For head coach Kevin McMillan, it was another day at the office as the UT Martin Skyhawks cruise to another conference win over the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, 96-55.
The Skyhawks improved to 7-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play on a night where they unveiled the banner for last season’s 15-1 OVC Championship team.
Despite the first 14 seconds where it was a 0-0 tie, the Skyhawks took control of the game for the final 39:45. Statistically, the Skyhawks dominated the Redhawks, winning the rebound battle 45-20 and the assists battle 21-12 in their 41 point win.
“When you make shots, it hides a lot of things that didn’t go well,” said McMillan. “We found people for good open shots for a lot of the ballgame, we had a lot of assists…again getting better and I thought the effort was good.”
The Skyhawks had five players finish with double-digit points, led by Ashia Jones, who recorded her fifth 30+ point outing with 30 points. Other players who finished with double digit points were Chelsea Roberts (10), Katie Schubert (11), Karisma Tyson (11) and Tiara Caldwell, who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“That’s this team,” said McMillan. “We’re going to need production from everybody like that.”
Erin Bollmann led all Southeast Missouri shooters with 20 points and also tallied five rebounds.
Overall, UTM shot consistently throughout the game, hitting 60 percent from the field and 56 percent from 3-point range. SEMO struggled shooting the ball, hitting 45 percent from the field and 29 percent from three.
UTM will play on the road their next three games, beginning Wednesday, Jan. 28 when they travel to Tennessee State. Tipoff between the Skyhawks and the Tigers is scheduled for 7 p.m.
