There are 10 games remaining in the conference schedule for the women’s basketball teams of the OVC. The standings are split at this point of the season, with five OVC teams posting conference records above .500 and five teams sitting below .500.

Pacing the conference so far is Tennessee Tech (15-4, 8-0 OVC). The Golden Eagles are on an 11-game winning streak and have the second-highest scoring offense in the conference. Their defense ranks third in the conference.

Looming for Tennessee Tech is a matchup with second-place Belmont (12-7, 7-1 OVC). Belmont’s offense is not quite as productive as Tennessee Tech’s, ranking eighth in the conference. 

The Bruins are fueled by their defense which is the top defense in the OVC, allowing just 58.5 points per game. 

This will be the highest-stakes matchup this weekend in the conference. The OVC’s third and fourth place teams, Tennessee-Martin and Southeast Missouri, each face Morehead State (8-12, 4-4 OVC) and Eastern Kentucky (8-11, 2-6 OVC). 

Eastern sits in fifth place in the OVC and plays its pair of weekend games on the road after playing four-straight at home, going 2-2 in that stretch. 

The Panthers travel to Murray State (9-10, 2-6 OVC) Thursday before playing Austin Peay (11-8, 2-6 OVC) Saturday. 

On an individual level, the conference is being dominated by a pair of players: Tennessee-Martin’s Chelsey Perry and Belmont’s Ellie Harmeyer.

Perry is the OVC’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder and Harmeyer is the leading rebounder and second-leading scorer. 

Perry is averaging 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, but is scoring at an even higher clip in conference play, averaging 27.3 points per game against OVC opponents.

Harmeyer is averaging 17.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. She too has increased her scoring in conference play, averaging 19.4 points per game. 

Both Perry and Harmeyer are in the top-10 in the conference in field goal percentage as well. 

Eastern’s leading scorer remains Karle Pace, who is averaging 14.9 points per game this season. Much like Perry and Harmeyer, Pace has upped her scoring average in conference play, averaging 18.6 points per game.

Eastern freshman Lariah Washington is the top-scoring freshman in the conference both overall and in conference play. She is averaging 10 points per game this season, the only freshman to average double-figures scoring. She is averaging 12.3 points per game in conference, besting the next-highest freshman by nearly two points per game. 

For the remainder of the season, the top teams in the OVC will have battle for supremacy while the teams in the middle of the pack will try to close the gap.

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]