For the third time this season the UTM women’s basketball team held its opponent to fewer than 40 points as the Skyhawks opened their final homestand of the season with a 77-39 win over Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) foe Morehead State on Thursday evening.
The Skyhawks (15-4, 14-2 OVC) posted a dominating defensive effort from the start, holding the Eagles to just four points in the opening quarter – a first quarter low for the season – while limiting the squad to just 39 points on the night. The contest marked the third time this season that the Skyhawks have held a team below 40 points – joining Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky. In addition, it was just the eighth time in the program’s Division I history to hold an opponent in the 30’s.
UTM forced 18 turnovers while tallying 13 steals on the night and scoring 22 points off turnovers. The Skyhawks would lock down the Eagles shot attempts as well, limiting the visitors to just 26.3 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from beyond the arc.
On the offensive side of the ball, junior Paige Pipkin posted a new career-high to lead all scorers with 20 points – knocking down 6-of-8 three-point attempts on the night. Also scoring in double figures was Dasia Young with an impressive double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the second of her career. While only two players scored in double figures for the Skyhawks, 11 of the 12 players reached the scoring column. Also posting a new career-high was Demi Burdick with five points and a career-best 11 rebounds.
“I thought this was a good win for our team,” UTM head coach Kevin McMillan said. “Morehead State is a hard team to guard because they can all drive it. I didn’t think we rebounded it well in the first half and had too many turnovers, but we did a lot of great things in the second half and fixed those issues. When you look at the box scored, a lot of kids contributed and you love to see that. Paige came in and knocked down shots like she can, Dasia was good and Demi gets 11 rebounds – I liked what we got from them in the ballgame. In the second half we were pretty locked in with whoever we put in the game. I think we are growing up and this was the first time I saw us really push out a lead.”
Morehead State (6-14, 5-11 OVC) never led in the contest and trailed by as much as 38 points in the contest. The Eagles placed just one player in double figures as Lauren Carter paced the team with 12 points and seven rebounds.
UTM would jump out to an early advantage, taking a 21-4 lead into the second quarter – including a 12-0 run which saw Pipkin and Young combine for all of the team’s points. Morehead State strung together its best quarter of the contest in the second behind a 9-0 run to trim the deficit from 20 points down to 11. Despite the run, the Skyhawks would still take a 15-point advantage into halftime.
The Skyhawks would open the second half with another nice run of their own before ultimately outscoring the Eagles by 14 in the period. Looking to give players rest in the final quarter, the home squad built upon their advantage and later pushed its lead out to its highest margin of 38 in the waning seconds.
UTM will look to close out the home portion of the 2020-21 schedule on Saturday when playing host to Eastern Kentucky while also honoring the team’s seniors prior to tipoff. Action from the Elam Center is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.
