Coach Octavia Blue huddles with her team at VyStar arena in a game during the 2023-24 season. Photo Courtesy of KSU Athletics
Women’s basketball returned to VyStar Arena Saturday afternoon to face a previously undefeated Tennessee Tech, winning another nailbiter 61-60.
KSU has become accustomed to close finishes, with Saturday’s contest being its third straight one point game.
The Golden Eagles had a 12-7 lead late in the first quarter, until the Owls went on an 8-2 run and ended up winning the period 15-14.
The second quarter saw KSU leading by as much as eight points. TTU quickly closed the gap and the teams went to the locker room tied at 33.
The Owls went up 10 late in the third quarter before the Golden Eagles were able to cut it down to just five as the period ended.
KSU led by 10 again with four minutes to play in the game before TTU went on an 11-0 run and took a 60-59 lead with two minutes remaining.
Trynce Taylor’slayup put the Owls back up 61-60 with 18 seconds to go and ended up being the game winner.
Taylor’s game winner capped off a 17-point performance, her highest total since returning to the floor after missing last season to an ACL injury.
“It feels amazing,” Taylor said. “My teammates believed in me, even when I hung my head down, they picked me right back up. My coach believed in me. She put the ball in my hand, she trusted me, and it was a good day for us.”
Saturday’s game was a test for the Owls as they start to head into the meat of the non-conference schedule, notably Alabama and Miami in December. Coach Octavia Blue said what her and her team learned from this game that they can use moving forward is to not get complacent.
“You just can never get too high over a lead and you can’t get too low when you’re down,” Blue said. “When we allowed [Tennessee Tech] to get back in the game and ultimately take the lead, we could have hung our heads, but we didn’t.”
Despite the win, KSU continues to struggle from the free throw line, shooting 44% from the charity stripe on Saturday and missing 15 free throws in total.
“We shot a ton of free throws this week, even this morning, and we shot a high percentage,” Blue said. “We’ve just got to focus and concentrate and make sure we’re knocking down these shots. We have to continue to stay in the gym and practice. It’s all about repetition.”
Keyarah Berry led the team with 20 points, as she has scored double figures in every game this season so far and is now averaging 18 points a game in her hot start to her final season with the Owls.
Kaelyn Flowers, a Florida Gulf Coast transfer, also had 11 points in the starting lineup on Saturday, her highest point total since joining the Owls this offseason.
The Owls now have a 3-1 record to begin their non-conference schedule. They look to continue their win streak on Nov. 25 when they travel to South Alabama.
