In seven seasons, Rekha Patterson has elevated the Southeast Missouri women’s basketball program from a preseason last place selection in 2015 to the 2020 OVC Conference Tournament Champions. The Redhawks earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, a first in 13 years and were a team that was projected to win their First Round game before the season was cancelled due to COVID.
Patterson has guided the Redhawks to six-consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearances and led the Redhawks to just their second OVC Tournament title in program history and first since the 2006-07 season.
As Patterson enters her eighth season at the helm, she and her staff have been able to recruit, retain and develop a plethora of talented student-athletes. They have tutored an OVC Tournament MVP, the first-ever Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and All-OVC performers in each season.
In 2021-22, Patterson coached three OVC Freshman of the Week in Jaliyah Green (twice), Halle Smith (once), and Kennedi Watkins (twice) as the Redhawks finished with a mark of 6-23 (2-16 OVC).
Watkins was fourth on the team in scoring with 207 points (8.3 points/game) followed by Smith (177 points, 6.1 points/game) and Green (162 points, 6.8 points/game in 20 starts). Watkins also chipped in 138 boards (5.5 rebounds/game, second on team).
Patterson earned her 100th career victory at the helm of the SEMO program on Jan. 27, 2022, a 60-53 victory over Morehead State.
Southeast Missouri qualified for its sixth-straight Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as the #3 seed during the 2020-21 season. The Redhawks finished with a 15-11 overall record. SEMO posted a 13-7 record in OVC play for third in the league for the second-consecutive year. For Patterson, it was her second-straight winning season at SEMO after guiding the Redhawks to the 2020 OVC Tournament title.
SEMO recorded four series sweeps of OVC opponents (Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State, Austin Peay and SIUE) in 2020-21. The Redhawks led the league with a field-goal percentage defense of 37.1. SEMO also topped the conference for rebound margin (3.8), rebounds (1,036) and rebounds per game (39.85). SEMO ranked second in the OVC for blocked shots (147) and blocked shots per game (5.7). The Redhawks were also third for 3-point field goal defense with 27.7.
LaTrese Saine was awarded 2020-21 OVC Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the 2020-21 All-OVC First Team with Tesia Thompson. Saine is the second Redhawk in school history to earn OVC Defensive Player of the Year after Adrianna Murphy nabbed the laurel in 2017-18.
Saine led the OVC and ranked second in the NCAA in 2020-21 for blocked shots (103) and blocked shots per game (3.96). She also was second for rebounds (222) and third for rebounds per game (8.5). She rewrote the SEMO record books for blocking in 2020-21. She set the single-season (103), single-game (10) and career block records (212) in her redshirt-senior season as a Redhawk and helped SEMO set the all-time single-game blocks record with 13 against Murray State on January 14, 2021.
Thompson (430 points) and Saine (270 points) were SEMO's top scorers averaging 18.7 and 10.4 points per game, respectively in 2020-21. Roshala Scott was third on the team with 10.2 points per game (265 points) and Taelour Pruitt averaged just under 10 points (9.9) per game (159 points). Sophie Bussard netted 8.8 points per contest (230 points).
Patterson mentored Thompson who finished her career with six All-OVC accolades including Freshman of the Year and Tournament MVP. She averaged 19.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in conference play, ranking third and ninth in the OVC in those categories, respectively in 2019-20. Thompson dished out 41 assists, five blocks and 25 steals, as well. For the year, she averaged 18.6 points per game as the Redhawks top scorer. Thompson concluded her SEMO career with 1,927 points, which ranks third in program history. She also is fourth all-time in school history for career rebounds (801) and fifth for steals (192).
Patterson was named the OVC Coach of the Year in 2019-20 as she led the Redhawks to a 25-7 overall record and a third-place finish with a 14-4 mark in OVC play. It was SEMO's highest OVC finish since the 2007-08. The 2019-20 team also had the highest winning percentage in the Division I era and were ranked 21st in the final CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll following the historic 2019-20 season.
The 2019-20 Redhawks achieved their success after being predicted to place sixth in the league's preseason poll. Statistically, SEMO led the OVC in scoring offense (74.5 ppg) and scoring margin (+10.6), while ranking third with a .343 three-point field goal percentage. The team also achieved an 11-game winning streak during conference play.
The Redhawks finished their non-conference slate with an 8-3 record. SEMO recorded a dominating 70-53 win over SEC member Ole Miss for its first road win over an SEC school in program history. This was just the second all-time win against a SEC foe in program history and first since 1998.
SEMO went 3-0 in the 2020 OVC Tournament to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament before the season ended abruptly due to COVID-19. The Redhawks outscored their opponents 263-227 in the tournament, garnering double-digit victories against the tourney’s top-two seeded teams.
Patterson garnered her first OVC Tournament win with an 82-81 overtime triumph over Tennessee Tech in the first round of the 2020 tournament. Taelour Pruitt’s long-range step back 3-pointer at the buzzer against Tennessee Tech sent SEMO to the semifinals against No. 2 Belmont. The buzzer beater was the top play on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top-10 on March 6, 2020.
SEMO shattered program and conference records with a 114-99 victory over No. 2 Belmont in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament. Tesia Thompson scored a career-high 39 points, Carrie Shephard poured in 29 and Taelour Pruitt added 21 in the record-setting game that ended Belmont’s streak of four-straight OVC Tournament titles.
The Redhawks broke OVC Tournament single-game records in points scored and 3-point field goal percentage (82.4 percent). SEMO missed only three times from beyond the arc going a staggering 14-of-17. Combined, SEMO and Belmont scored 213 points, also an OVC Tournament record for total points in a game.
A day after a staggering offensive showcase, #3 SEMO used a remarkable defensive effort to beat #1 UT Martin and win the 2020 OVC Tournament Title. Defensively, SEMO held UTM to only 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the field and did not give up a 3-pointer to a Skyhawk team, which entered the game as the second-most accurate 3-point shooting team in OVC play. The Skyhawks had a 3-pointer in every game that season except this one, finishing 0-of-11 from beyond the arc.
The Redhawks 2019-20 All-OVC honorees included Tesia Thompson (First-Team, OVC All-Tournament Team MVP), Carrie Shephard (First-Team, OVC All-Tournament Team), and Taelour Pruitt (OVC All-Tournament Team).
Thompson became just the 10th Redhawk in the Division I era to surpass 1,000 points. She reached the milestone at Ole Miss (Dec. 14) in the first quarter.
Patterson also mentored Shephard, who broke her own SEMO single-season record in 3-pointers made with 88 in 2019-20. In her junior and senior seasons, Shephard made a combined 161 three-pointers, which place her fourth all-time at SEMO in career 3-pointers made. She was second on the team in scoring with 16.6 points per game and led the team with 67 steals and rates second with 101 assists.
In 2018-19, four Redhawks logged over 200 points, with Tesia Thompson leading the team and the conference with 529 points. Carrie Shephard (288), Murphy (258) and Jocelyn Taylor (234) also scored over 200 points. Carrie Shephard set the single-season record for three-pointers attempted (217) and three-pointers made (73).
In 2017-18, Patterson mentored Thompson, the first to gain All-OVC Newcomer, All-OVC Second Team and later named OVC Freshman of the Year honors in the same year. Murphy was named OVC Defensive Player of the Year, the first honor for a Redhawk. The Redhawks recorded the first ever pre-season WNIT victory over Saint Francis (82-50).
In 2016-17, Patterson mentored Bri Mitchell, the first, First Team All-OVC performer out of SEMO since Missy Whitney in 2007-08.
Mitchell and fellow 2016-17 senior Olivia Hackmann both topped the 1,000-point marks in their Redhawk careers. As a team, Southeast Missouri ranked second in the league in assists (479), fewest turnovers, scoring offense (73.9 points per game), and 3-point shooting percentage (34.9%). Individually, point guard Adrianna Murphy led the OVC in assists per game (5.8) and second in total assists (174).
In her first season as head coach, Patterson guided the Redhawks to their first winning season in seven years, posting an even 15-15 overall record and an 8-8 Ohio Valley Conference record. The Redhawks, who were picked to finish last in the 12-team league, finished tied for fifth in Patterson’s first season. In addition, Southeast punched its ticket to the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2009 under Patterson’s tutelage. Junior guard, Bri Mitchell was named a Second Team All-OVC performer.
Statistically, the Redhawks ranked 13th nationally in rebounds per game, averaging 43.4 board per game. That figure ranked second in the OVC. SEMO’s 28 defensive rebounds per game ranked 24th nationally, third in the OVC.
Of the eight head coaches in the history of Southeast Missouri women’s basketball, Patterson became the fourth to record a winning season in their first year at the helm of the program.
Academically, the Redhawks have averaged a 3.30 GPA over the last seven years. SEMO has had 42 student-athletes on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Sophie Bussard has been awarded the OVC Academic Medals of Honor each of the past two academic years. Sophia Hancock also garnered the OVC Academic Medal of Honor in 2020-21 with a perfect 4.0 GPA during the academic year. Carrie Shephard earned the award in 2019-20. In 2015-16 and 2017-18, Ashton Luttrull received the OVC Medal of Honor. The Redhawks recorded their highest semester team GPA (3.42) after the Spring 2020 semester.
Patterson was named the eighth head coach in Southeast Missouri women’s basketball history during a press conference at the Show Me Center on April 15, 2015. She is the first female head coach in the NCAA Division I era for Southeast Missouri and fourth female head coach in the 39-year history of the program.
Patterson is an active member of the community, serving on the Cape Girardeau Public Library Board of Directors since 2017, the Southeast Missouri FCA Board 2016-2019 and has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce since 2015. She has been a guest speaker for many local civic groups, sports organizations and Chamber of Commerce events and was the 2016 keynote speaker for the Women’s Prayer Breakfast.
She currently serves as the OVC’s WBCA Conference Captain.
Patterson previously was the associate head coach at Ball State from 2013-15. She also has worked on the staffs at Baylor (2002-04, 2010-12), Creighton (2007-08), Ball State (2006-07) and Eastern Illinois (2004-06).
During her coaching career, Patterson has worked with teams that have won a National Championship, reached two Final Fours, the Sweet 16 four times and has been a part of seven Big 12 championships. She has coached a National Player of the Year (Brittney Griner), two National Freshmen of the Year, four College All-Americans, an Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year (Rachel Galligan) and numerous all-conference performers.
Patterson helped guide Ball State to the WNIT. In 2014-15, the Cardinals were 13-5 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play. In her first season back at Ball State, the Cardinals advanced to the 2014 MAC Tournament championship game. Ball State became the first team to ever play five games in a single MAC Tournament. It was her second stint with the Cardinals after previously serving as an assistant coach in 2006-07.
In 2014, Patterson was a participant in the Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) program that was run by the NCAA.
While at Baylor from 2009-13, Patterson was part of the first women’s basketball team to ever win 40 games as the Lady Bears posted an unbeaten mark on the way to the national championship. She spent the 2012-13 season as the associate coach and recruiting coordinator after working the previous three years as the coordinator of basketball operations.
Patterson was an assistant coach at Creighton in 2007-08 when the Bluejays won 21 games, fell one win short of sharing the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, and completed the 15th-best turnaround in the nation that season.
While she was an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois from 2004-06, Patterson was the post coach for Galligan as she earned the top freshman honor in the OVC.
From 2002-04, Patterson began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Baylor. Prior to that, she spent a year working at the NCAA national headquarters, where she was an education services intern.
A native of Red Springs, North Carolina, Patterson was a four-year letterwinner and two-time captain at North Carolina A&T, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations in 2001. She received a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in sport management from Baylor in 2004.
Her mother, Eva Patterson-Heath, was the head coach of the Fayetteville State (N.C.) women’s basketball program and took her team to the NCAA Division II national tournament. She previously won over 500 games as the head coach at Red Springs (N.C.) High School.
