SUNDAY'S SCORES
#8 Tennessee 72,
@UT Martin 61
@Northwestern 64,
SIUE 51
@#16 Baylor 76,
Lindenwood 63
#8 TENNESSEE 72, UT MARTIN 61
MARTIN, Tenn. - The UT Martin women's basketball never backed down from the eighth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols despite a 72-61 loss Sunday in front of a sell-out crowd in the Pat Summitt Heritage Classic at the Kathleen & Tom Elam Center in Martin. The 11-point deficit was the smallest for the Skyhawks in the past 13 meetings between the two teams.
UT Martin led by as many as eight in the second quarter and was tied with the Lady Vols at halftime. Tennessee never led by more than 15 in the game and did not score a field goal over the final five minutes and six seconds of the contest.
"I thought our kids battled," said head coach Kevin McMillian after the game. "When you have as many great players as Tennessee does, you can't keep them from getting some shots now and then. I thought it was a good effort from our kids, and they executed what we needed to get done pretty well."
The Skyhawks outshot the Lady Vols from both the field, at 44.9 to 44.8, and from three-point range, at 53.8 to 31.0. UT Martin committed just one more turnover than Tennessee Sunday, 23-22, but the Lady Vols took better advantage of those opportunities, outscoring the Skyhawks in points off turnovers, 28-19. The bigger Lady Vols also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Skyhawks, 40-26.
Grace Billington came off the bench to lead all scorers and rebounders in the game with 20 and eight, respectively. Kenley McCarn added 14 points and five assists, while Brittani Wells chipped in 10 points. Sidni Middleton had a solid all-around performance Sunday with seven points and six rebounds and team-highs of six rebounds and three steals.
NORTHWESTERN 64, SIUE 51
EVANSTON, Ill. - Women's basketball keeps a close game with Northwestern but fell to the Wildcats 64-51.
SIUE is now 2-1 overall while Northwestern improves to 2-0.
The Wildcats maintained the lead for the game with their larges lead coming in the fourth quarter (53-35). However, the Cougars managed to close the gap before the final buzzer.
Freshman Kiyoko Proctor led the Cougars with 12 points going 5-for-12 from the field and Lauren Miller followed with 11 points going 4-for-13 from the field and grabbing six rebounds.
Grad transfer Syanne Mohamed led the team with nine rebounds while sophomore Rory Conboy had five.
As a team the Cougars led the Wildcats in second chance points (16-8) and points off the bench (16-7).
#16 BAYLOR 76, LINDENWOOD 63
WACO, Texas - The Lindenwood basketball team (1-1) dropped a road matchup to No. 16 Baylor (2-0) by a score of 76-63 on Sunday afternoon in Waco, Texas
Baylor opened the game on an 18-0 run. A few minutes later, Ellie Brueggemann made Lindenwood's first field goal of the game, a three from the wing. Gracie Kelsey also hit a shot from beyond the arc in the opening frame as the Lions trailed 24-9 after one.
In the second quarter, Lindenwood was only outscored by four. Brooke Coffey drained an early three, which was one of two for the Lions in the period. The Black and Gold trailed 49-28 at the break.
Lindenwood cut the deficit to 14 after a jumper by Coffey with just over six minutes to go in the third quarter After Baylor got the lead back up to 22, the Lions finished the quarter on an 11-2 run with the help of a pair of threes from Ellie Brueggemann and Mya Skoff as Lions trailed 63-50 after three. Brueggemann finished the frame with 14 points on 6-6 from the field, including 2-2 from deep.
The Lions continued the run into the fourth, scoring the first seven points of the final quarter with five of those coming from Kelsey. The Bears responded with an 8-0 run of their own to regain control and went on to pick up the 76-63 win.