By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – After fighting back from a 13-point deficit in the first half, the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball not only tied the game but held a two-point advantage with 3.3 seconds to play in the game following a pair of free throws by Seygan Robins. The team’s jubilation was short-lived however as a buzzer-beating three-point heave by Tia Harvey lifted Little Rock to a 45-44 victory in its Ohio Valley Conference debut.
In a heavy-weight battle between new league rivals, the Skyhawks (4-8, 0-1 OVC) suffered a heart-breaking loss to the Trojans (4-8, 1-0 OVC) in their first matchup in nearly 20 years. After UT Martin jumped out to an early advantage in the contest, Little Rock looked to take control in the second quarter after outscoring its visitors by 17. While the Skyhawks went into halftime down by 13, they rebounded nicely in the third quarter by stringing together a 7-0 run to cut the game’s deficit down to four points heading into the final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter saw the intensity climb with a pair of lead changes and a tie in the final seconds. The game sat a one-possession margin in the final four minutes of the contest with the Skyhawks completing their comeback attempt courtesy of a three-pointer by Paige Pipkin with 83 seconds to play to take a one-point advantage. After the Trojans made a free throw to tie the contest with just over a minute to play, the score remained knotted up until Robins was fouled with 3.3 seconds to play and sank both attempts to take a 44-42 lead. Chaos then ensued as Little Rock went the length of the court before Harvey hoisted up a running three-pointer to win the game at the buzzer.
Neither team shot the ball well on the night with UT Martin narrowly besting Little Rock with a 36.4 field goal percentage. The Skyhawks did see three players score in double figures with freshman Anaya Brown pacing the team with 12 points while both Shae Littleford and Pipkin chipped in 11 points each.
“With the way we fought back, we deserved to win, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “I probably hurt us tonight because we had fouls to give and we had a timeout, but we took a gamble and lost. I made the mistake and that one mistake cost us the ballgame. I banked on that someone is just going to have to throw something in, and she did.”
“I couldn’t be more pleased in our kids in how they battled back because we could have folded when we were down in the second quarter. We were getting manhandled in the first half but every quarter we got better and better and better. We did everything we needed to win the game, we just lost on a prayer. If we get beat on that shot, we get beat on that shot.”
Little Rock earned its first win as a member of the OVC behind a pair of double figure performances. The return of Sali Kourouma provided a big spark for the Trojans in her season debut as she paced the team with 14 points. Along with Harvey’s game-winner, she also scored 11 points on the night.
UT Martin will return home for the first time since Nov. 30 when playing host to Morehead State on Saturday, Dec. 31. Tipoff from the Elam Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information