A short-handed University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball squad competed for the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship crown on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately dropped an 81-53 decision to top-seeded Southern Indiana. Despite the loss, the Skyhawks officially secured the OVC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the tournament runner-up.
UT Martin earned its fifth NCAA Tournament berth after knocking off Little Rock in the tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon. Regardless of the championship game result, Southern Indiana would be ineligible for NCAA operated events due to its reclassification status, so the Skyhawks claimed the league’s automatic bid and celebrated accordingly in the locker room following the game.
With the team’s postseason fate already decided, the Skyhawks decided to proceed on the side of caution and rest its battled tested players while giving their young pieces valuable tournament experience as four of the team’s five projected starters missed the contest.
The team’s young performers stepped up for the Skyhawks. Local Union City product Amari Bonds made the most of her opportunity by coming off the bench and scoring a career-high 26 points. Bonds made 10-of-18 field goal attempts in 31 minutes while knocking down four three-pointers.
Elsewhere…
South Carolina 74 Tennessee 73
High School Girls State Championship Games
Class 1A – Pickett County 56 Moore County 45
Class2A – Gibson County 49 Loretto 37
Class 3A – Dyersburg 41 Upperman 39
Class 4A – Bradley Central 58 Bartlett 43
