WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 67, Tennessee Tech 53
@Southeast Missouri 61, Jacksonville State 47
UT MARTIN 67, TENNESSEE TECH 53
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team continued a streak of nine consecutive victories against Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech behind a stingy defensive performance on the way to a 67-53 win on Wednesday afternoon.
In front of over 3,000 local students from Obion and Weakley County school systems, the Skyhawks (9-7, 2-1 OVC) picked up their second consecutive victory and improved its OVC home record to 45-5 under the direction of head coach Kevin McMillan. UT Martin forced Tennessee Tech into 22 turnovers while turning those into 25 points. The Skyhawks tallied 11 steals while turning the ball over just eight times and dishing out 12 assists.
Freshman guard Myah Taylor posted her best performance in the Elam Center with 16 points, including 11 points in the fourth quarter alone. Taylor was joined in double figures by senior forward Haley Howard who tallied 13 points, six rebounds and five steals in the victory. The pair of DaiJia Ruffin and Jessy Ward also tossed in eight points each while combining for eight rebounds.
Tennessee Tech (5-13, 1-4) dropped its fourth consecutive league contest despite outshooting the Skyhawks from the floor and placing three players in double figures. The OVC’s third-ranked scorer, Samaria Howard, finished with a team-high 14 points while pulling down 11 rebounds. Yaktavia Hickson tallied 12 points while Mariah Dean chipped in 11.
UT Martin would jump out to an early lead after Ward knocked down a pair of three-pointers while Howard tossed in five points to hold an 11-4 advantage. The Golden Eagles would trim the margin to four before seeing the Skyhawks finish the first quarter on an 8-4 run to take a 19-11 advantage into the second.
The Skyhawks would stretch the lead out to 11 points in the second quarter following a three-pointer by Howard to give the home squad their biggest lead of the first half. The rest of the half would play even with UT Martin outscoring Tennessee Tech 13-11 in the second quarter. The Skyhawks would take a 32-22 into halftime with Howard and Dean leading their respective squads with eight points each.
The second half would see the Skyhawks push their lead out to 14 points while the quartet of Ruffin, Chelsea Roberts, Ward and Howard all contributing during the opening five minutes of the third. The following five minutes would see each team score six points while the Skyhawks took a 47-33 lead into the fourth quarter.
Tennessee Tech would find eight points from the duo of Hickson and Dean in the opening few minutes of the fourth to cut into UT Martin’s advantage. Despite the push by the Golden Eagles, the Skyhawks would cruise through the final quarter on the shoulders of Taylor who would score 11 of her game-high 16 points in the fourth en route to a 67-53 victory.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 61, JACKSONVILLE STATE 47
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri shot 53 percent in the second half to pull away from Jacksonville State in a 61-47 Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball contest at the Show Me Center on Wednesday night.
SEMO put together a 21-7 third quarter to extend a one-point halftime lead out to double figures in the third quarter. In the second half alone, SEMO connected on 15-of-28 from the field and limited JSU to just 34 percent shooting on eight made baskets. SEMO finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field. The Redhawks improved to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in OVC play, while Jax State fell to 7-10 on the season and 2-3 in conference play.
Both teams struggled from the start as SEMO held an 11-5 lead after the first ten minutes of the game, but the Gamecocks' offense was sparked by junior Briana Benson's play off the bench. Benson brought JSU to life in the second quarter with 13 of her 15 first half points. The Jonesboro, Georgia guard gave Jax State its first lead at 17-16 with 5:04 left in the second quarter on one of her four three pointers in the contest. JSU took its largest lead of four points at 23-19 with just under three minutes left in the half on a pair of free throws by Courtney Strain.
In the last two games, Benson has recorded a season high in points with 18 in each contest. She finished 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-9 from long range in 29 minutes off the bench.
The Redhawks would take a 27-26 lead in to the halftime break after Ashton Luttrull scored eight of her 16 points in the first half.
SEMO's 34-point second half was ignited by the play of its leading scorer Bri Mitchell. After being limited to just two points in the first half, Mitchell heated up for 11 points in the second half to finish right at her scoring average of 13 points per game. Luttrull added eight points in the final 20 minutes. SEMO capped off the third quarter on a 9-0 scoring run to extend the lead out double figures with 1:45 left to play. Luttrull's trey right before the quarter buzzer gave SEMO a 15-point, 48-33 lead heading in to the final quarter. The Redhawks were 9-of-13 from the field in the third quarter and drained a pair of three pointers. JSU was held to 5-of-13 in the period.
JSU could not cut the SEMO deficit down to single digits in the final quarter as the Redhawks took their largest lead of 59-41 with 3:40 left to play.
Sophomore Gretchen Morrison was the only other Gamecock to reach double digits in the scoring column with 11 points. Strain finished with seven points, while Rayven Pearson added six points.