With every passing win, Tennessee Tech proves more to the rest of the Ohio Valley Conference that its 4-0 start to the season is not a fluke.

The Golden Eagles cemented their place as the only undefeated OVC women’s basketball team with another 2-0 weekend that included double-digit wins over Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Eastern. 

The OVC is beginning to view this Tennessee Tech team, which was picked to finish 9th in the preseason poll, as a legitimate threat to anyone in the conference at any given time. 

The Golden Eagles were the ones that ended Belmont’s 47-game conference win streak and also now rank in the top four in both offense and defense in the conference. 

At 12-3 (4-0 OVC), Tennessee Tech is already far exceeding the expectations that anyone could have predicted for them. 

Eastern head coach Matt Bollant credited a lot of Tennessee Tech’s success to sophomore Jordan Brock who dropped 33 points against Eastern and 20 points against Southern Illinois Edwardsville. She made 14 three-point shots across those two games.  

Tennessee Tech in general was made up of mostly inexperienced freshman last season who are now sophomores with games under their belts, making another reason they have an improved record. 

“One, I think they are all better,” Bollant said. “They’re just all a year older, but Brock is special, she has gone from a good freshman to an incredible sophomore and they’re just really confident. Especially at home with the basketball, that’s as good as we have seen anyone shoot the ball for sure.”

Tennessee Tech will likely move to 5-0 after a Wednesday match with a mightily struggling Tennessee State team. 

Tennessee State is 1-15 overall and picked up its only win of the season last Thursday against Eastern Kentucky, who at 2-13 may be the only team in more disarray than the Tigers. 

Tennessee-Martin and Belmont both follow Tennessee Tech in the standings at 3-1 overall. Both teams are coming off of 2-0 weekends.

Tennessee-Martin and its No. 1 ranked offense beat Murray State and Austin Peay, scoring 75 and 74 points in each game. 

The only team to beat Tennessee-Martin this season is Eastern.

Belmont is playing with a vengeance after losing its first conference game to Tennessee Tech, having rattled off three straight conference victories in big fashion.

The Bruins beat Morehead State 77-50 on Thursday and then clobbered Eastern Kentucky 69-43 on Saturday. 

Morehead State, Jacksonville State, Austin Peay, Southern Illinois Edwardsville, Southeast Missouri, and Murray State all sit in the middle of the conference with 2-2 OVC records, vying for the coveted eight tournament spots. 

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]