UT Martin clips SIUE women 85-79

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EDWARDSVILLE – UT Martin hit 12 of 22 three-pointers Saturday as the Skyhawks outlasted SIUE women's basketball 85-79 Saturday at the Vadalabene Center.

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The Cougars had their six-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 14-10 overall and 9-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. UT Martin moved into first place with a 16-7 overall record and a 9-1 mark in the OVC.

SIUE held a seven-point lead after three periods and were up by as many as 13 points before UT Martin made a 20-3 run the middle of the fourth period.

"We put ourselves in a good position with a decent lead, but they switched a couple things up and we stopped being the aggressors," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher. "We had too many turnovers in the big run they had in the fourth and didn't defend well."

Five SIUE players finished scoring in double figures, including two with double-doubles. Shronda Butts led the Cougars with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Sidney Smith scored 18, including five three-pointers. Donshel Beck recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Gwen Adams pumped in 13 points, and CoCo Moore added 10.

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"We did a great job at times against a very good team who plays a drastically different style than we do," said Buscher. "We did great things defensively. On the offensive end, we made some great reads and got some great baskets. Even when we missed, we had great opportunities."

 The two teams went back and forth in the four periods. SIUE outscored UT Martin in the first and third periods while UT Martin topped SIUE in the second and fourth periods.

"The hardest thing in the game of basketball is stay to aggressive and poised with a lead, and I don't think we handled that well," said Buscher.

The Skyhawks, which have now won an OVC-leading nine straight games, hit 12 three-pointers, including four each from Jessy Ward and Haley Howard. Ward and Katie Schubert provided the team lead in scoring with 19 points each. Five players for UT Martin in total also scored in double figures with 14 from Howard, 15 from Shy Copney and 13 from Myah Taylor.

SIUE used its dominance on the boards with a 24-3 edge on second-chance points, but the Skyhawks hit seven of their last eight free throws to hold off the Cougars.

"One of the biggest lessons in this game is that you can always get better. This team has done a great job of learning all year long. We'll learn from this and move on to the next game," said Buscher. "I think we're better than we played tonight."

The Cougars will look return to the win column Wednesday when Murray State invades the Vadalabene Center for a 7 p.m. contest.

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