Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team falls to 0-9 on road with loss at UT-Martin

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team hung with Tennessee-Martin for a half Saturday night.

Then the powerful Skyhawks blew out the visiting Redhawks.

UTM, which led just 33-25 at halftime, outscored Southeast 55-22 in the second half and rolled to an 88-47 victory.

The defending Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion Skyhawks improved to 12-8 overall and a second-place 6-1 in OVC play.

Southeast fell to 4-17 overall and a 10th-place 1-7 in the 11-team league. The Redhawks, who suffered their fifth straight loss, are 0-9 on the road this season.

"I was really pleased with the team at halftime," first-year Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "We were right where we wanted to be. We made hustle plays and hit shots in the first half, but then we came out flat in the second half.

"We turned the ball over a lot, we hung our heads and they went on a run to put it out of reach. We still need to learn how to play a 40-minute game."

The Redhawks had five turnovers early in the second half to fuel a 15-0 UTM run that gave the Skyhawks a 48-23 lead.

The Skyhawks, the OVC's highest-scoring squad at more than 75 points per game, easily surpassed that mark.

Junior forward Bailie Roberts scored a career-high 19 points to lead Southeast. She added five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"Bailie came out of the gate playing very well," Margenthaler said. "She really wanted the ball tonight and she worked real hard. This is going to give her confidence going forward."

Junior center Courtney Shiffer contributed 14 points for the Redhawks to tie her season high.

Shiffer also had five rebounds and two steals.

Sophomore forward Patricia Mack pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for Southeast.

Roberts scored 10 points in the first half, and Shiffer added eight for the Redhawks, who grabbed several early leads.

UTM used an 8-0 run midway through the half to go ahead 21-14. Southeast trailed just 29-25 late in the period before the Skyhawks scored the final four points to lead 33-25.

Then came the fateful second half that buried the Redhawks, who tied for their worst margin of defeat this season.

UTM sophomore guards Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome, the OVC's top two scorers, combined for 44 points.

Butler, who is averaging nearly 22 points per game, poured in 25 points. She made 10 of 15 field goals, including 3 of 6 3-pointers.

Newsome, who is averaging better than 19 points, finished with 19. She hit 8 of 13 from the field, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

The Skyhawks, who are averaging a league-high nine 3-pointers per game and shooting better than 35 percent from beyond the arc, made 10 of 21 for 47.6 percent.

UTM shot a sizzling 58.2 percent overall, including 67.9 percent in the second half.

Southeast shot 32.7 percent, just 28 percent in the second half. The Redhawks made 2 of 10 3-pointers (20 percent) and committed 22 turnovers compared to 14 for UTM.

The Redhawks are back in action Monday when they host ninth-place Austin Peay (5-17, 2-7) at 7 p.m.