After taking down the reigning Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) tournament champions to open conference play, the Skyhawks (2-2, 1-1 OVC) faced their first conference setback with a 67-72 loss to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (JSU) on Dec. 30.
The Skyhawks’ first OVC defeat was marred by poor shooting all around. Despite senior forward Chelsey Perry’s 23 points, the team as a whole shot poorly. Wednesday’s performance marks the team’s season-low in both field goal percentage (39.1%) and three-point percentage (25%). UTM even struggled to capitalize on free throws, sinking only nine of 15 for 60%.
Perry’s 23 points and 10 rebounds led all players in both categories. Sophomore forward Dasia Young (10 points) was the only other Skyhawk to score into the double-digits. Junior guard Paige Pipkin followed closely with nine points in addition to a game-leading four steals.
Tonight also marks an off-night for Perry’s 2019-20 co-star senior forward Maddie Waldrop, who scored only three points in her limited 14 minutes of playing time.
Guard Yamia Johnson’s 17 points led the way for the Gamecocks. Fellow guard Taylor Hawks contributed 16 points and seven rebounds of her own. Forward Keiara Griffin’s nine rebounds (seven defensive) was instrumental in lifting JSU past the Skyhawks.
Perry opened scoring with a layup at the 9:43 mark to put UTM up 2-0. The Skyhawks got up 7-0 before a jumper by Hawks got JSU on the board. Hawks continued to chip into UTM’s lead, closing the deficit to 7-5 at the 5:49 mark.
A JSU three-pointer tied up the two teams at 12-12 at 1:09. A layup by Pipkin and a fast-break three by Waldrop closed the first quarter out in favor of UTM.
Back-to-back turnovers by Griffin and Perry opened up the second quarter of play. Sophomore guard Seygan Robins then went on to set up two layups by Perry, assisting Perry twice within a 12-second span to lift the Skyhawks up 21-12. The two squads once again tied up 23-23 at the 5:42 mark.
After a 28-28 tie established late in the second, two JSU threes and a layup gave JSU a 36-28 lead at 1:11. Going into the third quarter, the Gamecocks led 38-29.
The third quarter belonged solely to JSU. The Gamecocks managed to extend their lead into the double digits at the start of the quarter and continued to build on it. JSU led by as much as 19 points, fluctuating between a 19- and 12-point edge over UTM. The Skyhawks did little to hamper JSU’s momentum, trailing 48-60 at the end of the third.
Though both teams traded blows back and fourth in the final quarter, the Skyhawks only managed to cut their deficit to five at the 0:16 mark. UTM was unable to catch up to the Gamecocks after the half, ultimately falling 67-72.
“I was really disappointed with our effort to start the game,” UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said, according to Sports Information.
“We missed free throws, layups and easy shots all game. We thought that we could press and play fast, but we just chose not to play hard early and our offense had no rhythm. We still haven’t figured out our identity and we are going to struggle until we figure it out because right now we can’t score and we can’t defend. The tough thing is that we have not been able to play games to be able to work through our problems. We aren’t going to make excuses though; we are just going to try to just keep plugging away and try to make adjustments.”
The Gamecocks featured a balanced scoring effort with three double-digit scorers in Johnson (17), Hawks (16) and guard Imari Martin (17). Scoring also came easier to JSU, with a team field goal percentage of 50.9% and three-point percentage of 40.9%.
With the loss, the Skyhawks have fallen to seventh in the OVC, sharing a 1-1 record with four other squads in the conference. Women’s hoops will return on Jan. 2 with a home matchup against the second-best OVC squad in the Belmont Bruins (1-0 OVC).
Photo Credit / Sports Information
