The Skyhawk women’s basketball team continued to lay waste to the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) with a 88-33 beatdown over the No. 8 Murray State Racers (MSU) (14-16).
The Skyhawks, who claimed the No. 1 seed for the OVC Championship Tournament after claiming the conference title, broke the previous record for margin of victory in the tournament with a 55-point gap over the Racers. The previous record of 52 was set by the 2013-14 Skyhawks that took down Eastern Kentucky Colonels 97-45 in the semifinals en route to UTM’s fourth-straight OVC Championship Tournament win.
Though junior forward and OVC Player of the Year Chelsey Perry once again led the team in scoring (21 points), the Skyhawks featured a balanced offensive effort this time around as opposed to the usual duo of Perry and junior forward Maddie Waldrop carrying the brunt of the load.
In total, including Perry, the Skyhawks had five players score in the double digits, including sophomore forward Brittni Moore (11), junior forward Demi Burdick (14), sophomore guard Sade’ Hudson (11) and junior guard Tamiah Stanford (12), who also recorded her first double-double with 10 rebounds, according to Sports Information.
The Skyhawks controlled the pace of the game in nearly every category. The Racers were severely beaten in rebounds (37-49) and turned the ball over considerably more (24-10). Not helping MSU was their struggle in the shooting department, as only one player, Ashley Hunter with 10 points, scored in the double digits.
The shooting percentages for the Racers hindered the team greatly and prevented the squad from keeping pace with UTM. MSU’s highest percentage in field goals was 28.57% (4-14) in the second quarter. The team shot below 20% in quarters three and four. The highest percentage for three-pointers was a similar 28.57% (2-7) that came in the first quarter. The Racers failed to score another three-pointer in the second and third quarters, eventually hitting one in a dreadful 1-8 stretch in the fourth.
Even the Racers’ free-throw percentage was below 50%, as the team made 37.5% (6-16) of their free-throws on the afternoon.
The Skyhawks, along with their advantage in shooting, dominated the Racers in points off turnovers (34-3), bench points (41-10), points in the paint (46-14) and fast-break points (14-6). The story of the match was pure statistical dominance by the Skyhawks, which was reflected in the score after every period.
It didn’t take long for UTM to pull away with a 22-10 lead at the end of the first. The Skyhawks once again doubled the Racers at the end of the second with a 45-20 lead. The third quarter snuffed out any hope of an MSU comeback as the Skyhawks held their opponent to six points while extending their lead to 73-26.
“Even though the score got away late, it was kind of a sluggish start for us,” UTM head coach Kevin McMillan said. “I don’t know how focused we were in the first couple of minutes but then in the third quarter we picked it up, played well and looked like we were on a mission. The more balance we get across the board, the better we are going to be. After losing Kyannah, we have to rework some things over the next two days and get ready for the semifinals.”
UTM will play the winner of the No. 4 Eastern Illinois and No. 5 Jacksonville State game on Friday, Mar. 6 in the semifinals.
Photo Credit / Sports Information
