By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team saw it’s season-long four-game winning streak come to a halt on Saturday afternoon at the hands of visiting Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State on Senior Day, dropping the season series following a 69-56 setback.
The Skyhawks (11-16, 8-8 OVC) didn’t find the stops the team has come accustomed to during the squad’s recent hot streak as the Racers were red-hot from the field for the second meeting this season, shooting 55.3 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from beyond the arc with eight made three-pointers. While the visitors were lighting up the scoreboard, the home team struggled in the first and third quarter especially from the field before shooting 40 percent for the game.
Murray State jumped out early in the contest with a lead as large as 13 in the first quarter before seeing the margin trimmed to just five points heading into halftime. While the Skyhawks seemed to be back in the contest, the Racers used the third quarter to find the separation they needed to put the game away by stringing together a 12-0 run before eventually growing their lead to 21 points early in the fourth.
While the trio of graduate Holly Forbes along with program veterans Emma Davis and Kyannah Grant were honored in a pregame ceremony for their upcoming graduations, the Skyhawks did not find a breakout performance offensively as it marked just the second time this season in which the team did not feature a double figure scorer. UT Martin instead boasted a balanced scoring approach with nine different players reaching the scoring column – including the first career points for freshman Mia Hurst.
The duo of Forbes and Shae Littleford each tallied nine points and three rebounds to lead the team in scoring while Seygan Robins filled the stat sheet with eight points, four assists and three steals. Martin native Raegan Johnson posted the best offensive game of her career with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting while Paige Pipkin tallied seven points and seven rebounds.
“This is the first time that we’ve had multiple days off since January 4 so our kids may not have known how to respond,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “I don’t know – I think we may have been in a pretty good flow. We didn’t start out doing anything that had gotten us where we were and I don’t know if that’s Murray or us. But this was not the way that we had been playing up until this little stretch.”
“I thought the first and third quarters were the difference in the game,” McMillan continued. “In both openings, we didn’t do the things that we have been doing and that’s why it was kind of unusual. We were going on an upward trajectory and then against Morehead, we flattened out. And then we didn’t go back up today. So if we don’t turn it and go back up, it’ll be a quick tournament for us – we’ll play a game and come home. You want to be playing well at this time of the year, so we have two games to get it turned around. If we do, great and if we don’t, it’s not going to be good for us.”
Murray State (20-7, 12-4 OVC) picked up its first 20-win season since 2009 behind the big victory and ended an eight-game losing streak inside the Elam Center. The Racers benefited from a stuffed scoring column which featured four players in double figures and 34 points in the paint, including a dominating double-double from Katelyn Young who tallied 22 points and 13 rebounds. Hannah McKay also had a nice afternoon by tossing in 14 points while Murray natives Lex Mayes (12 points) and Alexis Burpo (11 points) also reached double-digits.
UT Martin will now take a few days to prepare for the final week of the regular season beginning with a road matchup against Southeast Missouri on Thursday, Feb. 24. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information