Feb. 2, 2002

Box Score

COOKEVILLE, Tenn.- It wasn't turnovers or bad foul shooting that doomed Southeast on Saturday night, just a much better Tennessee Tech team. Southeast committed a season-low seven turnovers and made 6-7 free-throws attempts, but Tennessee Tech shot 50% in the first half and raised that mark to 61.8% in the game's second twenty minutes to defeat the Otahkians 87-69 in Cookeville on Saturday.

Tennessee Tech (15-5 overall, 8-1 OVC) sits atop the OVC after their win tonight and Eastern Kentucky's loss. The Golden Eaglettes came to play, despite inspired play from Southeast (12-9, 4-6) during a hot start. The game was close for the first 10 minutes as the team's were tied at 18. But as it is in most games between the two squads, Southeast was able to establish an early lead thanks 14 first-half points from junior Lori Chase, including eight over the final eight minutes of the half that saw the Otahks jump out to a six point advantage at two different spots and lead 36-33 at the break.

But as it has also been true in the past several meetings between the two schools, Tennessee Tech will not be denied and they always put together a patented run to win the game. Two-time defending OVC Player of the Year Janet Holt, who played only 10 minutes in the first half after getting into foul trouble, scored 10 of Tech's first 14 points in the second half to push TTU into the lead. But it was Jennifer Wilhelm who hit a big three from the corner that put the Golden Eaglettes on top at 42-41, and they never looked back, leading by as many as 20 on their way to the victory.

Tech shot 56.5% for the game and 53.3% from three-point range, including 6-8 in the second half. Holt, who scored in double figures for the 100th time in her career, scored a game-high 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. She was 15-20 from the field and 2-3 from three-point range. Leah Bird added 17 for the Golden Eaglettes who had 25 assists on 35 made field goals.

Southeast got 24 points from Chase and 18 from senior Veronica Benson, who was coming off a career-high 31 against Tennessee State on Thursday. Chase hit all six of Southeast's free-throws on the night.

Southeast head coach Ed Arnzen, coaching in his final game in Cookeville as he will retire at the end of the season, received a Tennessee Tech stool from Golden Eaglette coach Bill Worrell before the game.

"We had no answer for Holt tonight," Arnzen said after the game. "She is a great player and a class act. I thought we played a pretty good ballgame tonight and I didn't think the final score was indicative of the game. We played hard but just couldn't get our shots to fall in the second half."

Tech extended its home court winning streak to 18 games, the 5th longest active streak in the nation. The have won 15 consecutive OVC games at the Eblen Center as well.

Southeast lost for the third time in a row, and is now entrenched in fifth place in the OVC. They will battle at Morehead State on Thursday night at 4:30 p.m. central time in an important game.

Game Notes: Southeast fell to 1-10 all-time in Cookeville ... sophomore Tisa Thomas tied a career-high with three blocked shots ... senior center Pam Iversen is now only one steal away from being the second OVC player to have 1,000 points, 700 rebounds, 150 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks in a career ... Chase is only 29 points away from becoming the 13th Otahkian to record 1,000 points in a career ... junior point guard LaShelle Porter needs only 1 assist to move into a tie for 10th place on the SEMO career assist list.