For the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, the Skyhawks will reign supreme over the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), finishing off the 2019-20 season with a 16-2 conference record and a No. 1 seed going into the OVC Championship Tournament.
In order for the squad to clinch the title, they had to face some steep competition in their final regular season game in the Southeast Missouri (SEMO) Redhawks (14-3 OVC), who defeated UTM back on Feb. 13. With their opportunity for conference supremacy on the line, this time in the cozy confines of the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, the Skyhawks seized the opportunity and beat out the Redhawks by a close margin of 78-75.
SEMO proved to be a formidable opponent to UTM’s title hopes, as the Redhawks went tit-for-tat with the Skyhawks every step of the way, despite UTM leading on the scoreboard for most of the competition.
Similar to the rest of the season, the Skyhawks relied heavily on superstar junior forward Chelsey Perry, who dominated every aspect of the game. Perry led all players in scoring with 38 points over 40 minutes of playing time. In addition to her offensive production, Perry added six rebounds (all defensive), two blocks and a team-leading three steals.
Other Skyhawks who logged 40 minutes include Perry’s offensive partner junior forward Maddie Waldrop and sophomore guard Kyannah Grant.
Waldrop followed Perry in team scoring with 17 points to go along with four rebounds and a team-high four blocks. Grant excelled in dishing the ball to UTM’s offensive weapons with a team-high nine assists.
Together, Perry and Waldrop combined for 55 of UTM’s 78 points. Perry finished off the regular season with an OVC-high 479 total points (conference play only), which is the most single-season points in league play scored in two decades, according to Sports Information. Perry also beat out past league-leader Ashley Hayes out of Murray State, who put up 450 points in 2009.
Despite the only player in the game to come within 20 points of Perry being SEMO’s Carrie Shephard, the Redhawks wouldn’t give the Skyhawks a cake walk to the OVC crown. At halftime, SEMO only trailed by a slim margin of 35-37.
At halftime, Shephard outscored Perry by a 15-12 margin. The Skyhawks shot over 50% on field goals, free throws and three-point attempts, but that wasn’t enough to truly separate UTM from their opponent.
Perry owned the second half, putting up 26 points in pursuit of UTM’s victory. The only other player to get into the double digits in the second was SEMO’s Jessie Harshberger (10).
The Redhawks took the lead in the fourth with a layup that put SEMO up 64-63. A jumper by Perry with six minutes left in regulation gave the lead back to UTM. Two free throws put the Redhawks back in control with five and a half minutes to play.
With a slim 66-65 margin, Waldrop used two free throws to once again put the Skyhawks back on top. A Perry defensive rebound led to a layup by Waldrop that extended UTM’s lead to 69-66. Though Shephard would put SEMO back within one, a jumper by Perry established a three-point lead shortly after.
The Skyhawks put the nail in the coffin with six free throws to close out the game, ending the fierce matchup between the Skyhawks and Redhawks.
With the win, the Skyhawks add on to the program’s championship history with a sixth title in program history (1999, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020). The 2012 and 2014 titles are included in the Skyhawks four-year OVC Tournament Champion streak that began in 2011.
The Skyhawks beat out Belmont for the OVC title through a tie-breaker and will claim the No. 1 seed for next week’s conference tournament. SEMO falls to the No. 3 seed.
“I tell you what. I don’t know if we will win the tournament, but I cannot be more proud of this team,” UTM head coach Kevin McMillan said. “With all of the adversity this team has faced with injuries all season, I don’t know what to say about our kids for what they have done. We have players playing out of position all year, they don’t make excuses and someone just continues to step up. We have our work cut out for us next week because I think the league is probably the best that it has been but I am so proud of this team. I hope we can make a really fun run next week.”
UTM will return to action on Mar. 4 in Evansville, Indiana against the No. 8 Murray State Racers. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+.
Photo Credit / Sports Information
