EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team will be dancing once again as the squad earned the Ohio Valley Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a semifinal victory over Little Rock on Friday afternoon by a final score of 54-48.
With No. 1 seed Southern Indiana currently in its four-year reclassification process to Division I, the Screaming Eagles are ineligible for NCAA operated events. Due to conference policy, regardless of tomorrow’s OVC Basketball Championship result, UT Martin will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament field with its semifinal victory.
The Skyhawks (16-15) earned themselves another postseason berth by outlasting No. 2 seed Little Rock in a defensive slugfest. Neither team found much fluidity in a tightly contested matchup with each squad shooting under 39 percent from the floor while combining for 29 turnovers. The two teams exchanged leads nine times – including six times in the fourth quarter – while seeing the margin become tied on five occasions.
UT Martin had three players score in double figures with All-OVC forward Anaya Brown leading the team with 15 points while adding five rebounds and two blocks in the win. Fellow All-OVC performer Kenley McCarn also reached double figures with 12 points and six rebounds while Lexi Rubel tossed in 11 points and eight rebounds.
“I have no idea how we won that game,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “It was amazing watching them compete. I thought we would run out of gas, but we answered every time when I thought the momentum was changing. We answered the bell every single time. I’ve never been around something like this.”
“We didn’t know if we would even be in the OVC Tournament back in December, but the fact that these kids are getting to now play in the NCAA Tournament is beyond my wildest dreams. I’m shocked and amazed because the story that we have had this year is crazy. There was a toughness that we had that makes me literally amazed. These kids are running on fumes and I’m so proud of them. It is an unbelievable setting for our future because I honestly feel like we’re back.”
Little Rock (12-18) saw its season come to a close in its first game of the tournament following a double-bye with the No. 2 seed. All-OVC guard Jayla Brooks provided the bulk of the offense for the Trojans as she scored a game-high 18 points while knocking down four three-pointers.
UT Martin will now turn its focus to cutting down the nets at the OVC Basketball Championship with a title game showdown against top-seeded Southern Indiana on Saturday, March 9. Tipoff from the championship affair is slated for 2 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+.
