By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team opened its final road trip of the season with a dominating win over Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri on Thursday evening by leading from start to finish en route to a 70-49 victory in the Show Me Center.
The Skyhawks (12-16, 9-8 OVC) were opportunistic on the evening by tallying 17 steals in the contests while using their defense to key their offense with the team scoring 25 points off the Redhawks 21 turnovers. UT Martin shot 44.4 percent from the floor while knocking down eight three-pointers on the night.
UT Martin flirted with a double-figure margin in the first quarter after a quick start before using a 14-2 run in the second quarter to push its margin out to 20 points midway through the period. With two Skyhawks in double figures at the break and a comfortable lead in the second half which grew to as large as 30 points, the only thing to be decided down the stretch was the final score.
The box score saw the minutes spread around – especially in the second half – with the Skyhawks top player seeing a maximum of 29 minutes of action. UT Martin’s offense featured four players in double figures for just the third times this season with graduate forward and Missouri native Holly Forbes leading the way with 19 points and six rebounds. Junior Paige Pipkin scored 14 points to notch her 16th game in double figures this season while Raegan Johnson scored a career-high 11 points. Freshman Ella Thompson rounded out the Skyhawks in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds.
“I thought we gave good effort and we had energy,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. “The thing that made it look really good is that the shots went in in the first half. Defensively, I was pleased that we held them to 49 points and that’s giving them eight points in the last two minutes. This team is dangerous – they played Belmont well and they’re at home. If we would have finished this game how we started, this would have been the most complete game we’ve had all year.”
Southeast Missouri (6-22, 2-15 OVC) shot just 40 percent from the floor and 2-of-10 from beyond the arc in the contest. The Redhawks placed three players in double figures for Jaliyah Green leading the way with 13 points while freshman Kennedi Watkins tallied 11 points and six boards. The home team also saw Halle Smith toss in 10 points off the bench.
UT Martin will compete its regular season schedule on Saturday, Feb. 26 with a trip to Cookeville, Tenn. for a matchup against Tennessee Tech. Tipoff from the Eblen Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information