SKYHAWK WOMEN’S HOOPS SET FOR AFTERNOON SHOWDOWN AT BELMONT ON SATURDAY

The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team will go head-to-head with its biggest Ohio Valley Conference rival on Saturday afternoon in the Curb Event Center when traveling to Music City to take on Belmont. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

This contest pits two of the league's most dominant teams over the past decade. Between UT Martin and Belmont, the two programs have combined to win outright or share 10 regular season titles since 2011-12 while winning nine of the last 11 tournament championships. The Skyhawks are the owners of six regular season crowns and four tournament championships while the Bruins have claimed four season titles and five tournament trophies during their respective runs.

The Skyhawks (5-12, 2-4 OVC) are looking to move past a hard-fought matchup on Thursday night in a contest against Eastern Illinois which featured 16 lead changes and saw the score become tied 14 times before the Panthers snuck away with an 81-77 victory. UT Martin produced its highest scoring output of the season while shooting over 48 percent from the field and knocking down 13 three-pointers along with placing four players in double figures.

While the result was not in the cards for the Skyhawks, the team did get some good news in their most recent contest with the return of some valuable contributors to the lineup. After missing 10 games with a foot injury which has sidelined her since late November, sophomore guard Seygan Robins returned to the starting lineup and scored a career-high 19 points while dishing out four assists against the Panthers. The team also welcomed wing Hayley Harrison back to the squad after missing four of the last five games along with several other valuable contributors to provided much needed depth. Reinforcements are encouraging as UT Martin has been bitten by the injury bug all season with various starters combining to miss 36 starts through the first 17 games.

Belmont (10-7, 6-2 OVC) sits in a three-way tie atop the OVC standings while leading the league is several statistical categories during conference play including scoring offense (75.1 ppg), scoring defense (55.8 ppg), scoring margin (+19.5), field goal percentage defense (36.7 percent) and assist/turnover ratio (1.4). The Bruins feature three players who have scoring averages in double figures led by the play of Preseason Player of the Year Destinee Wells who averages 15.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 4.5 apg. She is joined atop the scoring leaderboard by Madison Bartley (11.7 ppg, 4.4 ppg) and Tuti Jones (11.6 ppg, 2.8 spg).

Saturday's game marks the 40^th meeting between the two programs with Belmont holding a 25-14 advantage in the series. The Skyhawks are 4-9 against the Bruins all-time on the road with their last win coming in the Curb Event Center on Jan. 3, 2015.

Fans can stream the game live on ESPN+ and listen locally to the radio broadcast on WCMT 1410 AM/100.5 FM with Chris Brinkley (play-by-play) and Brandon Burke (analyst) calling the action from courtside. Those links - as well as a link to follow along through live stats - are located above.

SKYHAWK WOMEN’S HOOPS SET FOR AFTERNOON SHOWDOWN AT BELMONT ON SATURDAY

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Players Mentioned

Hayley Harrison

Seygan Robins