Tech women open OVC play Thursday vs. SEMO
December 17, 2025

Tech women open OVC play Thursday vs. SEMO

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech’s final season in the Ohio Valley Conference gets underway on Thursday night as the Golden Eagles entertain Southeast Missouri. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM at the Hooper Eblen Center. Dylan Vazzano and Frank Harrell will narrate the action on ESPN+ (subscription required), while Noah McKay and Jacob Vinson will have the call on 106.1 The Eagle.

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GAME NOTES | 10 -- vs. Southeast Missouri (PDF)

By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech's final season in the Ohio Valley Conference gets underway on Thursday night as the Golden Eagles entertain Southeast Missouri.

Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM at the Hooper Eblen Center. Dylan Vazzano and Steve Smith will narrate the action on ESPN+ (subscription required), while Jacob Vinson and Frank Harrell will have the call on 106.1 The Eagle.

There's no question Tech's tenure in the OVC for women's basketball has been a tremendous one with the Golden Eagles leading the way with 513 conference victories, 19 OVC regular-season championships and 11 OVC tournament championships – all the top total in the league.

With another spin around the Valley in store for this season, the Golden Eagles are looking to add another crown to their tally.

Tech is playing well to open the season with a 7-2 mark and building a program-record 24-game home winning streak, stretching back to February 2024.

Southeast Missouri enters Thursday's game with a 3-5 record. Outside of competition against Power 4 teams, the Redhawks have been in a lot of close battles, showing tremendous growth.

SEMO's three wins have come against Evansville (71-66), Wichita State (69-62) and Harris-Stowe (116-34), but the losses show improvements with the defeats to Missouri State, San Diego and Southern Illinois are all 10 or fewer points as the Redhawks try to bounce back from finishing 15-43 in the last two seasons.

The Redhawks are led by a trio of double-digit scorers, including Lexi McCully (15.1 ppg), Carmen Taylor (13.5 ppg) and Ainaya Williams (11.6 ppg). Da'Kariya Jackson leads the team in rebounding average at 7.0 per game, but has only played in one game. From there, Zoey Rixter is averaging 6.0 boards a game.

Raissa Nsabua leads the team with 30 assists, though has 30 turnovers, while McCully and Taylor have the team top in steals with 13 each. Ainaya Williams has 15 blocks on the season.

As a team, Southeast Missouri is averaging 70.3 points a game, while allowing 68.3 per game. The Redhawks are shooting .398 from the field, .333 from 3-point range with an average of 6.5 3-pointers a game and .692 from the free-throw line with an average of 15.8 made per night.

Tech, as a team, is averaging 69.0 points per game, allowing 60.0. The Golden Eagles are shooting .392 from the field, .333 from 3-point range with an average of 6.0 per game and .702 from the stripe with 17.0 free throws made on average.

The trio of Reghan Grimes, Reagan Hurst and Chloe Larry lead Tech in scoring with 15.7, 12.1 and 11.9 points per game, respectively. True freshman LaReesha Cawthorn leads the team in rebounds (8.3 per game) and blocks (10). Cam Mathews has a team-high 24 assists, while Grimes has a team-best 15 steals.

Following Thursday's game against the Redhawks, Tech will take on UT Martin on Saturday before the holiday break. Action at the Hoop will then resume Dec. 30 with a visit from Tennessee State.

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.

Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations