By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team posted a valiant fourth quarter comeback attempt, trimming a 19-point second half deficit down to four before ultimately dropping its Ohio Valley Conference home opener to SIUE by a final score of 62-58 on Saturday afternoon.
After the first quarter featured four lead changes and saw the score become tied three times alone, SIUE took a narrow advantage after the first and added to it with a strong second period which featured a 13-0 run to push the game’s margin out to as large as 14 heading into halftime. The Cougars later bumped their lead out to 19 points in the third quarter before the Skyhawks began to rally by finishing the period on a 14-5 run.
The game teetered around a 10-point margin for nearly the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter before the Skyhawks made their final charge. UT Martin scored six unanswered points to cut the margin to four with 1:45 to play in the game before back-to-back SIUE buckets in the paint pushed it back out to an eight-point game. The Skyhawks would respond by cutting the deficit back down to four on two more occasions but would ultimately run out of time in their comeback attempt.
The Skyhawks (4-9, 1-1 OVC) shot 44.9 percent from the floor while placing three players in double figures and scoring 40 of the team’s 58 points in the paint. Junior guard Paige Pipkin led the team in scoring for the fourth straight game with 16 points while also adding six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Freshman Shae Littleford also filled the stat sheet with her third double-figure outing of the season after adding 14 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Junior Kyannah Grant ranked as the team’s third leading scorer with 13 points, four assists and three steals while freshman Ella Thompson posted a nice afternoon with six points and a Skyhawk season-high 12 rebounds.
“I thought we didn’t do a good job of coming back and playing less than 48 hours ago,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “We are going to have to grow up and learn how to do that. We have a lot of inexperienced kids. I thought for the most part, SIUE played harder that we did and we are going to have to find an answer to that challenge. It didn’t look like we really started playing until we got down by 19, so we have to get better leadership and answer the bell that is presented to us next week.”
SIUE (5-8, 1-1 OVC) snapped a four-game losing streak and picked up the first OVC victory under first-year head coach Samantha Quigley Smith after producing a balanced effort. The Cougars narrowly won both the turnover and rebounding battle while finding assists on 22 of their 25 made field goals. Fifth-year senior Allie Troeckler led the team with 16 points while her final free throw with 19 seconds to play ranked as her 1,000th career point. She was joined in double figures by Gabby Nikitinatie and Mikia Keith who both tossed in 11 points each.
UT Martin will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 6 when traveling to Tennessee State. Action from the Gentry Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information