Two points was as close as the Skyhawks would come to No. 17 Georgia in their game on Dec. 30 in the Elam Center. The Skyhawks ultimately fell to the Lady Bulldogs, 81-47.

The games started with Georgia going on a 8-0 run, holding the Skyhawks scoreless for the first 3:15 of the half.

UTM’s first points came off a 3-pointer, the only one they would make in the first half, by junior guard Kimberly Cox, putting the score at 8-3.

The Skyhawks then answered back going on an 8-2 point run of their own to pull to within two with 11:43 left in the first half.

The Lady Bulldogs started to pull away and outscored the Skyhawks 26-10 in the last 10 minutes.

Headed into the break, UTM was shooting just over 33 percent from the field to UGA’s 42-plus percent and the Skyhawks found themselves facing a 38-18 deficit going into the second half.

The Skyhawks scored just eight points in the paint in the first and no second chance points to Georgia’s 10.

Junior forward Andrieka Jackson put the first points on the board in the second half, making one-of-two free throws. Junior forward Deina Willingham was responsible for the next points for the Skyhawks with a free-throw and a jumper to put the score at 22-40.

The Skyhawks were never able to come closer than the 18 point difference that they faced just a minute and a half into the second. Turnovers proved to be a problem for the Skyhawks, giving up the ball nine times in each half, which more than doubled the Lady Bulldogs total of eight for the whole game.

The Skyhawks had two players finish in double digits: Jackson with 18 and Cox with 10. Jackson also tied with Willingham as the team’s leading rebounder with 9 each, just one shy of giving Jackson the double-double.

The Lady Bulldogs also each had two players ending in double digits. Leading scorer for UGA was guard Cori Chambers with 29.

Chambers went 8-of-9 from the field and was 6-of-8 from behind the three point line. Guard Sherrill Baker was the other UGA player to finish above 10 with 21 points.

UTM managed to out-rebound Georgia 29-22.

From the field, the Skyhawks shot almost 36 percent, 30 percent from the three-point line, and 56 percent at the free-throw line.

Georgia was nearly 50 percent from the field, 38.5 percent on three-pointers and an impressive 77.8 percent from the stripe.

The loss, combined with the Skyhawks record in conference over the break, puts the women’s team at 5-9 overall, and 3-4 in the OVC. UTM currently sits in seventh place in the OVC.

They return to action 5:30 on Thursday night in Clarksville where they take on the Lady Govs of Austin Peay who are sixth in the conference as of Monday.

After dropping six games straight, APSU is currently on a 7-game winning streak which includes a 61-49 victory over the Skyhawks in Martin on Jan. 2.

UTM needs the victory over APSU to put themselves back in contention for the postseason as only the top six teams make the tourney.