MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin suffered through its worst shooting night of the season, shooting only 26 percent from the field, but found a way to hit the clutch shots when it needed them and pull out a 51-47 win over Eastern Kentucky and advance to the Ohio Valley Conference semi-finals in Nashville, Tenn. Alecia Weatherly had only 11 points, but none were bigger than the go-ahead three-pointer she hit with just one minute remaining.

The win not only improves the Skyhawks record to 11-18 (8-10 OVC) on the year, but also marks the first OVC Tournament win since a 61-57 win over Morehead State in the first round of the 2007 tournament.

“We just found a way to win tonight,” said Skyhawk head coach Kevin McMillan. “There is no other way to put it other than that. We shot the ball about as bad as you can but stayed tough on defense then in the end we just didn’t quit and found a way to hit the big shots when we needed them.”

UT Martin opened the game with that tough defense on the Colonels and used it to build a quick 7-0 lead in the first three minutes off of an Weatherly three-pointer and a full court inbounds passed that LaBrica Ward turned into a layup. That forced a time out from Eastern Kentucky coach Chrissy Roberts and coming out of that the Skyhawks went near ice cold from the field for the remainder of the half.

UT Martin went the next 5:30 without a basket from the field and saw Eastern Kentucky pull within 9-7 before Darnisha Lyles ended the brief scoreless drought with a layup at the 11:19 mark. That ultimately was UT Martin’s last basket from the field the remainder of the half as it went on to shoot only 15 percent in the opening period.

UT Martin’s defense was able to hold the Colonels at bey while the Skyhawks stayed close on the scoreboard at the free throw line. Paige Smith connected on a free throw with 5:32 left in the half to keep UT Martin within one before Brittany Coles hit a pair of three-pointers near the end of the half to push Eastern Kentucky to a 23-18 advantage into the locker room.

At the half UT Martin was only 3-of-20 from the field and only 1-of-12 from three-point range. Lyles led the team in scoring with six points, four of which had come from the free throw line.

Eastern Kentucky buried a three-pointer to open the second half to take its largest lead of the game at 26-18 but then the Skyhawks responded with a heavy dose of Lyles in the post. She scored 10 consecutive points for UT Martin, pulling the game into a 28-28 tie with 14:30 left.

Cali Cupples then hit her first three-pointer of the game to put the Skyhawks on top 31-28. UT Martin later pushed its lead to four at 34-30 before Eastern Kentucky used back-to-back baskets from Nadia Mossong to move back ahead 35-34 with nine minutes remaining.

Eastern Kentucky increased its lead to three, only to see Weatherly counter with a three-pointer to tie the score at 37-all with 5:32 left. Mossong later answered Weatherly’s three-pointer when she banked in a three-pointer and Alex Jones pushed the Colonels lead to five at 42-37 with only four minutes left on the clock.

The Skyhawks had an answer though in Ward, who had been forced to the bench for a large part of the second half because of fouls. Ward came back off the bench and scored five straight points for the Skyhawks to again tie the game with 1:37 left, setting up Weatherly to hit the go-ahead trey in the final minute and give UT Martin the 45-42 edge.

Eastern Kentucky was forced to foul, but the Skyhawks hit six of their eight free throw attempts down the stretch to counter a pair of Eastern Kentucky baskets and secure the 51-47 win.

In the game UT Martin shot only 26.8 percent from the field but was 4-of-9 from three point range in the second half. Lyles finished with a 18 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year, while also recording a career-high with 10 made free throws in the game. Ward finished the night with 12 to go along with Weatherly’s 11 in the game.

UT Martin lost the rebounding battle 40-30 but forced 17 Colonels turnovers, while giving the ball up only 11 times.

UT Martin will now turn its attention to the conference semi-finals where it will meet No. 1 seed Eastern Illinois. The Skyhawks will be looking for a repeat performance of the 71-64 win over the Panthers in Martin back on Feb. 18 in addition to their first OVC Championship game berth since 1999.

Courtesy UT Martin Media Relations