Sharnecce Currie-Jelks/Women's Basketball | University of Tennessee at Martin
Sharnecce Currie-Jelks/Women's Basketball | University of Tennessee at Martin
The University of Tennessee at Martin women's basketball picked up its second consecutive victory after soaring past Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri with a 77-58 victory on Thursday night in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (6-8, 2-1 OVC) continued a stretch of dominance over the Redhawks where the squad has won 12 of the last 13 matchups in the Elam Center. Tonight's contest saw UT Martin jump out to an early lead with a strong first quarter before blowing the margin wide open in the second quarter by outscoring Southeast Missouri by 14 points to take a 42-20 advantage into the locker room.
The margin continued to grow in the third quarter as UT Martin pushed its lead out to as high as 36 points with just under three minutes to play in the period. While the Redhawks would cut away at the margin with a strong fourth quarter which saw the visitors put a season-high 28 points up in the final 10 minutes, UT Martin still came away with a 19-point victory in the league matchup.
UT Martin had one of its best shooting performances on the season as it knocked down 54.0 percent of its field goal attempts. One of the key contributors in the outing as a 12-for-15 shooting performance from freshman forward Sharnecce Currie-Jelks on the way to a career night. The Jackson, Tenn. native recorded her second double-double of the season after scoring a career-high 30 points while adding 13 rebounds in the victory.
Currie-Jelks was not alone in the scoring column as four Skyhawks scored in double figures for the second consecutive outing. Sophomore guard Shae Littleford ranked second on the team with 16 points and six assists while the freshmen duo of Anaya Brown and Josie Storey also scored in double figures. Brown contributed 12 points and seven rebounds while Storey reached double-digits for the second straight contest with 10 points and six assists.
"I thought our kids did a pretty good job," UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said. "I thought SEMO's plan was good and it just to try and wear us out. Our kids handled it well until the fourth quarter. It's not secret that we don't have any depth and that was their plan to exploit it. They did a good job but the thing is that we were making shots and finishing early, that got them in a big hole."
Southeast Missouri (5-9, 0-3 OVC) remains winless in OVC action after struggling from the field by knocking down just 30.2 percent of its field goal attempts. While the Redhawks saw 12 different players see action, only one player reached double figures for the visitors as Jaliyah Green tallied a team-high 13 points off the bench.
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