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MARTIN, Tenn. – The Southeast Missouri women's basketball team took a six-point lead at defending Ohio Valley Conference champion UT Martin early in the second half, but a 29-8 Skyhawk run sent the Redhawks to a 75-61 loss on Saturday.

The loss drops the Redhawks to 10-16 on the season and 4-9 in OVC play.

After falling behind 5-2 early, Patricia Mack made a layup and Bailie Roberts connected on a jumper to give Southeast a 6-5 lead 3:35 in. From there, UT Martin scored on three-straight possessions to grab an 11-6 advantage with under 15 minutes to play in the opening stanza. Heather Butler's three punctuated the Skyhawks' 9-0 run before Olivia Hackmann's jumper ended Southeast's drought.

UTM's lead stretched to 17-8 after getting points on six-straight possessions. Southeast cut the gap down to seven on two occasions on baskets by Hackmann and Roberts, but a Butler three and a Shelby Crawford put back move the Skyhawks ahead 24-12 midway through the opening stanza.

A 10-0 Southeast run brought it within two points at 24-22. Hackmann scored back-to-back baskets off UTM turnovers, Mack scored through contact and hit a free throw and then Roberts drilled a three-pointer to cap the spurt. Jasmine Newsome's three-pointer ended the Redhawks' run and made it a five-point game, but Kara Wright hit two free throws and Mack got another layup to pull them within a 27-26.

With the Skyhawks on top 29-28, Butler hit another three and Newsome got a layup on the break to put them up six. The Redhawks whittled away the deficit again with two Courtney Shiffer free throws and a Wright layup to cut UTM's lead to 34-32 at the break.

After a UTM free throw, Hackmann tied the game with a three-pointer, beginning a 9-0 Southeast run. Wright hit a transition jumper and Hackmann hit another jumper from mid range and Mack made a layup to put the Redhawks ahead 41-35 with 16:45 left.

The Skyhawks countered back with a 10-2 run to go ahead 45-43 with 13:38 showing on the clock. Two free throws by Wright evened the score again, but Newsome hit a three-pointer to snap the tie at the 12:31 mark. Two minutes later, Butler hit a trey of her own to give UTM a 51-45 lead with 10:18 to go. The Skyhawks' run eventually reached 14-0 over a five minute stretch to put them up 59-45 with just over eight minutes left.

Roberts hit a jumper for Southeast's first field goal in seven minutes and Wright scored from the paint to bring the team within 10 points with seven and a half to play. However, Rickiesha Bryant got an old fashioned three-point play to make it a 62-49 game with seven minutes left. On the next UTM possession, Chelsey Hall made it a 15-point game by making a jumper with six and a half remaining. The Redhawks never got closer than 10 the rest of the way while the Skyhawks led by as much as 16 points in the final minute.

“We did some good things after going to a small lineup in the first half,” Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said. “I talked to the team at halftime about taking better care of the ball and rebounding and those were two things that ultimately hurt us.”

Southeast shot 42.1 percent for the game and held UTM to 38.5 percent shooting. Neither team was particularly efficient from long range with the Skyhawks making 7-of-28 (25.0 percent) threes and the Redhawks going 3-of-15 (20.0 percent) from beyond the arc. UTM made 18-of-24 (75 percent) free throws, including 17-of-20 in the second half. Southeast hit 10-of-12 (83.3 percent) at the charity stripe.

Rebounding and turnovers played large roles in the game as the Redhawks were outrebounded 45-34 and committed 20 turnovers against the Skyhawks' 14 miscues.

Four Southeast players scored in double figures, led by Roberts' 18. Wright posted 15 points while Hackmann added 13 off the bench. Mack posted her sixth career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds while Jordan Hunter dished out a season-high eight assists.

UTM's Newsome (27 points) and Butler (23) combined for 50 points while Newsome added 10 boards for a double-double. Crawford (11 points) and Bryant (10 points) also scored in double figures with Bryant pulled in a game-high 13 rebounds as well.

The Redhawks are off until Feb. 23 when they head to Jacksonville State.