By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball squad began Saturday’s game at Belmont on a tear but ran out of gas in a 73-48 setback to the Bruins at the Curb Event Center.
The Skyhawks shot a scorching 61.5 percent (8-of-13) in the opening 10 minutes – including four trifectas – en route to a 20-19 advantage. However, the Bruins outscored UT Martin by a 37-10 margin over the next two quarters and the Skyhawks could not recover.
Paige Pipkin scored in double figures for the 11th time in 17 games this season, tossing in 13 points for UT Martin (5-13, 2-5 Ohio Valley Conference). Shae Littleford chipped in 10 points while Ella Thompson snared a team-best six rebounds for the Skyhawks, who forced 16 turnovers.
Belmont (11-7, 7-2 OVC) placed three scorers in double digits, led by Kilyn McGuff’s 14 points. Jamilyn Kinney posted 11 points while Destinee Wells added 10 points for the Bruins, who shot 47.1 percent (16-of-34) from three-point range.
“You could see in the first quarter that we were pretty good,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “Offensively, we were moving the ball really well, getting good shots and defensively we were flying around. We were wearing ourselves out and I knew we couldn’t keep playing up-tempo so we tried to slow it down and that’s on me. We had a lot of tired misses – if a couple of those drop, maybe our adrenaline takes over but we were gassed. The kids are giving everything they got but we’re still trying to get back in basketball shape.”
Pipkin came out on fire, drilling a pair of three-pointers in the first 82 seconds to give the Skyhawks a 6-2 lead. Belmont briefly took a lead but UT Martin answered with a 9-3 run, capped off by five consecutive points from Thompson. The Bruins scored six straight points but a Littleford trey from the left corner just before the buzzer provided the Skyhawks with a 20-19 advantage at the conclusion of the first quarter. Pipkin’s eight points paced all scorers in the opening period.
Belmont opened the second quarter with 15 unanswered points before Seygan Robins ended UT Martin’s scoring drought with a three-pointer at the 2:20 mark. Pipkin swished a trey with 32 seconds left before halftime to cut the Skyhawk deficit to 40-26 at the break. Pipkin collected a game-high 11 points in the first half while the Bruins had six players with at least five points each.
Pipkin splashed a jumper in the paint for the first bucket on either side in the third quarter but Belmont responded with nine unanswered points. Littleford contributed a pair of free throws with 2:44 to go in the period but UT Martin faced a 56-30 deficit through 30 minutes of play.
The Skyhawks outscored the hosts 21-20 in the fourth quarter, including an 8-0 run midway through the stanza. Emma Davis ignited the surge with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions before Shanice Simpson-Whiteley knocked down a pair of free throws. Simpson-Whiteley tossed in all seven of her points in the last quarter – connecting on seven of her eight attempts from the charity stripe – but UT Martin’s deficit was too large to overcome.
A four-game homestand for the Skyhawks begins on Monday, Jan. 31 when UT Martin hosts Tennessee Tech at 6 p.m. This game was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 15 before it was postponed due to OVC health and safety protocols.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information