Martin, TN – No. 8/9 Tennessee women’s basketball team survived a sluggish first half and a determined opponent, holding off upset-minded UT Martin, 72-61, in the Pat Summitt Heritage Classic on Sunday at the Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (0-2), playing on a court named for the UTM alum and legendary Lady Vols coach, made six of nine three-pointers in the first half and seized an eight-point, second-quarter lead. The Lady Vols (2-1), playing their second game in two days and third this week, finally sprung to life after the intermission, outscoring the hosts 39-28 over the final 20 minutes to claim a hard-earned victory.
Senior guard Nya Robertson stepped up with her best outing as a Lady Vol, firing in 17 points to lead the Big Orange. Freshman guard Jaida Civil contributed 13 points, while senior forward Janiah Barker added 11 and redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper tossed in 10. Barker and senior forward Zee Spearman pulled down eight rebounds to pace UT on the glass.
Grace Billington set the tone for UT Martin, knocking down four of five attempts from beyond the arc to tally 20 points. Kenley McCarn and Brittani Wells chipped in 14 and 10, respectively.
The Lady Vols grabbed an early 4-0 advantage on layups by Civil and Cooper before UT Martin fought back and took a 5-4 lead on a Billington three-pointer with 6:55 to go. A Cooper trey and Barker turnaround jumper in the paint enabled Tennessee to carry a 9-8 edge into the 4:43 media timeout. The Skyhawks battled toe to toe with the Big Orange, leading on four more occasions before Robertson beat the buzzer with a driving layup to provide her team an 18-17 lead after one.
It was all UTM at the outset of the second stanza, as the hosts rode 5-of-8 shooting and used four Tennessee turnovers to fuel an 11-2 run and 28-20 lead that forced the Lady Vols to ask for time with 5:50 to go in the period. After the break, UT responded immediately with a 7-0 burst to pull within one, 28-27, with 4:39 remaining on back-to-back threes from Barker and Civil and a free throw from Jersey Wolfenbarger. After the Skyhawks moved back in front, 33-27, with 2:56 to go, UT reeled them back in with layups by Barker, Spearman and Robertson to forge a 33-33 tie at the half.
After UTM struck first to open the third quarter, Tennessee responded with a 7-0 run, ignited by a Robertson three and fast-break layup and capped by a Mia Pauldo jumper to take a game-best six-point lead, 41-36, with 6:54 remaining. A Mya Pauldo driving layup made it a six-point cushion with 5:39 to go, but a pair of UTM buckets trimmed the Lady Vol lead to 43-40 by the 3:48 media break. Spearman extended the gap to six again, 46-40, with 3:10 to go, but UT Martin clawed back to within one, 46-45, on a Billington three with two minutes remaining. Threes by Cooper and Mia Pauldo, though, would send the Lady Vols into the final frame with a 52-46 lead.
Tennessee built its lead to 11, 57-46, in the early stages of the fourth quarter, getting a Robertson three-ball and a fast break layup from Civil. Billington converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the UTM deficit to 57-49 as the Skyhawks asked for time with 7:38 remaining.
The UT Lady Vols responded and built their lead to 15, getting a pair of layups from Civil and a trey from Robertson to make it 64-49 with 6:21 to go. A 6-2 burst by UTM, though, trimmed the margin to 11, 66-55, by the 4:46 media timeout. The Lady Vols hit their free throws down the stretch, though, to close out the victory.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
The Tennessee women’s basketball team returns home to face Belmont (1-1) on Thursday at 6:00pm CT at Food City Center. The game will be televised on SEC Network and carried by the Lady Vol Radio Network.
