Guard play too much for SEMO

Sophomore guards Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome put on a scoring clinic against OVC foe Southeast Missouri Saturday night, January 28th at the Elam Center en route to an 88-47 victory.

Butler led all scorers with 25 points and Newsome added 19 in the win.

Butler shot 66 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc while also dishing out five assists and pulling down three steals.

"In the first half, Newsome and Butler didn't make themselves hard to guard," Skyhawk head coach Kevin McMillan said. "But in the second half, Butler had a little look in her eye and Newsome did too that they were going to take over and they did. When they do that, they make us look a lot better."

Jaclissa Haislip and Beth Hawn both scored double-digit points, as well(11 and 10, respectively). Newsome had a game-high seven assists. Shelby Crawford had seven rebounds and Perica Glenn brought down another six rebounds to help seal the win on Saturday night.

"Beth can really score, we just ask her to do some things defensively for us. Shelby is as athletic as anybody, we just want her to be consistent for us," McMillan said about the post play. "Those two can really play and when you add (Aubrey)Reedy in there - we have some good post players, we just have to have them show up for us every night."

The win improves the UTM women's OVC record to 6-1, and to 12-8 overall.

It was a slow start for both teams as they both had their share of the lead early on.

With less than five minutes left in the half, the UTM girls struggled with some fundamental issues and turnovers that helped to keep SEMO within four points, 29-25.

UTM kept it together and played strong defense as SEMO couldn't capitalize on their mistakes, ending the first half 33-25.

The Skyhawks opened up the second half with a 15-0 scoring run that would prove as a permanent separation between the teams for the rest of the game. This SEMO scoring drought started with three minutes to go in the first half and lasted five minutes into the second half.

UTM didn't let up once SEMO interrupted the run. After Butler's 9 straight points in the middle of the 15-0 run, Newsome mimicked her with her own 9 straight in just 1:33 to extend UTM's lead to 57-30 with just over 13 minutes left in the game.

SEMO never got any closer than 28 points for the rest of the game and ended up losing by 41, which was the largest lead of the game.

The squad hosted OVC and in-state rival Tennessee State on Monday night to wrap up a two game home stand. Results were not available at time of print. For a full recap of Monday night's game, go to www.utmsports.com.