MARTIN, Tenn. – All five University of Tennessee at Martin starters logged the full 40 minutes today but the Skyhawks came up just short in a back-and-forth battle to Tennessee State, dropping a close 55-53 decision in Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball action.
Facing a Lady Tiger squad who were fighting for a spot in the upcoming OVC Championship tournament, UT Martin put itself in position to win the game late in a contest where neither side led by more than five points at any moment. However, a go-ahead three-point attempt with five seconds remaining was blocked and Tennessee State eked out the win in a game that featured 14 lead changes and eight ties.
Anaya Brown had 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Skyhawks (14-15, 11-7 OVC), who also saw Kenley McCarn score a team-best 16 points with two steals. Josie Storey added 10 points while Lexi Rubel (six points, eight rebounds) and Love Mays (five points) rounded out the scoring for UT Martin, who shot 92.9 percent (13-of-14) from the free throw line.
The Lady Tigers (10-18, 7-11 OVC) were led by Eboni Williams’ 17 points while Zyion Shannon additionally contributed 14 points.
Despite the setback today, the Skyhawks finish the regular season in a three-way tie for second place in the OVC standings and will be the No. 3 seed in the OVC Championship tournament.
“Look at what we did this season,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “We don’t have much of a bench and we have no upperclassmen. We had a great year – for us to finish second is truly remarkable. I’m proud of how our girls have responded and hopefully they can keep surprising us next week.”
The Skyhawks fell behind 7-3 in the first quarter but battled back thanks to a 3-for-3 effort from three-point range in the opening 10 minutes. Tennessee State led by a slim 14-13 margin despite committing seven turnovers in the first quarter.
UT Martin went on a 13-4 run in the second period, kicked off by a Storey trifecta and followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Mays. A pair of Brown free throws at the 2:33 mark boosted the Skyhawk advantage to 28-23 but the Lady Tigers scored the final four points of the half to make the score 28-27.
McCarn accounted for nine points to guide UT Martin at the break while Williams posted 13 points for Tennessee State.
Brown scored the first four Skyhawk points in the third stanza but treys from the Lady Tigers on back-to-back possessions in the final three minutes helped Tennessee State take a 42-40 lead into the final quarter.
Four separate players scored the first eight UT Martin points in the fourth period. Storey sank a floater in the paint, McCarn and Rubel knocked down turnaround jumpers and Mays scored on a driving layup to give the Skyhawks a 48-46 lead with six minutes to go. The Lady Tigers responded with seven of the next nine points before a McCarn free throw with 36 ticks left knotted the score at 53-all. However, Tennessee State scored the go-ahead, game-winning bucket on a putback layup with six seconds remaining.
UT Martin will take on the winner of No. 6 seed Tennessee Tech/No. 7 seed Western Illinois on Thursday, March 7 at 3:30 p.m. in the Ford Center at Evansville, Ind.
