The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team will make its long-awaited season debut on Monday, Nov. 6 with a road matchup at BIG EAST foe Marquette. Tipoff from the Al McGuire Center is scheduled for noon and will be streamed exclusively on FloHoops.
The Skyhawks open the season with a young roster which includes four players who started 18 or more games last season with the return of Anaya Brown, Shae Littleford, Lexi Rubel and Josie Storey while the squad looks for a strong redshirt-freshman campaign by Kenley McCarn who played in only four games before suffering a season-ending injury. The team is rounded out by 10 newcomers to the squad including seven freshmen and three transfers.
UT Martin finished last season with a 13-17 overall record while going 9-9 in conference play to wrap up the #4 seed in the OVC Basketball Championship before falling in the first round. The Skyhawks enter 2023-24 season projected to finish fourth in the OVC Preseason Poll.
The squad is led by head coach Kevin McMillan who enters his 15th season at the helm of the Skyhawks while ranking third in OVC history with 265 career victories. During his tenure, the Skyhawks have won six regular season championships and four tournament crowns while earning nine postseason berths.
Junior guard Shae Littleford earned a spot on the Preseason All-OVC squad after snagging All-OVC second team honors last season. Littleford averaged 13.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last season while scoring in double figures 17 times – including six 20-point outings.
Marquette is coming off a 21-11 record in 2022-23 with signature wins over No. 3 Texas and No. 4 UConn – the two highest-ranked wins in program history. Senior Jordan King highlights the squad as a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection after averaging 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Senior Liza Karlen also garnered all-league honors after averaging 11.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game to round out a potent offensive attack.
Monday’s contest marks the first matchup between the two programs.
