FOURTH QUARTER RALLY COMES UP SHORT FOR SKYHAWK HOOPS IN OVC CHAMPIONSHIP, FALLING TO BELMONT 83-75

Saturday, March 6

Evansville, Ind.

2 p.m.

UT Martin

20-5

Belmont

20-5

Belmont

UT Martin

FOURTH QUARTER RALLY COMES UP SHORT FOR SKYHAWK HOOPS IN OVC CHAMPIONSHIP, FALLING TO BELMONT 83-75

3/6/2021 8:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After falling behind by 19 in the fourth quarter, the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team would trim the deficit to a two-possession game in the final minutes of the contest but could not overcome Belmont in the final moments before ultimately falling in the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship title game by a final score of 83-75.

The Skyhawks (20-5) now await their next opponent and postseason tournament. As the league's regular season champion and with a NET of 67 entering the championship field, UT Martin has secured at least an automatic berth to the Women's National Invitation Tournament while still holding hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Skyhawks will find out their fate on Monday, March 15 on Selection Monday.

UT Martin came out of the gates ice cold from the floor, missing its first eight shots of the game and ending the quarter making just 4-of-15 attempts. While both team's got off to a slow start, Belmont never trailed in the contest and only turned up their offensive motor in the second quarter with a 12-0 run to push the margin out to 17 points behind a 62.5 percent shooting effort from the floor in the period.

With the Skyhawks facing a 15-point deficit at the half, the home team on the scoreboard would trim the margin down to as close as 10 points in the quarter but the Bruins would bounce right back to push the lead back out to 16 points heading into the fourth quarter. Down but not out, UT Martin fought back by forcing six turnovers in the fourth quarter and used a 9-0 run to cut the deficit down to seven points with five minutes to play. Both teams would trade baskets in the final minutes with the Skyhawks getting as close as six points with 20 seconds to play but could not find the winning formula down the stretch.

UT Martin saw four players score in double figures in the contest led by All-OVC first team selection Dasia Young with 19 points and nine rebounds. OVC Player of the Year Chelsey Perry came off the bench to score 16 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Paige Pipkin also tallied 16 points in the contest while Maddie Waldrop rounded out the Skyhawks in double figures with 11 points and six rebounds.

Following the contest, the pair of Young and Waldrop were named to the OVC All-Tournament team for their work over the three-game event. Young averaged 16.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the week while Waldrop chipped in 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Gallery: (3-6-2021) WBB vs. Belmont (OVC Finals)

"I thought our kids played hard but because I made a few mistakes, we ran out of time," UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. "I made some mistakes early that got Belmont in a rhythm and even though we did correct them, the damage was done and they played great – not that they couldn't have anyway – but it kind of went against what I was trying to accomplish. I thought we kind of rushed it a little bit early. We got good shots, we just didn't make them and we started to get frustrated. Then in the second quarter they got on a roll and it began to snowball. A game is just so fragile, I wish that I would have been able to make a little adjustment to give them a better chance to recover earlier."

Belmont (20-5) earned the program's fifth OVC tournament championship behind the play of Tournament MVP Destinee Wells who scored 32 points while tallying seven assists and four steals in the contests. Three other players scored in double figures for the Bruins with Jamilyn Kinney (15), Madison Bartley (13) and Conley Chinn (11) joining in the action.