COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team once again passed a road test with flying colors this afternoon, topping defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Tennessee Tech by a 67-58 margin at the Hooper Eblen Center.
The Skyhawks raced out to a 25-12 lead after the first quarter but the Golden Eagles chipped away and took their first lead of the contest with six minutes to go in the third quarter. The score was knotted at 53-all with four minutes remaining in the game but UT Martin (5-8, 2-0 OVC) iced the victory with a clutch 14-2 run down the stretch.
Kenley McCarn tossed in 10 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, adding a career-best seven rebounds and five assists in a complete performance. Anaya Brown (16 points, nine rebounds) and Lexi Rubel (14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) also reached double figures in the scoring column for the Skyhawks, who shot an even 50 percent (24-for-48) from the floor.
Tennessee Tech (5-8, 0-2 OVC) was led by Maaliya Owens’ 14 points while Reagan Hurst and Anna Walker scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Golden Eagles were held to 32.2 percent shooting (19-of-59) overall and 30.8 percent (8-for-26) from beyond the three-point arc.
“That was a gutsy win,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan. “We could have folded about five or six times and we just didn’t – I thought Kenley’s three-pointer late put some energy back in us after we were kind of on life support. We played at our pace, got some good looks in the fourth quarter and we executed unbelievably.”
Rubel ensured the Skyhawks got off to a hot start, scoring all of UT Martin’s points during an 8-2 advantage a little over three minutes in. Tennessee Tech came back to equal the score at 8-all but the Skyhawks wrapped up the quarter on a 17-4 run, shooting 72.7 percent (8-of-11) with a perfect 7-for-7 mark from the free throw line in the opening 10 minutes.
The Golden Eagles began the second quarter with six unanswered points until a Norah Clark three-pointer from the right wing kept UT Martin’s lead at double digits (28-18). Tennessee Tech answered with 10 of the next 12 points but Mah Minthe was responsible for the Skyhawks’ final four points of the first half, ensuring UT Martin led 32-28 at the break.
Rubel’s game-high 10 points guided the Skyhawks in the opening 20 minutes while Walker and Hurst scored seven points apiece to lead the Golden Eagles, who were held to 25 percent shooting (7-of-28).
A backdoor layup from Clark and a bucket inside by Brown opened the second-half scoring, padding UT Martin’s lead out to 36-28. Tennessee Tech then went on a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the day with 6:12 to go in the third period. The Skyhawks accounted for six consecutive points to retake the lead at 44-40 but the Golden Eagles led by a slim 47-46 margin going into the fourth quarter.
McCarn buried a straightaway trey on the first possession of the fourth quarter as she scored the first five points in a 7-0 surge for UT Martin. Following six straight points by Tennessee Tech to tie the score at 53-all, McCarn sank a three-pointer from the left corner and the Skyhawks never looked back – not trailing from that point forward.
The next three UT Martin games will all be played at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, starting with a Thursday, Jan. 4 matchup against Eastern Illinois. It was announced last week that tipoff has been moved to 5 p.m. as the frontend of a doubleheader with the men’s basketball team.
