For the first 20 minutes of Monday night’s Ohio Valley Conference basketball game between the UTM Skyhawks and the host Morehead State Lady Eagles, things were even. Something happened at the break though and Morehead State came out with vengeance as it posted a 79-65 win over the Skyhawks.

The Morehead State victory set up a must-win situation for the Skyhawks Saturday afternoon as they host Murray State in the regular season finale for both teams.

If the Skyhawks beat Murray and Morehead State loses to Austin Peay Saturday, the Skyhawks will finish fourth in the OVC and host a first-round tournament game Tuesday, March 4. A Skyhawk loss and a Morehead State win could force the Skyhawks to travel back to Morehead State for a rematch of this past Monday’s contest.

Morehead State jumped out in front of the Skyhawks 7-0, but the Skyhawks rallied to take a 19-18 lead with 9:14 to play in the first half.

Morehead State fought back and led 32-28 with less than a minute to play in the first half.

UTM junior Torre Thomas made two consecutive steals and scored twice off her steals to tie the game at 32-all at the half. Julie Young led the Skyhawks with nine first-half points, while Thomas led the team in rebounding with four. Morehead State’s first-half effort was sparked by Tasha Gales and Kandi Brown with eight points each.

Morehead State racked up a 15-point lead at one time in the second half and never looked back. DeVonda Williams led a strong Morehead State attack in the paint with 12 second-half points. She also led the team with eight rebounds. Morehead State outscored the Skyhawks 47-33 in the second half. The host team shot 52 percent from the field and 57 percent from three-point range. Traveece Turner hit four-of-six treys in the contest for Morehead State.

The Skyhawks shot a dismal 35 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 42-28. Senior Amy Watson led all Skyhawk scorers with 16 points. Thomas and sophomore Danielle Page finished with 12 points each, while Young ended the night with 11 points.

Thomas earned OVC Newcomer of the Week honors for her effort. She finished the game with a dozen points, she was five-of-nine from the field and she had five rebounds. She also had three steals in the game and two blocks.

The Skyhawks are 11-15 overall and 8-7 in the OVC, while Morehead State is 16-10 overall and 9-6 in the league race. Amy Watson and Tiffany Brundige turned in career nights to lead the UTM Skyhawks to their second road win of the season and a season sweep over Eastern Kentucky.

The Skyhawks posted an 88-80 decision over EKU's Lady Colonels Saturday night in McBrayer Arena. Watson, a senior from Lynchburg, Tenn., scored a career-high 29 points. She hit 11-of-14 free throws and she was eight-of-15 from the field.

Just last week, Watson was named the Ohio Valley Conference’s Co-Player of the Week.

Brundige, a junior from South Fulton, Tenn., scored a career-high 30 points. Brundige was nine-of-11 at the free throw line and eight-of-12 from the field. She hit five of her six three-pointer attempts.

As a team the Skyhawks canned 28-of-35 free throws in the game. Sophomore Danielle Page, from Bradford, scored all six of her points at the free throw line. She was perfect on six attempts.

Freshman Keva Robinson also was perfect from the line with her two attempts.

The Skyhawks captured the lead when junior Torre Thomas, from Collierville, Tenn., nailed a three-pointer with 14:31 to play in the first half.

The Skyhawks never looked back. At the half, the Skyhawks led 41-35. Eastern Kentucky cut the Skyhawks’ lead to four points six times in the second half. The last threat came with 2:29 to play in the contest.

Watson triggered a 6-0 run with a layup and the Skyhawks secured the win at the free throw line.

The Skyhawks improve to 8-6 in the OVC and 11-14 overall. Eastern Kentucky falls to 10-4 in the league and 18-8 overall. The Skyhawks only other road win this season was Feb. 1 when they defeated Murray State University 78-63.

The last time the Skyhawks defeated Eastern Kentucky twice in one season was during the 1998-99 season.

The Skyhawks advanced to the OVC championship game and the WNIT that season. They finished with a 14-4 worksheet. The Skyahwks return to action tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the Skyhawk arena as they duel with Murray Stae. Following the women’s game the men battle Murray at 6 p.m.