By Kaysie Moore

Morgan Eye set a school record of eight 3-pointers and contributed 26 points to help the Missouri women’s basketball team pull away from Tennessee-Martin with a tight 82-71 win on Monday night at Mizzou Arena.

Tension was high for Missouri fans as the Tigers fought to pull away from the Skyhawks in the first half, taking a 10-point lead as the buzzer sounded for halftime. But UT-Martin couldn’t keep up with sophomore guard Morgan Eye, who not only made a record-breaking eight 3-point shots but also contributed six assists and three rebounds.

“I don’t think we handed it to them; I think they took it,” UT-Martin head coach Kevin McMillan said after the game.

The Skyhawks have had a tough schedule so far this season after playing ranked schools by the likes of Stanford, Louisville and not to mention No. 1 Baylor. Missouri anticipated a difficult contest entering Monday night’s contest, despite UT-Martin’s 3-5 record.

Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton called the Tigers’ second-half performance “resilient,” and spoke highly of her team’s effort in finishing the game strong.

“That’s something we weren’t able to do in Cancun, so I certainly think it shows some growth within our team,” Pingeton said.

Junior forward Bri Kulas and freshman guard Lianna Doty also finished in double digits, with Kulas contributing 20 points and Doty scoring 12. Kulas not only helped Missouri pull away from the Skyhawks with some clutch second half shots, she also totaled four assists and 14 rebounds during her 38 minutes on the floor.

Doty had seven turnovers, but the aggressive play also led to two steals and four assists.

Tennessee-Martin’s strong defense fizzled in the final minutes of the game, as did the team’s shooting. The Skyhawks scored almost half of their shots from behind the arc in the first half, but their 3-point attempts dipped to 16 percent to finish the game. Despite missing shots, the Skyhawks did, however, play in the passing lanes and repeatedly deflect Missouri’s ball movement, something that McMillan said is uncharacteristic of his team.

McMillan also spoke highly of Eye’s performance.

“She’s such a great shooter, and they did such a good job of getting her open,” McMillan said. “She’s so smart, as soon as somebody goes under the screen, she stops.”

Eye said her teammates encouraged her to keep shooting the ball, which is why she felt confident in making those long shots.

“They just kept feeding me and driving it,” Eye said. “When you’re in a rhythm, you don’t hesitate. I just lock on that target and shoot.”

The Missouri women will be in action once more at Mizzou Arena this week when they face Missouri State Thursday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.