UTM unloads big second half on Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team

The two halves of basketball couldn't have been much more different for the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team when it faced UT Martin on Saturday.

The Redhawks matched the efforts -- and even led -- the Ohio Valley Conference's top team during the first 20 minutes, but the Skyhawks appeared determined to not lose a second conference game and defeated Southeast 102-70 at the Show Me Center on Saturday.

"We had a great first half, and I guess we stayed at the level we left the first half at, whereas UT Martin went up a level," Southeast senior guard Jordan Hunter said. "And instead of us, like, going above, bringing more energy and confidence, they just blew us out."

The Redhawks trailed UTM 45-38 at halftime -- and the Skyhawks quickly went to work to put it out of reach from there.

In the first 31 seconds of the second half, Southeast committed two fouls and the conference's leading scorer Heather Butler hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the deficit to 13 points.

Southeast Missouri State coach Ty Margenthaler reacts to a play during Saturday’s game gainst Tennessee-Martin at the Show Me Center. UTM won 102-70. (Adam Vogler)

UTM outscored Southeast 19-5 over the first five minutes of the half in what turned into a lopsided affair. The Skyhawks held a 40-point lead with 3 minutes, 31 seconds remaining after Southeast was held scoreless for nearly six minutes.

"They're the type of basketball team that can go from 6-0 to 26-0," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "They just have those kind of weapons and kind of offensive players. And we got down a little bit, we got frustrated, but I thought we kept playing hard and kept fighting, but unfortunately it just got out of hand. And then every time that they would attack the basket, unfortunately, we weren't in real good defensive position, I guess, and they were at the free-throw line 37 times."

The Skyhawks were 29 of 37 from the line and made 22 free throws during their strong second half.

UTM's top offensive players -- Jasmine Newsome and Butler -- were held to six and four points in the first half, respectively.

Butler finished with 19 points and Newsome had 18. Those totals didn't bother Margenthaler as much as the totals of some of their teammates. Ashia Jones scored 27 points and Katie Schubert netted 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc.

The 28 turnovers Southeast committed also posed a problem. They alone led to 38 points for UTM.

"They sped us up a little bit," Margenthaler said. "In the first half there are two possessions I can recall where we got sped up, and that's great for a 20-minute half. In the second half I thought they got us sped up. They got some loose balls from behind. We got a little aggravated. We thought we were getting bumped, and we've just got to play through those things."

During the first 20 minutes, Southeast looked like a completely different team. The Redhawks handled UTM's full-court press with ease, which resulted in an easier time on the offensive end. Even if Southeast didn't get a quick basket after breaking the press, the Redhawks wound up with good looks on the offensive end as UTM tried to regroup.

The Redhawks shot 53.8 percent (14 of 26) in the first half and were 5 of 10 from behind the arc. That didn't drop off much, shooting 11 of 26 (42.3 percent) from the field in the second half, but they made just 1 of 6 3-point attempts.

The teams traded baskets during much of the first half, with neither team creating much of a lead. The Redhawks took their largest lead of the game at 24-18 with 10:20 remaining in the first half.

UTM knotted the score at 33-33 with 3:53 left and closed out the half on a 12-5 run to take the lead for good.

Southeast was led by Allyson Bradshaw with 17 points. She was 3 of 3 from behind the arc -- all in the first half -- and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.

UTM (18-7, 11-1 OVC) clinched the OVC West Division title with the win. The Redhawks remained in a fight to make the OVC tournament.

Southeast (8-17, 4-8 OVC) is tied for ninth in the OVC standings with four conference games remaining. The Redhawks are one game out of the eighth and final spot to make it to Nashville.

"I told the team after the ball game, 'There's four games remaining. There's nine practices left until Nashville. We've got to stay together. There cannot be one negativity walking out of the locker room,'" Margenthaler said. "...We've got to take care of day by day, but those are four games that are winnable, and in my opinion I think we've got to win all four to get there. It is what it is and I'm ready to compete and go after it. My job is to keep this team intact, and it's not going to be easy. I've been there -- it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be easy at all. This program -- we're building, we're taking steps. I took over a train wreck. We haven't been to the tournament in five years so to just take that next step is a process, but hopefully for our kids we'll get that experience, and I really want it for them."

The Redhawks' next game is against Murray State at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Murray, Ky.

"We always take one game at a time, so although it was a tough loss we've just got to put it behind and move onto the next one," Hunter said. "If we linger on this one then our energy and everything won't be good for the next game."