UT MARTIN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL USES BALANCED SCORING ATTACK TO PUSH WINNING STREAK TO EIGHT WITH 79-45 WIN OVER SIUE

Saturday, January 30

Martin, Tenn.

1 p.m.

UT Martin

10-3, 9-1OVC

SIUE

5-11, 2-9OVC

SIUE

UT Martin

UT MARTIN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL USES BALANCED SCORING ATTACK TO PUSH WINNING STREAK TO EIGHT WITH 79-45 WIN OVER SIUE

1/30/2021 6:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

MARTIN, Tenn. – A total of 11 different players reached the scoring column for the University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon as the squad pushed its season-long winning streak to eight games with a commanding 79-45 win over Ohio Valley Conference foe SIUE.

The Skyhawks (10-3, 9-1 OVC) posted their eighth straight win equaling the team's fifth longest winning streak during the Kevin McMillan Era – joining the squads from 2012-13 and 2017-18. During the streak the Skyhawks have stymied their opponents defensively by holding them to under 40 percent from the field – including today's contest in which SIUE made just 28.6 percent of its attempts. The win also continued UT Martin's dominance over league opponents at home by winning 17 straight games on Pat Summitt Court.

While UT Martin controlled the tempo for most of the contest and held the lead for over 36 minutes, it was the third quarter where the team truly set itself apart from the competition. After heading into halftime with a seven-point advantage, the Skyhawks opened the third quarter on a dominant 20-1 run. During the run the home squad made 9-of-12 field goal attempts while forcing seven turnovers on the defensive end.

Redshirt-freshman Hayley Harrison led the Skyhawks in scoring, tallying a career-high with 14 points off the bench while knocking down 4-of-5 three-point attempts. Junior Paige Pipkin also scored in double figures for the third time in the last four games with 11 points. Senior Maddie Waldrop just missed out on a double-double after tallying eight points and 13 rebounds in addition to dishing out four assists while fellow senior Chelsey Perry saw her streak of 42 games in double figures came to an end after scoring seven points in just eight minutes before an injury forced an early exit.

Gallery: (1-30-2021) WBB vs. SIUE

"There were some really good things that we did in this game," McMillan said. "I thought our defense came out and played really well in the second half, especially in the third quarter. We came out in the third and really looked like we wanted to play. To score 49 points in the second half without Chelsey really shows how deep our team can be. Our effort was pretty good except for just about three or four plays. The best part about today is that nobody played more than 25 minutes especially with a tough SEMO team coming into town on Monday afternoon. We've got three games in the next seven days and we are pretty banged up right now, so we have a pretty tough hill to climb this week"

SIUE (5-11, 2-9 OVC) posted its biggest threat in the first quarter, using a 9-0 run midway through the quarter to take a four-point advantage. The lead would be short-lived as the Cougars could never get its offense clicking from there. Mikayla Kinnard paced SIUE with 10 points while Ajulu Thatha tallied five points and seven rebounds.

UT Martin will return to action on Monday, Feb. 1 when hosting OVC rival Southeast Missouri in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is scheduled for 4 p.m.