Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team to visit OVC power UT-Martin

~ Tennessee-Martin women won the last three OVC Tournament championships

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team faces a monumental chore tonight when it visits the only team unbeaten in Ohio Valley Conference play.

The Redhawks will bear a 1-2 OVC record and 5-11 overall mark when they face OVC West division-leading Tennessee-Martin at 7 p.m.

The Skyhawks, the three-time defending OVC Tournament champions, are 4-0 in conference play and 11-6 overall. UTM already holds a two-game lead over second-place Eastern Illinois.

The Skyhawks, led by the senior guard duo of Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome, are second in the OVC in scoring at 75.5 points per game. Butler is second in the league at 21.3 points per game, while Newsome, the OVC Player of the Year the past two seasons, is fourth at 18.7.

"Their two guards, Butler and Newsome, are really what make them go, and they have done that for some time," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "They are two of the premier players in the conference and are difficult for anyone to stop."

Margenthaler said both players are dual threats, able to both shoot from outside and drive to the basket.

"They shoot phenomenal percentages -- from the free-throw line and from the field," Margenthaler said.

Butler is third in the league individually in free-throw percentage at 84.6 percent, and as a team UTM leads the OVC in free-throw accuracy at 73.6 percent. The Skyhawks also rank fourth in field-goal percentage at 40.1 percent, and part of that accuracy is due to leading the conference in assists at 14.4 per game. Newsome leads the league in assists at 5.3 per game. The Skyhawks also are second in steals at 8.4 per game, with Newsome again at the forefront, tied for the OVC lead at 2.0 per game.

Sophomore guard Katie Schubert is third in the OVC in 3-point percentage at 41 percent.

UTM, on a four-game winning streak, lost against nationally ranked Florida State of the ACC on Dec. 28 before assembling its four-game winning streak against OVC opponents. The Skyhawks also have lost at Illinois and Ohio State of the Big 10, and at Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference, but own a 75-57 road win over Alabama of the SEC.

Both UTM and Southeast have lost to Missouri.

The Redhawks are last in the 12-team OVC at 62.7 points per game and 11th in field-goal percentage at 37.1.

Sophomore guards Kara Wright and Olivia Hackman lead Southeast in scoring at 10.2 ppg. Senior forward Patricia Mack has been the team's top scorer in OVC play at 11.5 ppg and averages 9.1 overall. She also averages a team-leading 9.7 rebounds per game.

Southeast is coming off a 75-67 loss at home to Tennessee State.

"It's nice that we can get back to a game this quickly after such a disappointing game against Tennessee State," Margenthaler said. "Maybe we can get one or two back on the road."

Tonight's game is the first of two straight road games for Southeast, which will be off until next Monday when it visits Morehead State.