TOUGH SHOOTING NIGHT GROUNDS SKYHAWKS ON THE ROAD AT JACKSONVILLE STATE

Wednesday, December 30

Jacksonville, Ala.

4:30 p.m.

UT Martin

2-2, 1-1OVC

Jacksonville State

4-2, 1-1OVC

UT Martin

Jacksonville St.

TOUGH SHOOTING NIGHT GROUNDS SKYHAWKS ON THE ROAD AT JACKSONVILLE STATE

12/30/2020 7:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team suffered its first speed bump in its Ohio Valley Conference championship title defense on Wednesday evening with a 72-67 road loss at Jacksonville State to close out the 2020 calendar year.

The Skyhawks (2-2, 1-1 OVC) hope to put today's game – like much of 2020 – in the rearview mirror after a difficult shooting night which saw the team shoot a season-low from the field (39.1 percent) and three-point line (25.0 percent) while also struggling to connect on just 60 percent of its free throw attempts.

After jumping out to an early lead in the contest and holding a lead as large as nine points in the opening minutes of the second quarter, UT Martin struggled mightily in the second quarter while JSU surged. The Gamecocks would not only string together numerous runs to eliminate the margin but would later lead by as much as 19 point in the third quarter. The Skyhawks did not go away quietly, using a 12-2 run in the second half, followed by another late push in the final minutes to trim the deficit to a two-score margin but could not overcome its shortcomings on either side of the ball.

Reigning back-to-back OVC Player of the Week Chelsey Perry continued her offensive surge to start the season, leading all scorers with 23 points while tallying 10 rebounds. The contest marked her 32^nd career game with 20 points or more and 12^th career double-double. Sophomore Dasia Young also scored in double figures for the second time this season and 10^th time of her career with 10 points while tallying four rebounds in the setback. Just missing out on double-digits was the junior tandem of Paige Pipkin and Zaire Hicks with nine points each.

Gallery: (12-30-2020) WBB at Jacksonville State

"I was really disappointed with our effort to start the game," UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. "We missed free throws, layups and easy shots all game. We thought that we could press and play fast, but we just chose not to play hard early and our offense had no rhythm. We still haven't figured out our identity and we are going to struggle until we figure it out because right now we can't score and we can't defend. The tough thing is that we have not been able to play games to be able to work through our problems. We aren't going to make excuses though; we are just going to try to just keep plugging away and try to make adjustments."

Jacksonville State (4-2, 1-1 OVC) posted one of its top shooting performances of the season, knocking down 50.9 percent of its chances from the field and 40.9 percent of its three-point opportunities. The Gamecocks boasted a balanced attacked with three players scoring in double figures with Yamia Johnson and Imari Martin scoring 17 points each while Taylor Hawks tossed in 16 points to round out the trio.

UT Martin will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 2 while making its long-awaited home debut in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center by playing host to OVC rival Belmont. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.