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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Brittany Harriel and Karley Evans helped fuel a furious second-half rally, but Murray State held off the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team, 80-75, on Saturday afternoon.

Harriel poured in a career-high 26 points while grabbing 12 rebounds for her second double-double in three games while Evans tallied a career-high 19 points in the setback.

“The team fought hard to get back into the game,” Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said. “We did a good job of getting the ball to Brittany, and she did a nice job making herself available for the ball. We need to get more stops down the stretch.”

The Racers (4-8, 1-0 Ohio Valley) scored on their first two possessions of the second half to grab a 36-25 lead 29 seconds into the second half. Harriel answered with back-to-back baskets to bring Southeast (3-12, 0-2 OVC) back to within seven before a MSU basket made it a nine-point game.

Allyson Bradshaw provided a spark off the bench, hitting a layup and a three-pointer to bring the Redhawks to within 40-35 with 16:30 left. Harriel followed with a free throw to make it 40-36.

The Racers extended their lead to 44-37, but Evans hit a three-pointer to cut the MSU lead back to four points with 12:31 left. Evans proceeded to cut the deficit to two on a baseline jumper with just over 11 minutes remaining.

MSU's Erica Burgess got to the basket for a layup on the next possession to make it a two-score game, but Bianca Beck split a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to three points.

The Racers responded with a five-point possession as Tessa Elkins got fouled while making a basket. After missing the free throw, MSU got the offensive rebound and Burgess hit a three-pointer to make it 53-45.

A three-point possession by the Redhawks made it a five-point game. Evans hit a free throw and Harriel corralled a free throw miss and put it back in to make it a 53-48 contest.

The Redhawks cut the deficit to three points on consecutive possessions as Harriel and Roberts hit shots to make it 57-54. After MSU split a pair of free throws, Harriel scored from in close to bring the Redhawks with two points with 5:53 on the clock.

Three Murray State free throws extended the lead to 61-56 with 4:55 left, but Roberts got a three-point play on a layup and a free throw to bring the Redhawks within two again.

The Racers jumped back up seven as Mariah Robinson got to the hole for a layup and Tessa Elkins hit a three-pointer to make it 66-59 with less than four minutes left.

Bradshaw and Harriel each went 2-for-2 on consecutive trips to the line to cut the deficit back to three, but Robinson hit two free throws of her own to extend the lead to 68-63.

Evans hit her career-high fifth three-pointer on the next possession to draw the Redhawks within two points. Once again, Burgess hit a pair of free throws to make it a four-point game. Harriel hit a baseline jumper to make it a two-point game, but Burgess banked in another jumper to make it a four-point game again. Undeterred, Harriel once again hit a jumper to make it a 72-70 game with 1:38 left.

A put back basket by MSU's Beth Mahurin put the Racers back up by four 74-70, but a Bradshaw free throw once again drew the Redhawks within three points. After a stop, the Redhawks got an open look from three-point range, but the shot was off the mark and MSU split a pair of free throws to make it 75-71. Harriel scored in the lane again on the next possession to make the score 75-73 with 17 seconds remaining, but Burgess made two free throws to put the game away.

Southeast jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first half on the strength of an early 12-2 run. Evans hit a pair of three-pointers to snap a 4-4 tie give the Redhawks a 10-4 lead and Roberts followed to cap the run.

MSU countered with the next 11 points to reclaim the lead at 15-12. After Southeast went 4:33 without a point, Evans drained another three-pointer to even the score at 15.

The Racers regained the lead on the ensuing possession as Allison Karst dialed long distance to make it 18-15 with 8:32 left in the first half.

A Bianca Beck layup cut the deficit to 18-17, but the Racers stretched their lead to eight points (30-22) with 3:06 remaining in the frame.  

A three-point play by Roberts brought Southeast within five points, but a jumper by Tessa Elkins in the paint upped the Murray State lead to 32-25 and cap the first-half scoring.

Murray State shot 45.6 percent from the field while Southeast connected on 41.5 percent of its tries. The Redhawks hit 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) of its three-pointers and held the Racers to 4-of-16 (25.0 percent) from beyond the arc. Southeast also won the rebounding battle, 42-38, and forced 18 turnovers while committing 17. Southeast also dished out 17 assists compared to only six by MSU.

Murray State won the game at the charity stripe, hitting 24-of-31 (77.4 percent) while Southeast made 15-of-25 (60.0 percent) at the line.

Four Redhawks scored in double figures, paced by Harriel and Evans. Roberts scored 14 points and Bradshaw tallied 11, all in the second half. Patricia Mack recorded her second-straight double digit rebound effort, grabbing 10.

Southeast concludes its three-game home stand on Monday when it hosts Jacksonville State. Opening tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. CT.