SKYHAWK WOMEN’S HOOPS OVERCOME 18-POINT DEFICIT TO NOTCH FIRST OVC VICTORY AT SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Saturday, January 5

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

2 p.m.

UT Martin

9-4, 1-1OVC

Southeast Missouri

6-7, 1-1OVC

UT Martin

Southeast Missouri

SKYHAWK WOMEN’S HOOPS OVERCOME 18-POINT DEFICIT TO NOTCH FIRST OVC VICTORY AT SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

1/5/2019 5:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Trailing by as much as 18 points in the third quarter, the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team rallied behind a strong fourth quarter to notch an 80-73 road victory at Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon.

The Skyhawks (9-4, 1-1 OVC) faced a heavy deficit for much of the contest as the home Redhawks shot close to 60 percent from the field through the opening three quarters of play. Despite facing a deficit as large as 18 points in the game – including a 17-point deficit with 1:51 to play in the third quarter – the Skyhawks gave a late game push.

Facing the significant margin, UT Martin finished the third quarter on a 9-1 run to cut the deficit down to nine points heading into the fourth. The Skyhawks would continue to dig themselves out of the hole in the fourth quarter before a foul and a flagrant foul resulted in a seven-point swing with just over six minutes to play to give UT Martin its first lead since the first quarter. With new life, the Skyhawks would hold strong in the fourth to push the margin out to as large as eight points to secure the come-from-behind victory.

With the victory, head coach Kevin McMillan notched his 182^nd career win for the Skyhawks to move into third place in OVC history.

"Today was a scary representation of how our team is playing right now," McMillan said. "We looked absolutely awful for the first two-thirds of the ballgame. We weren't playing hard and weren't being coachable. It was almost identical to the EIU game where we finally started to play in the final minutes, but today we were able to turn an 18-point deficit into a victory. We can't play this way and expect to win. With that being said, if we can ever decide to play a full 40 minutes, we can be really good because you saw how fun we can be to watch in the final 12 minutes of the game. This is the best group of kids that I have ever been around, I just hope that we can finally put it together over the next couple of weeks and make a special push."

Sophomore Maddie Waldrop posted another career performance for the second time this week by leading all Skyhawks with 20 points, knocking down 6-of-7 shot attempts, while going perfect from the free throw line and beyond the arc. The forward also tallied eight rebounds and two critical steals in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Chelsey Perry ranked second on the team with 17 points while Emanye Robertson notched 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Freshman Damiah Griffin ranked as the team's fourth scorer in double figures with 13 points off the bench.

"Maddie came to us before the game and said she wasn't sure if she could go," McMillan commented. "For her to be able to overcome the pain she had and be able to put together a game like she did tonight, truly shows you how special of a player she is. She put the team on her back for the second straight game and was rewarded for it."

Southeast Missouri (6-7, 1-1 OVC) led for over 28 minutes in the contest behind a hot shooting approach which saw the squad shoot 50 percent from the field and nail 11 three-pointers. Missouri transfer Carrie Shephard paced the Redhawks with 25 points while senior Adrianna Murphy tallied 18 points and seven points in the losing cause.

UT Martin will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 10 when opening the home portion of OVC play against regional rival Murray State. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.