The Skyhawk women’s hoops squad picked up their seventh consecutive conference win with a home win against the Eastern Illinois Panthers (7-9, 5-6 OVC) 70-50.
Unsurprisingly, senior forward Chelsey Perry led the offense with 19 points while also tying the team lead in rebounds with six. Sophomore forward Dasia Young followed closely behind Perry with 16 points while also playing well defensively with three defensive rebounds and four steals. Junior guard Paige Pipikin locked down the backcourt with six defensive rebounds and two steals in addition to scoring 10 points. Senior forward Maddie Waldrop rounded off the starting lineup with 10 points.
Unlike most of the Skyhawks’ matchups since 2019, Perry wasn’t the game’s leading scorer. Eastern Illinois forward/center Abby Wahl earned that honor with 21 points in addition to seven rebounds. Wahl’s co-star in guard Lariah Washington was the Panthers’ defensive standout, posting a game-high nine rebounds while being the primary playmaker with a team-high four assists.
The Skyhawks struggled to get on the board first, as Pipkin and Perry both opened the game with a missed three-pointer. Panthers forward Morgan Litwiller opened the scoring with a three at the 7:59 mark, which was followed by another EIU three by Wahl less than a minute later. The Skyhawks continued to struggle with missed shots and a turnover, but a jumper by Waldrop at 4:47 got UTM on the board. Another jumper by Waldrop at 2:50 helped UTM further close the gap at 4-6. With under 30 seconds to play, Young singlehandedly put the Skyhawks up 9-6 at the end of the first with two consecutive scores (a jumper and a three) with under a minute left.
Senior forward Demi Burdick opened up quarter two with a second chance layup to put UTM up 11-6. The Skyhawks sank two consecutive three-pointers to go up 17-8 at the 7:20 mark to kick off a 9-0 run that saw UTM extend their margin to 22-8. The Panthers’ scoring drought ended at 4:22 when forward Parker Staffer’s layup at 4:22 set the score at 10-22. The Skyhawks were in danger of losing their grip on the match, as EIU erased their double-digit deficit at 1:41 thanks to a three by guard Jordyn Hughes. However, Pipkin powered UTM’s offense to a 5-0 run to close out quarter two, with UTM maintaining a double-digit lead (32-18) over the Panthers.
UTM boasted a trio of eight-point scorers at halftime in Young, Pipkin and Waldrop while Perry contributed six points and five defensive rebounds. The Skyhawks were perfect on free throws, sinking both attempts, and maintained a decent field goal percentage (13-28, 46.4%). Impressively, the Skyhawks didn’t allow to Panthers to attempt a single free throw in half one.
EIU struck first to open half two, as Wahl hit a jumper only nine seconds into the third quarter. Perry countered with a jumper of her own at the 8:46 mark, kicking off an 8-4 Skyhawk run that helped the Skyhawks reach the 40-point plateau with a 40-28 lead at 5:58. With a consistent scoring output and a tenacious effort on defense, UTM held onto a double-digit lead, going into the final frame of action up 49-39.
Two consecutive free throws by Wahl at 8:38 of quarter four helped decrease EIU’s deficit below 10 points, putting the Panthers at a manageable disadvantage of 51-40. UTM stepped on the gas at 3:15, when Perry hit a three-pointer that kicked off a 9-2 run by the Skyhawks to close out regulation and continue UTM’s win streak.
The Skyhawks made every effort to punish the Panthers when they committed turnovers. While EIU failed to score off of any UTM turnovers in quarters three and four, the Skyhawks managed to score five off of EIU turnovers in the second half and 24 in total. UTM’s strong play in the paint was minimalized by the Panthers’ offense, not only holding UTM to 30 points in the paint but also keeping up with 26 points of their own in the paint.
UTM’s winning ways continue, as the Skyhawks improve to 9-3 overall and 8-1 in OVC play. The Skyhawks will have a good chance to extend their win streak against a middling SIUE Cougars squad (5-8, 2-8 OVC) at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center on Jan. 30.
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