Arena #135: Elam Center - Tennessee-Martin vs. Tennessee Tech

After a weekend off, it was back on the road starting with a stop at Tennessee-Martin for an Ohio Valley Conference matchup between the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks and the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.  Not many people know that Tennessee-Martin is where the winningest coach in women’s college basketball history, Pat Summitt, got her first head coaching job before heading east to Knoxville.  As such, her name and likeness are prominently displayed in and around the Elam Center with a statue out front and the playing surface itself being named after her.  It’s pretty obvious the Elam Center has been around for awhile and was constructed with multiple uses in mind with the very square footprint of the building consisting of a set of temporary bleachers on each side of the court.  The most interesting part to me being that the main entrance is on the upper level of the bleachers and one has to walk down tens of rows to get to the playing surface level.  It’s an interesting setup that adds some uniqueness to an otherwise fairly bland facility.  This matchup ended up being another contest that was never all that competitive.  The Skyhawks led early and often in completing a 30 point win over one of their in-state conference rivals, who scored a partly 42 points in the entire 40 minute contest!

Entrance to the Elam Center in Martin, TN

Statue outside the arena of Pat Summitt coaching and teaching

Opening tip between the Skyhawks and Golden Eagles

Not exactly a big crowd, but a crowd that left happy after a dominating UT-Martin win