The Skyhawk women’s basketball squad started the new year off with a bang, powering past Murray State (MSU) 89-64 to begin conference play.
This game marks a couple of firsts for the team this season. The win against MSU not only marks the first win against an Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) opponent this year, but also the team’s first road win of the season. In addition, the Skyhawks set a season-high score with 89 points.
The starting lineup didn’t alter very much from the usual, with junior forwards Chelsey Perry (leads team in scoring), Maddie Waldrop and Demi Burdick along with sophomore guards Damiah Griffin and Kyannah Grant.
Perry once again led the team in points, putting up 20 on the evening. Waldrop and Griffin followed closely behind with 15 points each. Freshman forward Dasia Young put up 14 points as well. These four were all of UTM’s double-digit scorers.
Perry far and away led all players in field goal attempts with 21, however only eight were successful. Defensively, Perry three blocks and two steals. Waldrop (9) and Perry (10) combined for 19 total rebounds.
The Racers had struggled with shooting the entire match, shooting below 40% in both field goals and three-pointers. MSU’s Macy Turley, who led the league in scoring prior to the match, according to Sports Information, was limited to only seven points during her 33 minutes of play time.
However, MSU forward Laci Hawthorne had a monster game of her own, making up for Turley’s lack of production. Hawthorne tied Perry for the most points in the game, while also putting up eight rebounds.
Hawthorne’s production alone wasn’t enough for the Racers, as she was the only MSU player to score into the double-digits. The second-most points scored by a Racer was a mere eight.
The Skyhawk offense and rebound game made short work of the Racers. The first half of the game saw UTM take the lead and never let it go. While only one MSU player scored into the double-digits the whole game, Griffin (15), Waldrop (13) and Perry (11) reached the doubles in the first half alone, though Hawthorne led all players in the first with 18 points.
By halftime, the Skyhawks led the Racers 53-35. UTM had the advantage on field goals (48.8%) and three-pointers (50%).
In the second half, Hawthorne was limited to only eight minutes of playing time and two points. Ten MSU players got on the scoreboard during the second, with the highest being guard Reagan Blackburn with eight.
UTM’s offense was limited to 36 points; no Skyhawk managed to score into the double-digits in the second half. Griffin also didn’t record any playing time. However, this gave UTM the opportunity to use bench players, eventually edging out the Racers in bench production.
Other categories the Skyhawks beat out MSU in are points off turnovers (25-10) and second chance points (20-9), though MSU led in fast break points (14-4).
“I thought we came out really aggressive and were doing things well,” head coach Kevin McMillan said, according to Sports Information. “We scored 31 points and it honestly could have been more if we would have knocked down a couple extra easy attempts to really blow it open. Regardless of the final score, it is always hard to win road games in our league and tonight we were able to do just that. Now we have a quick turnaround, will need to get rested up and shift our focus to Austin Peay on Saturday.”
After the matchup, Perry surpassed Turley in points on the season, putting her on top of the OVC with 227 points, according to OVC Statistics. Perry is now trailed by Southeast Missouri’s Carrie Shephard (221) and Turley (217). On top of that, Perry also leads the league in points per game with 18.9.
UTM improves to 5-7 on the season, as well as 1-0 in OVC play. The Skyhawks will resume Jan. 4 in an OVC matchup against Austin Peay.
Statistics provided courtesy of Sports Information.
Photo Credit / Sports Information
