by COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. – The senior pair of Chelsey Perry and Maddie Waldrop saw their decorated careers end like few others – with a win – as the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team picked up a 64-59 victory over Illinois State in the consolation finals of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament Memphis Regional on Monday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (22-6) made history with the win, becoming the first team in program history to record to two victories in a single postseason – notching wins over Louisiana (58-48) and Illinois State (64-59) to wrap up a championship campaign. Additionally, UT Martin is the first team in Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball history to record multiple wins in a single postseason.
UT Martin led for nearly 30 minutes of the contest after jumping out to an early advantage, holding a lead as large as 13 points with two minutes left to play in the first quarter. Illinois State did not roll over however, fighting back to not only tie the game but take its first lead with three minutes to play in the third quarter. From there the game would go back and forth in the final 13 minutes of action with six additional ties and four lead changes.
The Redbirds took their final lead with 3:42 to play in the contest before the Skyhawks charged back with a 7-0 run to retake the advantage and assume control down the stretch. With the lead in hand, UT Martin sank four free throws in the final 90 seconds to put the game away and seal the historic victory.
I am just amazed at what these kids did,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “We played basically seven kids, we totally reinvented ourselves, we changed our style and everybody bought into it. This was a really, really good team we faced. We played three games in this tournament and our kids had such mental toughness. We had every reason to fold it up but instead, this was the best we have executed all year on both offense and defense.”
“I’ve never had a group that banded together like these kids did,” McMillan continued. “Everybody was loose every game and we were enjoying it. It was pure teamwork, sharing, every kid on the bench, managers, everybody. I cannot tell you how fun and energizing it is to coach kids like these and how proud of them I am.”
While the season came to a close, so did the dazzling careers of the team’s two outstanding seniors in Perry and Waldrop. The pair combined to score 42 of the team’s 64 points with Waldrop scoring a game-high 24 points while tallying eight rebounds. Perry joined her teammate in double figures with 18 points and six rebounds. Kyannah Grant (Navajo/Mississippi Choctaw) added 8 points and 4 assists .
