Upper Cumberland Times

Tennessee Tech got off to a hot start in each of the first three quarters as the Golden Eagles' defense slowed down the conference's top offense as Tech topped SIUE 89-62.

The Golden Eagles improved to 13-6 on the season, 7-2 in Ohio Valley Conference. Tech returns to action at the Eblen Center on Saturday, tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

SIUE (6-14, 5-4 OVC) entered the game averaging 72.5 points of offense. With 13 steals – including four each for Reghan Grimes and Peyton Carter – Tech was able to force 19 turnovers. The Golden Eagles also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Cougars 44-32.

The Cougars ended the game shooting 29.8 percent from the field, anchored by a 1-for-8 performance from the field in fourth quarter as Tech outscored SIUE 31-22 in the final 10 minutes. Twenty of the Cougars' 22 points came at the free-throw line.

Tech, meanwhile, was scorching in the fourth quarter, shooting 13-for-20 from the field with two 3-pointers and a 3-for-3 effort at the line.

The Golden Eagles were able to get off on runs early in each of the first three quarters as Tech scored the first six points of the first quarter, the first seven of the second, then an 8-0 run in the third.

Tech was also able to get points inside as the Golden Eagles had 56 of their 89 points in the paint, despite going up against an athletic SIUE team inside. Anna Walker was a big part of that, collecting 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, tallying that along with five rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks as the Tech junior appeared to be back at 100-percent and dominating the inside.

That also came as the Golden Eagles were able to string together 29 assists, led by Jordan Brock with seven, while Reghan Grimes had five and Maaliya Owens four.

Jada Guinn scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting as she continued to be efficient in recent games. In the last five contests, the Tech senior is hitting at a scorching .706 rate, knocking down 24 of 34 shots. Guinn had a team-high seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Grimes ended the day with 14 points, five rebounds and four steals in addition to her five assists. Owens scored 12 points with five boards and four assists.

Ajulu Thatha led SIUE with 20 points, while KK Rodriguez scored 12 and Sofie Lewis scored 11.

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