| Guard duo powers UTM again | | Posted: Friday, February 17, 2012 7:01 pm
| | Sophomore guards Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome combined for 65 points as UT Martin women’s basketball team posted a 91-67 Ohio Valley Conference victory over host Murray State Thursday night at the CSFB Center.
With the victory the Skyhawks locked up a first-round bye in the OVC Tournament set for Feb. 29-March 3 at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. The Skyhawks are now 12-1 in the league and 18-8 overall. With the victory, the Skyhawks have now won nine consecutive conference games, the longest in school history.
Murray State falls to 11-16 and 7-7 in thee OVC.
“Those two (Butler and Newsome) are very good,” UTM head coach Kevin McMillan said. “However, we want to see balance. We want someone else to step up.”
Jaclissa Haislip stepped up for the Skyhawks. The sophomore came through with 13 points and seven rebounds.
“What we are looking for is two people to step up,” McMillan said. “Ultimately we would like one of those two players to be a post.”
Perica Glenn added five points and five rebounds to the Skyhawks tally. She saw 13 minutes of playing time.
The Skyhawks went on a 27-5 run late in the first half and used six 3-pointers to blow open a close game. Butler capped the run with a layup with two minutes to play in the first half as the Skyhawks led 44-21.
At the half, UTM was up 46-28.
“I was a little surprised at our defense and rebounding in the first half,” McMillan said. “We did a good job defensively and we shot the ball extremely well.”
The Skyhawks shot 48 percent from the field in the first half and made 8-of-15 3-pointers.
(53 percent). Butler had 21 of her 41 points in the first half, while Newsome scored 15 of her 24 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Skyhawks won the battle on the boards over Murray State 47-38 and 25-15 in the first half. “We are not a big, strong and physical team,” McMillan said. “Everybody has to rebound.”
Newsome, only 5-7, led the Skyhawks with 11 rebounds. The Millington native recorded her second career double-double. Haislip pulled down seven rebounds.
“In the first half (everybody) did rebounded ,” McMillan said. “In the second half we didn’t rebound.”
The Skyhawks return to action Saturday when they travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to play host Southeast Missouri State. Publlished in The Messenger 2.17.12 | | | | |
