The Skyhawk women’s basketball team advanced all the way to the OVC Tournament Final for the third straight year, but offensive defficiencies caused the Skyhawks to lose out on the title for the third straight year in a 47-67 loss to the No. 3 Southeast Missouri Redhawks (SEMO).
UTM’s path to the finals was a pleasant cruise for the Skyhawks. After a 20-9 regular season, in which the Skyhawks captured the regular season title with a final game win over SEMO, UTM captured the No. 1 seed for the end-of-season tournament.
The No. 8 Murray State Racers didn’t stand a chance against the potent UTM offense. UTM’s bout in the quarterfinals was nothing short of a beatdown. as the Skyhawks crushed the Racers 88-33.
Next on UTM’s schedule was the No. 4 seed Eastern Illinois Panthers. While not as easy of a matchup as the quarterfinals were, the Skyhawks still handled their business convincingly with a 53-52 win over the Panthers.
The Redhawks, who split the regular season 1-1 with the Skyhawks, were the only obstacle left in UTM’s quest for a title, but they proved the be the most difficult challenge of them all.
Offense, a perennial strong point of the Skyhawks, went ice cold against SEMO. UTM’s 47 points were the lowest that the team had scored in years. Since UTM’s offensive duo of junior forwards Chelsey Perry and Maddie Waldrop joined the roster, the Skyhawks have never failed to eclipse 50 points in a game.
Perry (15) and Waldrop (12) were the only two Skyhawks to score into the double digits, but even these numbers were well below of their typical production. Even more troubling than that was the fact that the Skyhawks didn’t make a single three-point attempt the entire game, missing all of their 11 attempts. This is the first time the Skyhawks failed to make a three-point shot since Feb. 9, 2009, according to Sports Information.
UTM’s field goal (33.33%, 18-54) and free-throw (50%, 11-22) percentages didn’t help matters much.
Defensively, the Skyhawks held their own and equaled the Redhawks in steals, but SEMO made their opponent pay when they turned the ball over. The Redhawks tallied 19 points off turnovers while UTM only converted turnovers for six.
The Redhawks countered the Skyhawks with three double-digit scorers of their own, with Tesia Thompson recording 25 points, nearly matching the offensive production of Perry and Waldrop combined.
Signs of trouble for the orange and blue crew showed early on, as the team trailed 32-19 at the end of the first half. Junior guard Tamiah Stanford’s free-throw at 9:11 of the first quarter gave UTM a 1-0 lead early on, but that was the only time the Skyhawks had the upper hand on the scoreboard.
The deficit for UTM continued to grow, extending to 24 points at its peak. When all was said and done, UTM trailed by 20.
“When you can’t make shots or convert free throws and get outrebounded, you don’t deserve to win and today we didn’t,” head coach Kevin McMillan said.
“I told the girls in the fourth quarter that if we got some stops, we had a chance to win. We were able to get five stops in a row but we didn’t score on any of the following possessions. For whatever reason, it just wasn’t meant to be. When you look back at how these kids played all season, it is pretty amazing how they stepped up. Today just wasn’t the day.”
Despite the failed title run, the Skyhawks will participate in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), and their opponent will be announced on Mar. 16.
Photo Credit / Sports Information
