The UTM women’s basketball program racked up the hardware today as the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) announced its postseason awards. Chelsey Perry and Dasia Young were each named to the All-OVC first team while Perry (OVC Player of the Year) and Kevin McMillan (OVC Coach of the Year) also received two of the league’s major awards.
Perry becomes just the ninth player in OVC history to repeat as Player of the Year and first since UTM’s Jasmine Newsome in 2011-13. McMillan’s OVC Coach of the Year is the fourth in his decorated career (also winning in 2009-10, 2014-15 and 2015-16) – tying Bill Worrell for the second-most in league history.
A 6-2 senior, Perry has been a force all season for the Skyhawks ranking as one of the nation’s top offensive players. Along with her second consecutive OVC Player of the Year award, Perry added her fourth postseason accolade after claiming All-OVC first team honors in 2019-20, second team honors in 2018-19 and All-Newcomer honors in 2017-18. She also tallied five OVC Player of the Week honors this season to bring her career total up to 13 which ranked third in league history.
Perry was limited to 15 regular season games because of an injury but still managed to score in double figures 13 times while eclipsing 20 points or more in 11 contests. She also tossed in over 30 points in three contests, scoring 32 points against both Tennessee State and Austin Peay while posting a season-high 36 points against Murray State. Her damage also came on the boards where she tallied six double-doubles.
The Middleton, Tennesse native averaged 23.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 steals in 31.7 minutes per game. She shot 51.6 percent from the field while making 42.1 percent of her three-point attempts and 81.9 percent of her attempts from the free throw line. In her career, she ranks third in program history with 1,862 points and fourth with 736 rebounds while holding the school record with 222 blocks.
A 5-11 sophomore, Young enjoyed a breakout season in 2020-21 – becoming only the 13th player in school history to chalk up All-OVC first team accolades. She was named OVC Player of the Week twice (Feb. 9, March 1) and ended the season with nine consecutive double-figure scoring outings down the stretch.
Young went off for a trio of 20-plus point performances this season, including a career-best 30 points (on 12-of-13 shooting) in the season finale against Eastern Illinois on Feb. 27. She hauled in double-doubles against Jacksonville State (11 points, career-high 13 rebounds on Feb. 4) and Morehead State (18 points, 12 rebounds on Feb. 18).
The Jonesboro, Arkansas native ranked in the top-20 in the OVC in scoring (12.2 points per game, 13th), rebounding (5.8 per game, 16th) and free throw percentage (.699, 12th). Young shot 52.9 percent from the field while also contributing 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals per contest, ranking second on the squad in the latter category.
McMillan guided UTM to its second straight OVC regular season championship, collecting a 17-2 record in league play and 18-4 mark overall. In his 12th year at the helm of the Skyhawk program, the Arkadelphia, Arkansas native has captured six regular season and four OVC Tournament titles to sit as the most decorated active coach in the OVC – men’s or women’s. He ranks first amongst active OVC coaches with 236 career victories and is third all-time behind only Larry Joe Inman (545) and Worrell (408).
This season, McMillan presided over a roster that didn’t miss a beat despite suffering several injuries and enforcing limitations on playing time by multiple players. UTM topped the OVC in field goal percentage (.466), field goal percentage defense (.371), three-point field goal percentage (.380) and assists (16.5 per game) in 2020-21.
The Skyhawks are set for their 22nd all-time OVC Championship tournament appearance tomorrow when they take on No. 8 seed Eastern Illinois in the league quarterfinals at 1 p.m.
2020-21 All OVC First Team
Chelsey Perry, UTM
Tesia Thompson, Southeast Missouri
Macey Turley, Murray State
Destinee Well, Belmont
Katelyn Young, Murray State
Yamia Johnson, Jacksonville State
Abby Wahl, Eastern Illinois
Dasia Young, UTM
LaTrese Saine, Southeast Missouri
Conley Chinn, Belmont
2020-21 All-Second Team
Lariah Washington, Eastern Illinois
Jayla Johnson, Eastern Kentucky
Anna Jones, Tennessee Tech
Jordan Brock, Tennessee Tech
Kesha Brady, Tennessee Tech
2020-21 OVC All-Newcomer team
Destinee Wells, Belmont
Katelyn Young, Murray State
Anna Jones, Tennessee Tech
Jayla Johnson, Eastern Kentucky
Gabby Crawford, Morehead State
2020-21 OVC Player of the Year:Chelsey Perry, UTM
2020-21 OVC Freshman of the Year: Destinee Wells, Belmont
2020-21 OVC Defensive Player of the Year: LaTrese Saine, Southeast Missouri
2020-21 OVC Coach of the Year:Kevin McMillan, UTM
