-double as she ended with 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting and 12 boards. Adams scored 14, while Scott scored 10.
Now, 36 years later, the Tech women are preparing to make the same trip. Again, it's a matchup of two teams with impressive resumes, including the Golden Eagles coming into the game with a 17-game winning streak on the line.
It's a tall order for sure, but Tennessee Tech has been there.
If anyone can do it, this is a team that can.
They'll get their chance Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern in Columbia.
Tickets for the game are on sale now through the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office.
