NW Tennessee News

The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team led for over 33 minutes of clock time this evening but Southeast Missouri mounted a fourth quarter comeback en route to a 56-54 win at the Show Me Center.
           
The Skyhawks (7-11, 3-4 Ohio Valley Conference) led by as many as 12 points in the first quarter but committed 24 turnovers for the game. After the Redhawks took their first lead of the contest at the 6:56 mark of the fourth quarter, UT Martin eventually reclaimed a three-point advantage with 45 seconds left. However, Southeast Missouri accounted for the final five points of the game – including the go-ahead bucket by Kori Tomlin with 0.7 seconds to go.
           
Five Skyhawks scored at least eight points this evening, guided by 12 points from freshman Josie Storey. Anaya Brown (11 points, game-high eight rebounds, two blocks, two steals) also scored in double digits while Shae Littleford tallied nine points, a career-best six rebounds and six assists. Sydneey Boykin added nine points (thanks to three 3-pointers) while Sharnecce Currie-Jelks posted eight points in 20 minutes off the bench.
           
The Redhawks (8-10, 3-4 OVC) were led by Sophie Bussard's 15 points while Rahmena Henderson came away with 12 points. Southeast Missouri was limited to 35.2 percent (19-of-54) shooting but scored 21 points off turnovers.
           
"Everything that could go wrong for us went wrong," UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. "With that said, we had control of the game and had a chance to win it at the end but we made two mistakes in the final minute that led to five points. Asking freshmen and sophomores to handle the load is a lot – they're just not ready for that yet. We have to figure out ways to win and we didn't do that tonight – maybe this will be a good learning experience for us." 

Six different Skyhawks scored in the first quarter as UT Martin raced out to a 17-8 lead after 10 minutes of play. The Skyhawks began the game on a 7-0 run as the UT Martin defense held Southeast Missouri without a field goal for the first 5:33. Boykin nailed back-to-back three-pointers before a layup from Currie-Jelks pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to a dozen (17-5) with a little over a minute to go in the first period.
           
The Redhawks, who scored the final three points of the first quarter, accounted for the first seven points of the second period to get within one at 17-16. UT Martin responded with seven of the next nine points, capped off with five straight points out of Storey to make the score 24-17 at the 4:03 mark. Boykin tacked on another trifecta a little over a minute later to nudge the Skyhawks' advantage back out to seven points – the same margin that UT Martin took into the locker room at the break.
           
Boykin's nine points led all scorers at the half while Southeast Missouri was paced by nine points out of Bussard. The Redhawks shot just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) and were forced into 10 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
           
After Brown knocked down a 15-foot jumper to start the second half scoring, Southeast Missouri went on a 7-0 run to pull within a single possession with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Soon thereafter, Currie-Jelks (12-foot baseline jumper) and Storey (deep three-pointer) extended the Skyhawk advantage back out to 36-29. A layup from Brown with 59 ticks left in the quarter kept UT Martin's lead at seven but the Redhawks scored the final four points of the period to whittle the Skyhawk advantage to 42-39 through 30 minutes of play.
           
Currie-Jelks swished a 15-foot jumper on the first possession of the fourth quarter but Southeast Missouri came back with an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Four Littleford free throws briefly swung the score back in favor of UT Martin but the Redhawks reclaimed a 51-50 lead at the 3:22 mark. Three free throws by Seygan Robins and another free throw from Brown gave the Skyhawks the aforementioned 54-51 advantage with 45 seconds left to play but Southeast Missouri made a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. After Tomlin's pull-up jumper, the Skyhawks advanced the ball to the frontcourt out of a timeout and got a look at a potential game-winning trey but the contested shot rimmed out at the buzzer.
           
The Skyhawks return home for their next three contests, beginning with a Saturday, Jan. 21 matchup against Eastern Illinois. Tipoff for the frontend of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. 

Original source can be found here