BIG DOUBLE-DOUBLE BY PERRY ISN’T ENOUGH AS SKYHAWKS FALL ON THE ROAD AT NO. 2 LOUISVILLE

Tuesday, January 5

Louisville, Ky.

1:30 p.m. (CT)

UT Martin

2-3

Louisville

8-0

UT Martin

#2 Louisville

BIG DOUBLE-DOUBLE BY PERRY ISN’T ENOUGH AS SKYHAWKS FALL ON THE ROAD AT NO. 2 LOUISVILLE

1/5/2021 4:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team opened the 2021 calendar year with its fifth straight road contest by taking on No. 2 ranked Louisville for the second time in less than a month. Much like in the first matchup, the game would be highlighted by each team's respective star and a big second quarter by the Cardinals which resulted in a 96-61 setback for the visitors.

The Skyhawks (2-3) played just their third non-conference matchup of the season by squaring off against the nationally ranked Cardinals in a game which came together less than 48 hours before tipoff. With little time to prepare, UT Martin got off to a slow start against the nation's seventh ranked offense while the Cardinals showed why its sixth ranked scoring margin was no fluke, pushing their lead out to as large as 37 points late in the third quarter to pull away.

UT Martin struggled from the field for much of the contest, shooting just 32.4 percent for 30 minutes of the contest with the lone outlier coming in the third quarter when the squad made 8-of-13 attempts (61.5 percent) to post its top scoring period of the game. The Cardinals capitalized on most of the Skyhawks mistakes by turning 18 of the team's turnovers into 26 points.

One of the bright spots for the Skyhawks was the play of All-American Chelsey Perry who rallied from a sluggish start to the contest by tallying 24 points in the second half to finish with a demonstrative 26 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight game with a double-double. The contest marked her 13th career double-double and fifth game this season with at least 20 points. With 6:41 to play in the third quarter she tallied her 200th career block, becoming just the second player in program history and seventh in OVC history to accomplish the feat. She now sits just three blocks behind Mary Kate Long (203) for the program's career record.

Juniors Paige Pipkin and Sade' Hudson just missed out on double figures with nine points each while Zaire Hicks also tallied seven points off the bench. Dasia Young and Seygan Robins rounded out the team's scoring with five points each.

Louisville (8-0) remained unbeaten behind a career afternoon from its All-American star Dana Evans who scored a career-high 29 points while dishing five assists and two steals. Evans was joined in double figures by Kianna Smith with 14 points while Hailey Van Lith rounded out the trio with 12 points.

UT Martin will return to Ohio Valley Conference action on Thursday, Jan. 7 when traveling to Music City to take on Tennessee State. Tipoff from the Gentry Center is scheduled for 5 p.m.