MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team gave its fans a show in the team’s home opener in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center by leading visiting SEC foe Vanderbilt for over 32 minutes before coming up just short of its upset bid by a final score of 70-68.
After picking up a road victory at Vanderbilt last season, the Skyhawks (0-2) looked for their second straight upset of their SEC foe by controlling the game’s tempo and ultimately pushing their advantage out to as large as 12 points in the third quarter. The Commodores would not go away quietly however as they chipped away at the team’s deficit with a 9-2 run to finish the third quarter before completing their comeback attempt with 5:16 to play in the game to give the Dores their first lead since early in the first quarter.
With the game back knotted up in the final four minutes, UT Martin found a three-pointer by Shae Littleford to put the home team up by a three-point advantage. From there it was all Vandy as a fastbreak layup by Sasha Washington and putback layup from J. Cambridge gave the visitors the go-ahead advantage with 35 seconds to play. UT Martin drew up a potential go-ahead bucket with 11 seconds to play, but the jumper rattled off the rim to punctuate a back-and-forth contest.
UT Martin finished the contest shooting 48.3 percent from the field while knocking down 11 three-pointers and finding assists on 22 of its 28 field goals. Freshman guard Love Mays led the way for the Skyhawks with 14 points while adding six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Anaya Brown scored in double figure for the second straight game with 14 points and six rebounds while Littleford finished the night with 14 points and seven assists.
“We deserved to win the game,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “Sometime, the program is ready to win a game like this, but the team isn’t, and I think that was the case tonight. We just weren’t ready with our young core, but I couldn’t be more impressed with how they battled as long as they did. Games are so fragile and we just aren’t ready to close that out…yet. The pieces are here and it’s coming, but we are still growing. I have no qualms with our effort and I don’t like moral victories, but the mistakes that were made are correctable.”
Vanderbilt (2-0) found most of its production in the paint where the squad scored 40 of its 70 points. Forward Sacha Washington had a big game by tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Guard Jordyn Cambridge also filled the stat sheet with 16 points and 12 rebounds while adding six assists in the win. The squad was rounded out in double figures by Iyana Moore (12 points) and Madison Greene (11 points).
UT Martin will return to the court on Tuesday, Nov. 14 when traveling to Central Arkansas.
