By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – After playing six of its first seven games of the season away from the friendly confines of the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team returned to open a three-game home stand this afternoon when playing Atlantic-10 foe Saint Louis. The game proved to be tightly contested with four lead changes while the score became tied on three occasions before the visiting Billikens hung on to record a 59-54 road win.
The Skyhawks (3-5) dropped their third consecutive contest of the season with each of the three games being decided by double-digits. UT Martin struggled out of the gates, shooting just nine percent in the opening quarter but rallied to shoot 50 percent in the second quarter to bring its average up to 28.5 percent at the half before ultimately shooting 35.4 percent from the field for the game.
UT Martin has shot below 40 percent from the field in six of eight games this season but has excelled on the defensive end by rating ninth nationally in scoring defense. The team’s defensive effort carried a heavy burden by forcing 16 turnovers while limiting the Billikens to just a 32.0 percent shooting percentage in the first half. After the break however, SLU came out on fire from the field, knocking down 12-of-20 attempts from the field (60 percent) – including 6-of-7 three-point attempts to keep the Skyhawks at bay down the stretch.
Two players scored in double figures for the Skyhawks as graduate forward Holly Forbes scored a game-high 17 points while tallying two rebounds, two steals and two blocks in nearly 39 minutes of action. Junior guard Kyannah Grant also had a nice day by notching her 11th career game in double figures after tallying 10 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Freshman Shae Littleford just missed out on double-digits with nine points while adding six rebounds and four steals on the afternoon.
“I thought it was a good effort from our kids,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “We had a lot of kids in positions they have not been in this season, asking them to step in and do things they were not accustomed to. We had too many turnovers but how much of that is attributed to being in situations you are not typically in? Hopefully limiting possessions and making the game a little shorter will give us a chance but when we made mistakes today, this team made us pay. I cannot fault these kids for their effort though.”
Saint Louis (3-5) picked up its second consecutive win against an Ohio Valley Conference opponent this weekend behind a pair of double-digit scorers. Guard Ciaja Harbison led the team with 14 points while Kiley Bess chipped in 13 points off the bench. Meanwhile, forward Brooke Flowers added a nice day out of the post with five points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
After falling into an early hole in the first quarter – facing a 10-point deficit – the Skyhawks responded by posting a big run to open the second quarter. Trailing by six heading into the second, UT Martin put together a 14-3 run over the first five minutes of the quarter behind 11 points from Forbes before SLU called a timeout to slow down the momentum. Play would go back-and-forth in the final minutes of the half before both teams went into the locker room at the break tied at 23.
The Billikens used a strong third quarter to stretch their lead out once again by shooting 70 percent from the field and stringing together an 8-0 run. SLU ultimately outscored UT Martin by six in the third quarter to take a 41-35 advantage heading into the final quarter of play. After the lead grew out to as large as nine points on a pair of occasions for the Billikens, the Skyhawks cut the deficit down to as close as two points with 22 seconds to play following a driving layup by Emma Davis. UT Martin later had a chance to score a potential game-tying bucket but could not convert as SLU held on to win 59-54.
The Skyhawks will shift their focus to finals week on the UT Martin campus over the next few days before returning to action when playing host to Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State on Sunday, Dec. 12. Tipoff from the Elam Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information