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COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—Tennessee Tech senior guards Blair Bowens and Meagan Lyons combined for 45 points on Thursday night, including 10 of the Golden Eagles’ final 12 points, as they helped power Tennessee Tech to a 75-71 victory over the visiting University of Evansville Purple Aces at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Bowens posted her second-straight career-high scoring performance of the year, scoring a career-best 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-6 shooting from long range. Lyons added a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and her three-point basket with just under a minute to play snapped a 69-69 tie and gave Tennessee Tech a lead it would never lose.
Bowens scored 15 of her 27 points in a back-and-forth first half of play which featured five ties and 11 lead changes to help give the Golden Eagles a 36-32 halftime cushion. The lead would swell to as many as 11 points in the second half for Tennessee Tech, before Evansville used an 11-2 run midway through the half to trim the deficit to two points, 63-61, on a pair of free throws by senior guard Ashley Austin with 5:48 to play.
Tennessee Tech’s lead would hover between two and four points for the next three minutes, until UE would finally tie the game at 69-69 with 1:36 to play on a lay-up by junior guard Amy Gallagher. The tie would not last long though, as Lyons would drain a long three-pointer from the right-wing with 59 seconds to play to give TTU back the lead, 72-69. A pair of Austin free throws with 31 seconds left would get UE back within two at 73-71 after a Bowens’ free throw, but that would be as close as the Purple Aces would come.
Gallagher led Evansville with a career-high 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Austin and fellow senior Robyn Jennings would both add 14 points and eight rebounds for UE. Forward Jasmine White joined Bowens and Lyons in double-figures with 10 points and nine rebounds for Tennessee Tech.
With the victory, Tennessee Tech improves to 3-6 on the year, while Evansville slips to 6-4 overall. The Purple Aces will wrap up non-conference play on Monday night, as UE will travel north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers in a non-conference contest. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and Monday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
