Cookeville, Tenn. --- The Tennessee State University women's basketball team battled the whole night but couldn't pull out the win in an, 80-71, loss to Tennessee Tech on the road Monday night in the Eblen Center.

Tennessee State (6-11, 2-3 OVC) shot 37.1 percent from the field but only managed a dismal 8.3 shooting percentage (1-of-12) from three-point range. Tennessee Tech (6-11, 2-2 OVC) knocked down 40.3 percent of its shots, including 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from beyond the arc.

Tayla Foster led TSU with 20 points and nine rebounds while Avery Jones scored 11.

Tech had three players to score in double figures led by Tacarra Hayes' 27. Jala Harris (22) and Brittany Darling (13) also posted double-digits.

TSU used its first timeout of the game in an attempt to slow Tennessee Tech down after falling behind, 10-2, with only two and half minutes ticked off the clock. Tech answered with a triple out of the break and stretched the advantage to 20-7 at the 13:23 mark.

The Lady Tigers posted four unanswered to cut the deficit down to single digits but the Golden Eagles went back up, 25-13. Over the next couple of minutes, TSU began to chip away at the lead.

A 10-4 run capped by an old fashioned three-point play by Avery Jones made the score, 29-23, in favor of Tennessee Tech 7:52 remaining in the half.

The Lady Tigers stayed within striking distance and went into halftime trailing, 41-36.

TSU opened the second half with a 6-2 run to pull within one before a three-point play by Tayla Foster gave the Lady Tigers a, 45-43, lead. From there it was a battle that stayed close until Tech used an 8-2 spurt to create a little distance.

The Lady Tigers were down, 60-52, when a 6-1 rally pulled TSU within three. TTU answered with five straight points to go ahead, 66-58, with 4:38 remaining.

TSU once again chopped the deficit down to four but TTU knocked down a three-pointer on the next play to make the score, 71-64.

Tayla Foster hit two freebies with 1:36 left to chop the deficit down to five but two quick scores gave TTU a double-digit lead, 76-66, with 52 seconds left in the game.

Rachel Allen hit a jumper with two seconds left to make the final score, 80-71.

Both teams committed 13 turnovers as TSU held a slight edge in rebounds, 45-44. The Lady Tigers made 23-of-62 (68.6 percent) from the free-throw line while the Golden Eagles went 25-of-36  (69.4 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Lady Tigers return to action on their home court when they host SIU Edwardsville in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 14. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Gentry Center.