In their first home game since November 30, 2013, the UTM women’s basketball team defeated the Belmont Bruins, 82-53.
The game was the first in a Saturday doubleheader that featured home games for both the men’s and women’s teams.
“I thought our effort level was much better than it has been,” said UTM head coach Kevin McMillan after the game, “andā¦we sustained it for a longer period of time.”
Senior guard Heather Butler led the way in scoring for the Skyhawks, recording 22 total points. Ā Butler also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds, all of them defensive. Ā For the Bruins, junior guard Jordyn Luffman put up 18 points, including two three-pointers and four free throws; however, she was the only Bruin to exceed ten points scored during the course of the game.
Belmont was initially able to neutralize the Skyhawks’ perimeter shooting game, but were unable to prevent freshman forward Ashia Jones from scoring inside. Ā Jones would finish 8-for-9 from the floor.
UTM jumped out to an early lead on the strength of Jones’ inside shooting and the Skyhawks never trailed at any point during the game. Ā The Skyhawks led at halftime, 39-25.
During the second half, the Skyhawks’ three-point game began to open up, and guards Butler and Jasmine Newsome combined to make five of six attempts from beyond the arch.
“We played a lot of people, [and] they all contributed,” said McMillan. Ā “There were just a few little letdowns in the ballgame that we weren’t happy with, butā¦that’s a big win against a real good Belmont team.”
The Skyhawks will face Southeast Missouri on Monday. Ā The Skyhawks women’s team is 8-0 against SEMO under McMillan, winning the previous matchup by a score of 75-61 last February. Ā McMillan believes that his team can take quite a bit from tonight’s game and apply it to Monday’s contest.
“I hope we’ve learned…what level we need to play at. Ā I hope we’ve learned [about] the effort, the intensity, [and] the focus that we need to have. Ā If we cross that hurdle, we can start wording about being a good basketball team.”
The Bruins’ next game will also be held on Monday, when they return home to play Murray State.
