By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
VERMILLION, SD – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball capped off its stay in the state of South Dakota with a gutsy 67-61 road victory at the University of South Dakota to improve to 2-1 on the team’s current six game road trip.
The Skyhawks (4-6) shook off a tough loss on the road less than 48 hours prior by controlling the tempo and competing for 40 minutes despite still facing the same roster limitations as three of the team’s opening night starters were unavailable for the second straight game. With eight available players, each of them played a role in the victory while UT Martin saw four starters score in double figures in the victory.
The matchup held a back-and-forth tempo with each team answering shot-for-shot in the opening half while South Dakota took a narrow three-point advantage into halftime. While the game featured six lead changes and four ties, UT Martin took control of the game and never looked back in the second half after outscoring South Dakota by 12 in the third quarter. While the Coyotes fought back to trim the deficit down to two points with 81 seconds to go, the Skyhawks stayed focused down the stretch to ultimately pull out the six-point victory.
UT Martin rebounded from its offensive woes in Monday’s contest by shooting 42.6 percent from the floor while knocking down eight three-pointers and converting 86.7 percent of its free throw attempts. The Skyhawks also shared the ball at a high volume with 17 of the team’s 23 field goals coming off an assist.
Freshman Sharnecce Currie-Jelks put on another show in the victory with the only thing being able to slow down the rising forward being foul trouble. Before ultimately fouling out, Currie-Jelks put the team on her back in stretches to score a career-high 23 points while snagging four rebounds in just over 24 minutes of action. Her best stretch came in the opening minutes of the third quarter in which she scored 11 points to key the team’s run.
Joining in the action was fellow freshman Anaya Brown who posted the best game of her young career with an impressive double-double after scoring 10 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, graduate guard Seygan Robins played a big role in the team’s first half production by scoring 12 of her 16 points in the opening 20 minutes while knocking down five clutch three-pointers. Speaking of clutch performances, veteran guard Paige Pipkin overcame a hit to the face in the third quarter which momentarily sent her to the locker room before scoring 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Skyhawks to a win.
South Dakota (4-7) dropped its sixth consecutive matchup despite placing three players in double figures. The Coyotes suffered from a rough third quarter in which they made just 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) field goal attempts which proved to be the difference in the game. The tandem of Grace Larkins and Cassidy Carson paced the Yotes with 12 points while Jeniah Ugofsky added 11 points.
UT Martin will continue its road swing with a matchup at Missouri Valley Conference powerhouse Missouri State on Saturday, Dec. 17. Tipoff from Great Southern Bank Arena is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information