NW Tennessee News

The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team closed out the calendar year by picking up its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season after knocking off visiting Morehead State by a final score of 63-48.

The Skyhawks (5-8, 1-1 OVC) returned to their home court for the first time in over a month while making their OVC home debut in this afternoon's New Year's Eve matchup. After jumping out to an early lead while Morehead State answered to take a slight lead into halftime, the Skyhawks pushed back in a big way in the second half on their way to a convincing victory.

With the win, the Skyhawks improved to 96-17 at home against OVC foes since the 2009-10 season.

After entering halftime trailing by one point, UT Martin came out of the locker room on a mission despite boasting a short-handed squad which featured just seven available players for the matchup. Regardless of the team's numbers, the Skyhawks did not use it as an excuse as they won three of the four quarters en route to a 15-point victory against a deep Eagles squad.

UT Martin took advantage of its work on the boards and by forcing turnovers. The Skyhawks won the battle of the boards by nine while forcing 20 turnovers – including 16 steals – which they later translated into 23 points off turnovers. The team's best run came heading into halftime and in the early minutes of the third quarter when the Skyhawks forced four turnovers and strung together a 10-0 run. 

For the fourth time this season, UT Martin placed four players in double figures behind a career-day from freshman guard Josie Storey after she tallied 15 points, four steals, four rebounds and four assists for a loaded stat-sheet. Trailing not far behind was the Preseason All-OVC tandem of Seygan Robins and Shae Littleford which scored 13 points each while combining for seven assists and seven steals. Rounding out the scoring quartet was freshman forward Sharnecce Currie-Jelks who reach double-digits for the 10th time this season with 12 points while snagging a game-high eight rebounds.

"Morehead is way better, and they are playing really hard," McMillan said. "It's a very different team than they have had and Coach Petree has them heading in the right direction. They could have folded in that first quarter and they didn't. I thought if we could keep getting shots, we would be ok. Any win we can get, we will take it and run with it." 

Morehead State (5-8, 1-1 OVC) provided challenges for the Skyhawks after rotating 12 players to stay fresh. The Eagles' best quarter came in the third when they scored 16 points and shot 58.3 percent from the floor but the second half saw the squad combine for just 22 points – 16 points fewer than the home squad.

The Eagles found their top performances off the bench as Melissa Secchiaroli knocked down four three-pointers to score a team-high 12 points. Sophie Benharouga also reached double figures with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.

UT Martin will continue its current three game homestand when playing host to a pair of OVC rivals next week, beginning with a matchup against Southeast Missouri on Thursday, Jan. 5. Tipoff from the Elam Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. 

Original source can be found here