Mizzou’s Ashton Judd gets ready to fire off a shot during the Tigers’ win over UT-Martin, Thursday night at Mizzou Arena. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Tenn-Martin (1-2)	15	11	9	20	55
Missouri (5-0)	13	12	14	21	60

DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer

COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri women’s basketball team led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter in a nonconference matchup against Tennessee-Martin, then had to hold on for dear life in the final three minutes, to preserve a 60-55 win over the visiting Skyhawks, Thursday night at Mizzou Arena.

The Tigers, who are now 5-0 on the season, led by four points heading into the fourth quarter, but then began the final stanza with a 13-3 run to go ahead 52-39 with just under four minutes left in the game.

At that point, it looked like Mizzou was going to cruise to its fifth straight victory to begin the new season. But that’s when UT-Martin broke out its full-court pressure defense, which forced six Tiger turnovers in the final minutes and allowed the Skyhawks to get back within three points with nine seconds left in the game.

Mizzou inbounded the ball to its best free throw shooter, senior Hayley Frank, who held the ball until UT-Martin fouled her. Frank then calmly stepped to the free throw line and made both shots to give the Tigers a lead it was sure to hold.

To make sure though, junior Sara-Rose Smith stole UT-Martin’s inbounds pass and held the ball as the clock ran out to give Mizzou the win.

Mizzou used a balanced scoring attack to secure the victory. Frank led all scorers with a game-high 15 points. Smith added 12 points and 12 rebounds, freshman Ashton Judd had 11 points, as did senior Lauren Hansen, as the Tigers led almost the entire second half, after trailing by a point at halftime.

Even though it trailed at the half, Mizzou’s defense was consistently strong throughout the game and made a concerted effort to not allow UT-Martin’s stat leaders to get going.

In fact, Mizzou held UT-Martin’s Kenley McCarn, who came into Thursday’s contest averaging 25 points per game, to 15 points on 5-19 shooting from the field. She was the only Skyhawk to crack double figures.

With three players recording at least five rebounds, Mizzou also limited UT Martin’s second-chance opportunities. The Skyhawks only netted four offensive rebounds, and the Tigers won the rebounding battle 36-29.

The Tigers also caused over a quarter of UT-Martin’s possessions to end in a turnover, as Mizzou’s defense forced 17 turnovers and recorded eight steals on the night.

Mizzou is now 7-0 all-time against UT-Martin.

The Tigers will now head out for the first road trip of the season. And it should be a thrilling one, as Mizzou will travel to Nassau, Bahamas, to play in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Hoops Championship, a two-game event against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.

The first contest will be on Monday, November 21, against Wake Forest, with the second matchup, against No. 11-ranked Virginia Tech, set for Wednesday, November 23.

Tenn-Martin 55

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
44	McCarn,Kenley	*	38	5-19	1-6	4-4	0-7	7	2	0	2	0	2	15
23	Currie-Jelks,Sharnecce	*	23	4-7	0-0	0-1	1-3	4	5	0	1	0	0	8
12	Rubel,Lexi	*	28	2-4	0-0	0-0	1-2	3	1	1	4	1	0	4
05	Robins,Seygan	*	28	1-3	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	1	0	0	3
11	Littleford,Shae	*	22	0-3	0-0	2-2	0-2	2	4	3	5	0	2	2
04	Brown,Anaya		27	3-5	3-4	0-0	0-8	8	0	0	0	0	0	9
33	Storey,Josie		6	3-4	3-4	0-0	0-1	1	1	1	1	0	0	9
25	Pipkin,Paige		28	1-6	1-3	2-2	0-1	1	1	1	2	0	2	5
00	Boykin,Sydneey		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
03	Cannon,Diamond		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	2-1	3	0	0	1	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	19-51	9-19	8-9	4-25	29	16	7	17	1	6	55

Missouri 60

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
43	Hayley Frank	*	36	4-11	2-7	5-6	1-5	6	1	3	4	0	2	15
01	Lauren Hansen	*	37	3-13	1-8	4-4	0-3	3	2	1	2	0	1	11
13	Haley Troup	*	31	3-7	1-3	2-2	1-2	3	1	2	4	0	1	9
10	Katlyn Gilbert	*	22	0-2	0-1	0-0	0-1	1	4	3	2	1	1	0
32	Jayla Kelly	*	6	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	1	0	3	1	0	0
02	Sara-Rose Smith		32	5-9	2-4	0-0	3-9	12	1	1	2	0	2	12
24	Ashton Judd		23	5-7	0-2	1-2	1-5	6	4	1	0	0	1	11
20	Sarah Linthacum		13	1-2	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	1	1	0	0	0	2
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	21-52	6-25	12-14	7-29	36	15	12	17	2	8	60