UT MARTIN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LOOKS TO “BRING IT EVERYDAY” IN 2019-20
11/1/2019 10:08:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Even though the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team will officially open the season on Wednesday, Nov. 6, it will only begin a five-month story that is yet to been written. Will the Skyhawks accomplish another 20-win season? Will UT Martin return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014? While the season is filled with optimism, only time will reveal if the final chapters of the season will include a storybook ending.
The Skyhawks return the bulk of a squad that went 23-9 last season, posted the program's ninth 20-win season and finished as the Ohio Valley Conference runner-up once again. UT Martin features a roster that includes 12 returners off a squad which sports a loaded 17-player roster.
UT Martin opens its 11th season with head coach Kevin McMillan at the helm. Over the past 10 years, the Skyhawks have won eight OVC titles – including four regular season and four tournament crowns. The Skyhawks have reached the postseason seven times during that span while tallying seven 20-win seasons. As a whole, UT Martin has posted a 196-126 record under McMillan while going 127-41 in OVC play.
After ranking as one of the youngest teams in the country last season, the Skyhawks have turned that inexperience into a strength with a roster that includes 12 returners from a season ago. With zero seniors on the roster, UT Martin will look to its junior class to lead the way. A decorated group that has won 42 games over the last two seasons will lean on the shoulders of juniors Chelsey Perry, Maddie Waldrop, Zaire Hicks and Demi Burdick which enter their third season of playing experience.
"The junior class has to be our senior class," McMillan said. "Their leadership and ability to lead from a junior class perspective will be key. I am anxious to see the ownership they take over themselves. A lot of times, how good you are as a team ultimately depends on how good you want to be as a player. I think Chelsey and Zaire are the two out there that have grown up and bring it every day in practice. Hopefully, they will be able to sustain that while others jump on the bandwagon."
With the team's success over the years, it is easy to forget where the program was. Once becoming a Division I program, UT Martin posted just three seasons over .500 from 1992-2010 while winning just 37.1 percent of its games during the span. Since that time, the Skyhawks have posted a winning percentage of 62.4 since the 2010-11 campaign.
While success has been aplenty, fans and media pundits alike ask when the Skyhawks will get back "over the hump" after falling in the OVC championship game in back-to-back seasons.
"The statement that we get sometimes infers that we have underachieved," McMillan said. "That is a great problem to have when you are at UT Martin when someone thinks you underachieved because you had 23 wins, you've been to the conference championship game seven times in the last nine years and have been to the postseason seven times. If that's underachieving, then that's a high standard."
"There are certain expectations that are at our place, the thing is, they have nothing to do with postseason play or winning a championship. Now we will refer to those things as something we can do, but we are more focused on what you do every day. What do you bring every day to practice? What do you bring every day to the classroom? What do you bring every day to your life? Those things will be more important in the long run. The good thing is that if you take care of those things, championships usually take care of themselves."
With a stable of returners along with five newcomers to the squad, UT Martin will look to build upon the foundation set by last year's team but will not rest on its laurels. "If you look at what you did last year, what have you lost and what you have gained, I understand the idea that we should just pick up where we left off. The problem is that every year – even if you have the exact same team back – you have to start over. Even with so much back, there are just so many unanswered questions at this point."
Hoping to answer some of those questions are the team's proven leaders. The Skyhawk pair of Perry and Waldrop were voted as Preseason All-OVC honorees while sophomore Brittni Moore returns after being named to the OVC All-Newcomer squad following a strong freshman campaign.
A native of Middleton, Tenn., Perry is a two-time Preseason All-OVC honoree after averaging 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season en route to an All-OVC second team nod. Perry scored in double figures in 19 contests while tallying four games with at least 20 points. She scored a season-high 28 points against Tennessee Tech while ranking 24th nationally with 71 blocks and 30th with 2.22 blocks per game. The prolific shot blocker tallied a career-best six blocks against Mississippi Valley State and Morehead State while ranking second in the OVC.
Hailing from Murray, Ky., Waldrop took the next step in her progression in 2018-19, averaging 8.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Waldrop scored in double figures 10 times while tallying a season-high 20 points against Southeast Missouri, Belmont and Tennessee State. Along with her three double-doubles, she posted her best game of the season against Tennessee State in the regular season finale with 20 points and 16 rebounds. She ranked sixth in the OVC in defensive rebounds (4.8), ninth in total rebounds (7.3) and 10th in offensive rebounds (2.5).
Representing Memphis, Tenn., Moore was a two-time OVC Freshman of the Week while securing her spot in the starting lineup in the final 15 games of the season last year. She averaged 8.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting over 40 percent from the floor and beyond the arc. Scoring in double-figures 11 times, she posted her best game against Eastern Illinois where she tallied 22 points while knocking down five three-pointers. She finished the season ranked second in the OVC in three-point field goal percentage (44.7) and seventh in three-point field goals made (59).
Hicks returns to the fold as the team's fourth starter back from last season. Hicks started in 31 games last year while averaging 8.6 points and 2.4 assists per game. She scored in double figures 14 times while tallying season-highs against Alabama Huntsville and Murray State with 19 points.
UT Martin will look to other returners Demi Burdick, Emma Davis, Kyannah Grant, Kyarrah Grant, Damiah Griffin, Sade' Hudson and Tamiah Stanford to provide additional depth with position flexibility. The Skyhawks also welcome four newcomers to the fold in transfer Anna Pierce and freshmen Raegan Johnson, Macy Rippy and Dasia Young.
Meanwhile, the team's depth has already taken an early hit with redshirt-sophomore Paige Pipkin suffering the third season-ending injury of her Skyhawk career while freshman Hayley Harrison will spend her debut season redshirting an injury. While a pair of Skyhawks have already seen their season come to a close, others are hoping to nurse ailments suffered this preseason in hopes of contributing on the court.
"We have to stay healthy," McMillan said. "We have already taken some significant hits and our margin for error is getting smaller and smaller. Our kids will need to continue buying in and playing hard. Is this team willing to do the grunt work and will they enjoy it? Does it become a staple of who we are and morph into our identity? Are we going to be the team that takes charges, dives on the floor and has great teammates? Those are the questions that we will hope to have to find the right answers to."
Like any good book, the story will be written one chapter at a time. To keep up with the Skyhawks throughout the season, visit www.UTMSports.com for full recaps, previews, statistics and much more.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballTuesday, March 10
Tuesday, February 24
Tuesday, February 17
Tuesday, February 10