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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Jordan Hunter and
Patricia Mack's career games catapulted the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team to a decisive 67-52 win over UIC at the Show Me Center on Saturday.
Hunter tallied a career-high 18 points while Mack grabbed 17 rebounds, a new career high to pace the Redhawks (4-4), who are now 2-0 at home with a pair of double-digit victories.
“A big goal of ours is to win our home games,” Southeast head coach
Ty Margenthaler said. “I thought we played very unselfish and very hard. We did everything we needed to do to win this game against a good UIC team. During the second half, our bench really came through and wore them down. Playing our young players early in the season is helpful because now they aren't playing like freshmen anymore. This basketball team is growing in the right way and I'm excited to see it.”
Southeast scored the first four points on a
Bailie Roberts jumper and two Hunter free throws. UIC countered with the next four points, but six-straight Redhawk points made it a 10-4 game at the 13:28 mark. Hunter started the run with a layup, Mack converted from in close as well and
Connor King scored in transition to cap the brief run.
UIC closed the gap with an 8-2 run, scoring six-straight points to tie the score at 12-12 with 11:12 remaining in the half.
Allyson Bradshaw hit a three-pointer on the following possession and a Roberts layup put the Redhawks back up three, but Rachel Story connected on a three-pointer that tied the game at 17-17.
Hunter broke the tie with a three-pointer and a pair of Mack free throws put Southeast back up 22-17 with 7:11 showing on the clock. However, UIC got layups on back-to-back possessions, cutting the gap to 22-21 at the 6:19 mark. The Flames extended the run to 11-0 after Terri Bender made two free throws and Story hit a jumper and a three-pointer, giving UIC a 28-22 lead.
After going over five minutes without scoring,
Olivia Hackmann started bringing Southeast back with a pair of free throws. She then found King open at the baseline for a pure jumper that cut the deficit to 28-26. A Story three-pointer with 1:53 to go in the opening frame made it 31-26, but represented the final UIC points of the half. Hunter scored the final six points of the half on two layups and two free throws, giving her 13 first-half points. Her score with 12 seconds to go gave the Redhawks a 32-31 lead at the break.
Southeast opened the second half with a 14-2 spurt, grabbing a 46-33 lead, its largest of the game to that point. UIC started the second half 1-of-12 from the field. After the teams traded the first two baskets of the half, Southeast scored 12-straight points, which came from five different players.
The Flames would not go away, scoring seven in a row and pulling within 46-40 with just under 10 minutes remaining. After a Redhawk timeout, Mack found Roberts all alone by the basket for a layup. Story followed with two UIC free throws, but Mack scored from in close to make it an eight-point game once again.
UIC pulled within 52-47 with 6:12 remaining after Story hit a jumper, but Southeast put the game away with an 11-2 run that made it 63-49 with 3:01 to go.
Allyson Bradshaw and
Courtney Shiffer each went 2-of-2 at the free throw line to make it a nine-point game. Shiffer hit a jumper from the paint and Bradshaw got to the basket for consecutive layups. Hunter finished the run with a free throw.
The Redhawks would not allow the Flames to get any closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Southeast shot a blistering 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) in the second half to finish at 42.4 percent from the field. The Redhawk defense smothered the Flames attack to the tune of 6-of-32 (18.8 percent) in the final frame and 29.0 percent overall. The Redhawks made 2-of-18 three-pointers while the Flames hit 5-of-17 treys. Southeast also made 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) free throws while UIC made 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) freebies.
The Redhawks owned a 44-38 advantage in rebounding, outscored the Flames 36-20 in the paint and forced 15 turnovers against only 11 of their own.
Hunter's 18 points mark the third time in four games that she scored in double figures. Bradshaw (13 points) and Roberts (10 points) joined her in double figures.
Kara Wright dished out a game-high three assists.
UIC's Rachel Story scored a game-high 24 points, but shot only 8-of-27 from the floor. Katie Hannemann scored 12 points.
The Redhawks are back in action on Dec. 5 when they travel to Carbondale, Ill., for a showdown against regional rival Southern Illinois. That game tips off at 7:05 p.m.
