Golden Eagle women host OVC leader Western Illinois Thursday
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As Western Illinois comes into the Hooper Eblen Center on Thursday night, it’s the Fighting Leathernecks that have the target placed squarely on their backs as they currently reside in the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference. And if Tennessee Tech can knock off WIU Thursday night, it will go a long way towards making the OVC race a lot more interesting.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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13 | 21 | 16 | 18 | 68 |
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12 | 7 | 22 | 12 | 53 |
Team Stats
Western Illinois
| Game Statistics | Western Illinois | Tennessee Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (29-55) | (21-59) |
| Field Goal % | 52.7% | 35.6% |
| Rebounds | 33 | 34 |
| Assists | 12 | 6 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 16 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 18 | 6 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 5 | 10 |
| Pts in the Paint | 38 | 22 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 14 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 10 | 11 |
GAME NOTES | Game 22 vs. Western Illinois | PDF
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As Western Illinois comes into the Hooper Eblen Center on Thursday night, it's the Fighting Leathernecks that have the target placed squarely on their backs as they currently reside in the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference.
And if Tennessee Tech can knock off WIU Thursday night, it will go a long way towards making the OVC race a lot more interesting.
Tipoff on Thursday is set for 5:30 PM. Dylan Vazzano and Steve Smith will have the call on 106.1 The Eagle, while Noah McKay and Frank Harrell will narrate the action on 106.1 The Eagle.
After a tough January, Tech (12-9, 5-7 OVC) has got a little bit of momentum going back on its side, winning back-to-back games to squash a seven-game skid, but there's still plenty of work to do.
As the standings sit coming into Thursday's contest, Western Illinois (18-3, 10-2 OVC) is in the catbird seat at the top. However, both of those losses came on the road as WIU fell at UT Martin on January 1 and at Morehead State on January 22.
Meanwhile, Southern Indiana, who will host Tech in a nationally televised game next Saturday on ESPNU, and Morehead State stand just a game back at 9-3 in the league. Lindenwood is an additional half-game back at 9-4 in fourth. UT Martin and Little Rock stand in a tie for fifth-place, while Tech is in seventh, followed by Southeast Missouri at 4-8 for what would currently be the final spot in the tournament if the regular season ended today.
SIUE (3-10), Tennessee State (2-10) and Eastern Illinois (2-10) are on the outside looking in.
The biggest obstacle for the Golden Eagles will be Mia Nicastro, who leads the OVC in scoring and is one of the top scorers in the country with a 23.5-point average, trailing Iowa State's Audi Crooks at 25.9 ppg.
After Raegan McCowan went down to injury against Lindenwood on Dec. 18, Addi Brownfield and Mallory Shetley picked up the slack, averaging 12.7 and 10.2 points, respectively.
Nicastro's game isn't just scoring as she also leads the conference in rebounds with a 10.1-rebound average. Brownfield, meanwhile, leads the Leathernecks in assists (63), blocks (22) and steals (48).
As a team, WIU is averaging 77.1 points per game on offense, while allowing 60.3 points on defense. The Leathernecks are shooting .453 from the field, .339 from 3-point range and .784 at the line as they average 5.2 3-pointers and 17.2 made free throws a game.
When Tech and WIU met on Jan. 10, the Leathernecks jumped out early, outscoring the Golden Eagles in both the first and second quarters to take a 43-27 lead at the intermission as WIU shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first and 76.9 percent in the second. Tech chipped the advantage back within single digits in the third, but the Leathernecks pulled away in the fourth for the 77-60 final margin.
Nicastro ended the previous game with 25 points, while Shetley had 14, Brownfield 11 and Allie Meadows 10. Chloe Larry led Tech with 16, Reghan Grimes 13, and Cam Mathews and Lyriq Mastin each collected 10 points.
Larry has been on a tear for the Golden Eagles of late, averaging 17.6 points in the last five games – bolstered by a career-high 28 scored on Tennessee State Monday night. The performance pulled Larry into the team lead in scoring average at a 14.1 clip, while Grimes has scored the most points overall with 290 this season to go along with her 13.8-point average.
Grimes leads the team in assists (59), while LaReesha Cawthorn – who won the OVC's Freshman of the Week honor for the fourth time this season on Tuesday – leads the team in rebounding with a 9.4 per game average, as well as in blocks (25) and steals (39).
Reagan Hurst is also averaging double-digit scoring at 12.1 per game with Mathews (8.8 ppg) and Cawthorn (8.6 ppg) close behind.
As a team, Tech is averaging 67.3 points per game and allowing 62.0 on defense, while shooting .379 from the field, .327 from long range and .706 from the stripe. Tech is averaging 6.9 3-pointers and 14.7 free throws made per game.
After Thursday's contest against the Leathernecks, Tech will host Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon.
Tickets for 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
