SKYHAWK WOMEN’S HOOPS OVERCOME 16-POINT DEFICIT TO NOTCH 59-58 WIN AT AUSTIN PEAY

Saturday, February 23

Clarksville, Tenn.

1:30 p.m.

UT Martin

19-8 (11-5OVC)

Austin Peay

14-13 (9-7OVC)

UT Martin

Austin Peay

SKYHAWK WOMEN’S HOOPS OVERCOME 16-POINT DEFICIT TO NOTCH 59-58 WIN AT AUSTIN PEAY

2/23/2019 4:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team trailed by as much as 16 points in the second quarter before stingy defense and strong post play in the second half lifted the Skyhawks to a 59-58 road victory at Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay.

The Skyhawks (19-8, 11-5 OVC) snapped a three-game losing streak at the Dunn Center in a game which many thought the streak might stretch out to four. With Austin Peay jumping out to a 16-point lead with 3:09 to play in the second quarter, UT Martin faced an uphill battle down the stretch. From there the Skyhawks would transition into a half-court defense and force the ball into the paint to trim the margin down to six heading into the fourth and ultimately find a game-winner from freshman Damiah Griffin with 20 seconds to play.

UT Martin used its aggressiveness on the defensive end to force the action. The Skyhawks would tally 12 steals in the game, led by six from Emanye Robertson and four from Zaire Hicks. The squad would also protect the paint by tallying six blocked shots, including a pair from the sophomore pair of Maddie Waldrop and Chelsey Perry. With Perry's performance, she pushed her season shot block total up to 63 while becoming just the third player in UT Martin history to join the 100 Block Club.

Along with her strong defensive day, Robertson left her mark throughout the stat sheet. In her fourth career trip to Clarksville, Robertson notched her first career victory in the Dunn Center behind a game-high 13 points, six assists, six steal and five rebound performance. Other standouts came in the form of Griffin who scored 10 points – including the game-winner – while sophomore Demi Burdick continued her hot play as of late with nine points and seven rebounds.

"I am proud of our second half effort today," UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. "I thought our offense was truly awful. Thankfully our defense in the second half was unbelievably good. We had several kids not show up but we decided in the half that we would sit back and guard in the halfcourt while throwing it into the post. In turn, our defense in the second half was the best I've ever seen for this team while we got a huge shot from Damiah at the end. When you look at the play of Damiah, Demi and Zaire, you saw some guts tonight and hopefully that's something to build off of."

Austin Peay (14-13, 9-7 OVC) saw its three-game losing streak come to a halt in a second-half collapse. Senior Keisha Gregory tallied 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals to pace the Governors.

UT Martin will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 28 when playing host to OVC champion Belmont. Tipoff from the Elam Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.