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Murray State (3-8, 0-0 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (3-11, 0-1 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tip-Off: 1:00 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Site: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series Record: Southeast leads 27-21 (1-1 in 2010-11)
Coaches: Ty Margenthaler (3-11 overall, 3-11 at Southeast); Rob Cross (48-55 overall, 48-55 at Murray State)

Media Coverage
Redhawks Radio Network: ESPN 1220 AM (KGIR), flagship; 930 AM (KWOC); 1470 AM (KMAL). Erik Sean, Play-by-Play; Jess Bolen, Color Commentary.
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Video Streaming: KFVS12.com; OVCSports.tv

Quick Hits
About Murray State – The Racers concluded their non-conference schedule with a 3-8 record and have not played since dropping a 68-61 overtime decision against Cleveland State on Dec. 20 (11 days ago). Murray State is 0-7 on the road this season. MSU is averaging 67.8 points per game, the third best total in the Ohio Valley Conference. However, the Racers rank only ninth in the OVC in field goal percentage with a 32.7 percent clip. Opponents shoot 41.6 percent on the Racers while scoring 70.4 points a night. MSU does sport the league's best turnover margin (+6.73 per game), forcing the most turnovers  (23.5 per game) while committing the third fewest (16.7 per game). MSU is last in the league in rebounding margin (-8.0 per game). Erica Burgess leads the Racers in scoring (15.1 points per game) and her offense is balanced out by Mariah Robinson (14.8 points per game) and Kayla Lowe (10.2 points per game).

Last Season (Southeast 48, Murray State 44 – Jan. 22, 2011 in Murray, Ky.; Murray State 54, Southeast 34 – Feb. 17, 2011 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.) – The road team proved victorious in both of last season's meetings between the two clubs. Defense also ruled the day as the highest point total was MSU's 54 in its victory at the Show Me Center in February. Shelah Fields led the Redhawks with 11 points as Southeast snapped a 10-game losing skid at Murray State in the first meeting. The second meeting appeared to be more of the same with MSU holding a 19-15 halftime lead. However, the Racers shot 50 percent in the second half and Southeast hit only 22.8 percent of its attempts in the rematch, allowing the Racers to pull out a 54-34 win.

Double Trouble – Southeast has gotten big nights out of several sources this season. Perhaps no trend underscores this fact more than that four different Redhawks have recorded double-doubles this season, including two returners posting their first career double-doubles. Senior guard Bianca Beck began this when she scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds at Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 15 for the first double-double of her career. Junior center Courtney Shiffer also had her first such performance with 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds against Lindenwood on Dec. 3. In the last two games, junior forward Brittany Harriel and sophomore forward Patricia Mack posted their third career double-doubles. Harriel tallied a season-high 18 points and tied a career-high with 13 rebounds in a win over Longwood on Dec. 20 while Mack poured in a career-high 15 points and hauled in 11 rebounds in the conference opener against Morehead State on Dec. 28.

Well Traveled Redhawks – Southeast spent the vast majority of its non-conference slate checking into and out of hotels. Ten of the Redhawks' 13 non-conference games were away from the Show Me Center. The season began with a three-game trip at NC State, Saint Louis and Illinois-Chicago. Two home games were sandwiched around Southeast's Thanksgiving trip to UAB for a two-game tournament and the non-league schedule concluded with a three-game tournament at Wright State. The end of the tournament concluded a stretch where Southeast played five of six games away from the Show Me Center.

Heroic Harriel – Junior forward Brittany Harriel willed the Redhawks to a tight win over Longwood in the finale of the Wright State Holiday Invitational on Dec. 20. The junior poured in 18 points (16 in the second half) and tied a career-high with 13 rebounds for her third career double-double. Harriel made four of Southeast's five field goals in the second half, went 8-of-9 from the free throw line and scored nine of the Redhawks' last 10 points to help secure the 56-52 win.

Welcome Back – One of the main trouble spots for the Redhawks last year was a lack of depth in the post. That situation appears to be rectified thanks to the healthy return of Patricia Mack. Through 14 games, Mack is averaging 5.1 rebounds per game in only 14.9 minutes per contest, the best per minute rebound ratio on the team. She posted her first double-double since Feb. 2, 2010 against SIU Edwardsville when she tallied a career-high 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Southeast's conference opener against Morehead State. That outburst is an exclamation point on the sophomore's strong play of late. Since scoring only two total points and averaging 3.6 rebounds in the first five games of the season, Mack is averaging 4.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 63.6 percent from the field. In her last four games, the Columbus, Ohio native is averaging 6.8 points and 7.3 rebounds while making 66.7 percent of her shots. Mack got injured in the second game of the 2010-11 season, cutting her sophomore season short after a promising freshman campaign in 2009-10 where she averaged 5.4 rebounds per contest and posted two double-doubles.

Freshman Improvement – Freshman guard Allyson Bradshaw has been a valuable weapon off the bench for Southeast over the last month. After scoring only three total points in her first five career games, Bradshaw is averaging 6.2 points per game in 16.3 minutes per game off the bench in her last nine contests. The Cape Girardeau, Mo., native has scored in double figures on two occasions with a season-high of 13 points in a win over Arkansas State on Nov. 29. Bradshaw drained the game winning three-pointer with 1:58 remaining to give the Redhawks their first win of the year in front of her home town fans in that contest.

Running Point – Senior guard Bianca Beck has moved on from a junior year that saw her struggle at the point. Through 13 games, Beck has dished out a team-best 44 assists and a team-leading 1.13 assist to turnover ratio. The senior has also been a pleasant surprise on the glass, ranking fifth on the team averaging 4.3 rebounds per contest. She recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Samford on Nov. 26. This is a welcome sign after a 2010-11 campaign that saw her commit 78 turnovers against only 44 assists. She has also scored in double figures four times this season, surpassing her total from a year ago.

Gotta Get to 60 – One trend that is carrying over from last season is the Redhawks' need to hit the 60-point mark in games. The Redhawks are 2-11 when scoring less than 60 points and 1-0 when breaking that barrier. A year ago, the Redhawks went 5-2 on the seven occasions that they scored at least 60 points. Conversely, Southeast is 5-31 when it scores less than 60 points and 1-18 when it scores under 50 points since the start of the 2010-11 season.