#8/9 Lady Vols Maintain Off UT Martin On The Highway, 72-61

MARTIN, Tenn. – No. 8/9 Tennessee survived a sluggish first half and a decided opponent, holding off upset-minded UT Martin, 72-61, within the Pat Summitt Heritage Classic on Sunday on the Elam Center.

The Skyhawks (0-2), enjoying on a courtroom named for the UTM alum and legendary Lady Vols coach, made six of 9 three-pointers within the first half and seized an eight-point, second-quarter lead. The Lady Vols (2-1), enjoying their second sport in two days and third this week, lastly sprung to life after the intermission, outscoring the hosts 39-28 over the ultimate 20 minutes to assert a hard-earned victory.

Senior guard Nya Robertson stepped up together with her greatest outing as a Lady Vol, firing in 17 factors to steer the Big Orange. Freshman guard Jaida Civil contributed 13 factors, whereas senior ahead Janiah Barker added 11 and redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper tossed in 10. Barker and senior ahead Zee Spearman pulled down eight rebounds to tempo UT on the glass.

Grace Billington set the tone for UT Martin, flattening 4 of 5 makes an attempt from past the arc to tally 20 factors. Kenley McCarn and Brittani Wells chipped in 14 and 10, respectively.

The Lady Vols grabbed an early 4-0 benefit on layups by Civil and Cooper earlier than UT Martin fought again and took a 5-4 lead on a Billington three-pointer with 6:55 to go. A Cooper trey and Barker turnaround jumper within the paint enabled Tennessee to hold a 9-8 edge into the 4:43 media timeout. The Skyhawks battled toe to toe with the Big Orange, main on 4 extra events earlier than Robertson beat the buzzer with a driving layup to supply her staff an 18-17 lead after one.

It was all UTM on the outset of the second stanza, because the hosts rode 5-of-8 capturing and used 4 Tennessee turnovers to gas an 11-2 run and 28-20 lead that compelled the Lady Vols to ask for time with 5:50 to go within the interval. After the break, UT responded instantly with a 7-0 burst to drag inside one, 28-27, with 4:39 remaining on back-to-back threes from Barker and Civil and a free throw from Jersey Wolfenbarger. After the Skyhawks moved again in entrance, 33-27, with 2:56 to go, UT reeled them again in with layups by Barker, Spearman and Robertson to forge a 33-33 tie on the half.

After UTM struck first to open the third quarter, Tennessee responded with a 7-0 run, ignited by a Robertson three and fast-break layup and capped by a Mia Pauldo jumper to take a game-best six-point lead, 41-36, with 6:54 remaining. A Mya Pauldo driving layup made it a six-point cushion with 5:39 to go, however a pair of UTM buckets trimmed the Lady Vol result in 43-40 by the three:48 media break. Spearman prolonged the hole to 6 once more, 46-40, with 3:10 to go, however UT Martin clawed again to inside one, 46-45, on a Billington three with two minutes remaining. Threes by Cooper and Mia Pauldo, although, would ship the Lady Vols into the ultimate body with a 52-46 lead.

Tennessee constructed its result in 11, 57-46, within the early levels of the fourth quarter, getting a Robertson three-ball and a quick break layup from Civil. Billington transformed an old style three-point play to chop the UTM deficit to 57-49 because the Skyhawks requested for time with 7:38 remaining. The Lady Vols responded and constructed their result in 15, getting a pair of layups from Civil and a trey from Robertson to make it 64-49 with 6:21 to go. A 6-2 burst by UTM, although, trimmed the margin to 11, 66-55, by the 4:46 media timeout. The Lady Vols hit their free throws down the stretch, although, to shut out the victory.

UP NEXT

Tennessee returns residence to face Belmont (1-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET at Food City Center. The sport will likely be televised on SEC Network and carried by the Lady Vol Radio Network.

 

IMPACT GAME FOR THE TRANSFER

SMU switch Nya Robertson carded 17 factors within the win Sunday. It was her first time scoring in double figures as a Lady Vol and the 67th time in her profession. It additionally marked her thirty ninth time hitting three or extra three pointers in a sport.  

 

GETTING THE BALL BACK

Tennessee’s work on the offensive glass helped them out-rebound the Skyhawks, 14-5. Because of that, UT was in a position to outscore UT Martin, 15-3, on second-chance factors. The Big Orange completed No. 3 nationally and second within the league in offensive rebounds per contest at 16.9 final season. 

 

NEW FIVE FOR GAME THREE

Tennessee began its third totally different 5 in three video games, together with Janiah Barker, Jaida Civil, Talaysia Cooper, Mia Pauldo and Zee Spearman vs. UTM. Today marked the primary time two freshmen Lady Vols began in the identical sport since Tamari Key and Jordan Horston had been within the beginning 5 on Feb. 6, 2020, when UT confronted Mississippi State at residence. That is now 20 totally different beginning lineup combos within the Kim Caldwell period, with 17 of them coming from final season.

 

WEARING SUMMITT BLUE

The Lady Vols wore their alternate “Summitt Blue” uniforms on Sunday vs. the late, legendary Pat Summitt’s alma mater whereas enjoying on a courtroom bearing her title. UT now’s 7-4 all-time carrying its “Summitt Blue” uniforms, together with 1-1 in 2022-23, 3-1 in 2023-24, 2-2 in 2024-25 and now 1-0 in 2025-26. 

 

UT/UTM SERIES NOTES

The Lady Vols now maintain a 16-2 all-time report vs. UTM and ran their profitable streak within the sequence to 16 video games. The Big Orange misplaced the primary two conferences vs. the Skyhawks in 1971 and 1972 when Pat Summitt was donning No. 55 for UTM.