NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball squad held a lead for nearly 37 minutes of clock time this evening, soaring to a 75-69 triumph in its first Ohio Valley Conference matchup of the season at Tennessee State.
The Skyhawks (4-8, 1-0 OVC) led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter today before the Tigers pulled within a single possession late in the third stanza. UT Martin then pushed its advantage back to double figures in the fourth quarter and Tennessee State wouldn’t get any closer than six points over the final seven minutes.
Redshirt freshman Kenley McCarn published a stat line of 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in her OVC debut tonight. Freshman Norah Clark scored 16 of her career-high 18 points in the first half while Lexi Rubel went off for 16 points, career-best 13 rebounds and a game-high four rebounds. Anaya Brown topped all players with 15 rebounds and three blocks while Josie Storey knocked down a trio of three-pointers on the way to nine points for the Skyhawks, who won the rebounding battle by a 47-34 margin and sank 86.4 percent (19-of-22) of their free throw tries.
Tennessee State (3-8, 0-1 OVC) also placed three scorers in double figures, led by Sanaa’ St. Andre’s 17 points. Zyion Shannon and Eboni Williams added 14 and 12 points, respectively for the Tigers.
“It was a strange game – we were in control early and then things got physical and Tennessee State came out in the third quarter and made their run,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “We had 23 turnovers to their 13 but I give our kids credit – we figured out how to get some stops. We can’t ask for much more out of our girls – they’ve bought in to playing hard. It wasn’t pretty but we’ll take it.”
The Skyhawks went on a 16-3 run in the opening quarter, keyed by Storey (six points) and Clark (five points). A three-pointer by McCarn at the 2:55 mark gave UT Martin a 16-6 advantage but the Tigers answered with eight of the next 11 points to trim the Skyhawk lead to 19-14 through 10 minutes.
UT Martin pieced together another extended run to begin the second period, racing out to a 16-5 surge. Clark was responsible for 10 of those points, including three straight buckets to close out the run to make the score 35-19. Tennessee State soon tallied an 8-2 run of its own but the Skyhawks were still able to take a double-digit advantage (42-31) at the break.
Clark’s 16 points in the opening half led all scorers as UT Martin canned seven treys on 15 attempts (a 46.7 percent clip). Shannon’s 12 points off the bench led the way for the Tigers.
Tennessee State started the third stanza on a 12-4 run, shaving the Skyhawk lead down to a single possession at the media timeout. UT Martin held off the Tigers through the rest of the quarter as a Rubel putback made the score 55-49 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Buckets from Brown and Clark in the first 84 seconds of the fourth quarter helped the Skyhawks get off to a good start in crunch time. A pair of Brown free throws at the 6:25 mark extended UT Martin’s lead out to 65-55 as the Skyhawks made 11 of 12 free throws in the final quarter.
UT Martin continues its OVC-opening road swing on Saturday, Dec. 30 when it travels to Tennessee Tech. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. from Cookeville.
