MARTIN, Tenn. – No. 8/9 Tennessee survived a sluggish first half and a determined opponent, holding off upset-minded UT Martin, 72-61, in the Pat Summitt Heritage Classic on Sunday at the Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (0-2), playing on a court named for the UTM alum and legendary Lady Vols coach, made six of nine three-pointers in the first half and seized an eight-point, second-quarter lead. The Lady Vols (2-1), playing their second game in two days and third this week, finally sprung to life after the intermission, outscoring the hosts 39-28 over the final 20 minutes to claim a hard-earned victory.
Senior guard Nya Robertson stepped up with her best outing as a Lady Vol, firing in 17 points to lead the Big Orange. Freshman guard Jaida Civil contributed 13 points, while senior forward Janiah Barker added 11 and redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper tossed in 10. Barker and senior forward Zee Spearman pulled down eight rebounds to pace UT on the glass.
Grace Billington set the tone for UT Martin, knocking down four of five attempts from beyond the arc to tally 20 points. Kenley McCarn and Brittani Wells chipped in 14 and 10, respectively.
The Lady Vols grabbed an early 4-0 advantage on layups by Civil and Cooper before UT Martin fought back and took a 5-4 lead on a Billington three-pointer with 6:55 to go. A Cooper trey and Barker turnaround jumper in the paint enabled Tennessee to carry a 9-8 edge into the 4:43 media timeout. The Skyhawks battled toe to toe with the Big Orange, leading on four more occasions before Robertson beat the buzzer with a driving layup to provide her team an 18-17 lead after one.
It was all UTM at the outset of the second stanza, as the hosts rode 5-of-8 shooting and used four Tennessee turnovers to fuel an 11-2 run and 28-20 lead that forced the Lady Vols to ask for time with 5:50 to go in the period. After the break, UT responded immediately with a 7-0 burst to pull within 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 back in front, 33-27, with 2:56 to go, UT reeled them back in with layups by Barker, Spearman and Robertson to forge a 33-33 tie at 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, but a pair of UTM buckets trimmed the Lady Vol lead to 43-40 by the 3:48 media break. Spearman extended the gap to six again, 46-40, with 3:10 to go, but UT Martin clawed back to within one, 46-45, on a Billington three with two minutes remaining. Threes by Cooper and Mia Pauldo, though, would send the Lady Vols into the final frame with a 52-46 lead.
Tennessee built its lead to 11, 57-46, in the early stages of the fourth quarter, getting a Robertson three-ball and a fast break layup from Civil. Billington converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the UTM deficit to 57-49 as the Skyhawks asked for time with 7:38 remaining. The Lady Vols responded and built their lead to 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, though, trimmed the margin to 11, 66-55, by the 4:46 media timeout. The Lady Vols hit their free throws down the stretch, though, to close out the victory.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns home to face Belmont (1-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET at Food City Center. The game will be televised on SEC Network and carried by the Lady Vol Radio Network.
IMPACT GAME FOR THE TRANSFER
SMU transfer Nya Robertson carded 17 points in the win Sunday. It was her first time scoring in double figures as a Lady Vol and the 67th time in her career. It also marked her 39th time hitting three or more three pointers in a game.
GETTING THE BALL BACK
Tennessee’s work on the offensive glass helped them out-rebound the Skyhawks, 14-5. Because of that, UT was able to outscore UT Martin, 15-3, on second-chance points. The Big Orange finished No. 3 nationally and second in the league in offensive rebounds per contest at 16.9 last season.
NEW FIVE FOR GAME THREE
Tennessee started its third different five in three games, including Janiah Barker, Jaida Civil, Talaysia Cooper, Mia Pauldo and Zee Spearman vs. UTM. Today marked the first time two freshmen Lady Vols started in the same game since Tamari Key and Jordan Horston were in the starting five on Feb. 6, 2020, when UT faced Mississippi State at home. That is now 20 different starting lineup combos in the Kim Caldwell era, with 17 of them coming from last season.
WEARING SUMMITT BLUE
The Lady Vols wore their alternate “Summitt Blue” uniforms on Sunday vs. the late, legendary Pat Summitt’s alma mater while playing on a court bearing her name. UT now is 7-4 all-time wearing its “Summitt Blue” uniforms, including 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 hold a 16-2 all-time record vs. UTM and ran their winning streak in the series to 16 games. The Big Orange lost the first two meetings vs. the Skyhawks in 1971 and 1972 when Pat Summitt was donning No. 55 for UTM.
