Tech picks up win at Murray State

Monday night's contest against Murray State was a critical conference game for the Tech women's basketball team and its adversary, Murray State. Both teams came into the contest needing a victory in the Ohio Valley Conference, but the Golden Eagles pushed ahead and took the win.

The first half was evenly contested, with both teams owning leads at some point during the period. The largest lead of the half, a double-digit difference, belonged to Tech. At the end of the half, the Golden Eagles had a comfortable 7-point lead, 41-34. Diamond Henderson led first half scorers for Tech with nine and Molly Heady put up eight. C­oach Jim Davis also received points from the bench as Shunice Herron scored six points in the first half.

 The second half was all Golden Eagles. Tech extended its lead by beginning the half with a 17-4 run. However, Murray did not go down without a fight. The Racers began to find their 3-point game, but the Golden Eagle defense was too tough. Tech finished with 53 rebounds, which led to 22 second chance points. This brilliant defensive performance was enhanced by the play of Kayla Brewer. Brewer finished with six blocks and 11 rebounds, which led the team. She also contributed eight points, making her two points shy of a double-double.

Tech's bench played a large part in the Monday night road win. The reserves combined for 23 points and 26 rebounds.

The success of the starters combined with impressive bench play made the Golden Eagles unstoppable in their eventual 81-65 defeat of the Racers. Diamond Henderson finished the night with 17 points, leading the team. Molly Heady and Hannah Goolsby also finished with double digit points.

The Golden Eagles ended their stretch of four away games with an important victory in the OVC.  They will return home on Feb. 1 to play conference foe Belmont in a doubleheader with the Golden Eagle men's basketball team.