By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Sports Assistant Information Director
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference regular season champion University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team opened league play on Thursday evening with a 70-62 road victory at Austin Peay.
The Skyhawks (4-8, 1-0 OVC) found a much-needed victory to snap a six-game losing streak and pick up their first win in the month of December. The team’s recipe for success came on the offensive end where the squad posted its highest scoring performance of the season with 70 points behind a pair of career-best individual outings.
Hampered by injuries throughout the season and down two more players with the flu, the Skyhawks hit the road with just eight available players this evening. Despite playing short-handed once again and facing a squad which had not faced a deficit in four games, UT Martin led for over 35 minutes of the contest after posting season-bests in total points (70), field goals made (25) and field goal percentage (56.8) while scoring 34 points in the paint.
Junior guard Paige Pipkin enjoyed an impressive evening by leading all scorers with a new career-high of 33 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field while knocking down 8-of-9 free throw attempts. Freshman guard Shae Littleford also set a new personal-high by tossing in 16 points while adding four rebounds, four steals and three assists to her stat line in 40 minutes of action.
“I’m so proud of the girls because it is so difficult to go on the road and win in our league,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “We had two kids who had ever played in this gym before. We have not had our starting five the whole season with at least two out every game and four players out total for this one. I am extremely proud of the kids for giving us what they had even though we didn’t finish well. With about six minutes to go I think we just ran out of gas. This is one of those teams who really had a good non-conference record and has been playing really well.”
Austin Peay (7-4, 0-1 OVC) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end despite a strong fourth quarter push. With the Govs facing an 18-point deficit heading into the fourth, the home squad put up 28 points in the final quarter to cut the margin down to five with just over a minute to play in the game before the Skyhawks held on down the stretch.
The Govs placed three players in double figures overall with two-time OVC Player of the Week Yamia Johnson leading the team with 14 points off the bench – all of which coming in the second half. Kasey Kidwell (12 points) and Shay-Lee Kirby (11 points, eight rebounds) also scored in double-digits to pace Austin Peay.
UT Martin will return to action when playing host to SIUE on Saturday, Jan. 1. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information