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The University of Tennessee at Martin head women’s basketball coach Kevin McMillan saw his team respond to its first Ohio Valley Conference game of the season Monday afternoon against visiting Jacksonville State. Now, five days later, the fourth-year head coach will want to see that “we have a job-to-do” look in his players’ eyes.
The Skyhawks will host OVC rival Murray State Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks opened the OVC slate with a convincing 93-63 victory over Jacksonville State on New Year’s Eve. Senior Rickiesha Bryant, from Homestead, Fla., recorded her second career double-double and three other players scored in double digits to lead the Skyhawks. Bryant scored 14 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds and six blocks. Junior guards Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome scored 25 and 24 points respectively while freshman Katie Schubert tied a career-high with 11 points. Bryant was 5-for-5 from the field in the first half with six rebounds and five blocks. With the six rejections in the game, she moved up to No. 2 in school history for the most blocks (98).
Jacksonville State opened the second half with a 7-0 run, but the Skyhawks answered with an 18-6 run capped off by a Butler 3-ball with 10:28 to play in the game.
The Skyhawks stretched their lead to 29 points four times and led by as many as 32 points with 2:13 to play when Bryant made a layup.
Murray State enters the game with a 7-5 overall record and a 0-1 slate in the OVC. The Racer women suffered a 69-49 loss to Eastern Kentucky this past Monday.
Mariah Robinson leads the team in scoring and rebounding. She is averaging 16.3 points and 6.5 rebounds a game.
Murray State won seven consecutive games before losing back-to-back contests at Missouri and against Eastern Kentucky. UT Martin will look to continue a six-game winning streak against the Racers including a 13-5 advantage at home over the last decade.