Tennessee-Martin’s Taylor Hall hit a three-point shot from about 35 feet from the basket with five seconds remaining to bring the Skyhawks back into a tie with the Eastern women’s basketball team and headed into overtime.

The Skyhawks made every shot they took in overtime – even the ones from the free throw line – and outscored the Panthers 16-8 on their way to a 94-86 win, which brought the two teams into a tie for first place in the conference.

The Panthers, led 78-75 with 12 seconds remaining in the second half, decided to use their foul to slow down the game. But when the Skyhawks readied to inbound the ball after the foul, there was eight seconds left and the Panthers chose not to foul.

“I didn’t feel like we could play the foul strategy with that much time left,” Eastern head coach Brady Sallee.

Had Eastern chosen to foul, it would have sent a Tennessee-Martin player to the free throw line for a one-and-one, where if she made the first free throw they’d get a second attempt.

Had the Skyhawks gone to the line and made the first free throw, they could have decided to try to play the second shot off the rim and try for an offensive rebound, which could get them the two missing points to tie the game.

Or had Eastern tried to foul, it could have accidentally fouled a player while that player was trying to shoot a three pointer, which would have resulted in Tennessee-Martin having three shots at the free throw line to tie the game.

All this in mind, Sallee decided not to tell his players to foul. They were going to play the game out the conventional way.

“We got lost and they hit a three. She hit it from 35 feet,” Sallee said.

The three pointer was Hall’s fifth of the game. Hall scored all of her 15 points in the game from the three-point area.

“We knew she was capable of doing it. We just got lost,” Sallee said.

Tennessee-Martin took control in overtime and put the game out of reach. The Skyhawks’ Jaclissa Haislip scored nine of her 12 total points in overtime, leading the way as the Skyhawks made 100 percent of their shots.

“They’re good,” Sallee said. “Our kids are hurting.”

Most notably, maybe, junior guard Ta’Kenya Nixon. She scored a career-high 30 points in the game, which was 17 more than any of her teammates.

“She was tremendous, just unbelievable heart and toughness,” Sallee said. “There were three really good players out on that floor tonight and she was one of them.”

The other two Sallee referred to were on Tennessee-Martin’s side. Heather Butler scored 32 points in the game, while her teammate Jasmine Newsome scored 29.

Nixon was the Panthers’ leader, helping them come back from a 12-point halftime deficit to end up leading for about the last eight minutes of the second half.

The Panthers led by two, 74-72, with 3:26 left in the game. The next points weren’t scored until there was 24 seconds left in the game, when junior forward Mariah King sank two free throws to give Eastern a four-point lead.

“It was really a pressure-packed, great atmosphere,” Sallee said. “It was just every single dribble was just crucial.”

In the 2:02 between scores, Eastern only missed two shots from the field and one free throw, while Tennessee-Martin missed four shots and one free throw.

“That’s what games like that make you do,” Sallee said. “Those matchups between two really good teams, it’s hard to be pretty in them.”

The Panthers gave themselves a shot to win, ahead by four points with 24 seconds left; however, Tennessee-Martin showed how three pointers can change a game.

Trailing by four, Butler hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds left. Then, Nixon was fouled and hit two free throws. Trailing 78-75, Hall hit her three-pointer to take it into overtime, where the Skyhawks won the game.

The loss is the Panthers’ first in the Ohio Valley Conference and halts them into a share of first place with the Skyhawks. Before the game, the Panthers were alone in first and were the only team in the OVC to beat the Skyhawks.

Although they’re hurting now, the Panthers will have to turn around the play an important game Monday against Tennessee Tech, who is in second place in the OVC with a 9-4 record.

“What we do with this loss, how we react to it and show up to practice (Sunday) is maybe more important than the result of this game,” Sallee said. “We all think we have a tough basketball team but we’re about to see for real.”

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].