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NASHVILLE – For 20 minutes, the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team played a nearly perfect road game, but a second-half slump allowed Belmont to come from behind to defeat the Redhawks 71-58 on Monday.

The Redhawks (5-8, 0-1 Ohio Valley) held a nine-point lead at halftime and led by as much as 10 in the second half, but got outscored 42-19 in the final 17 minutes of play to drop their third-straight game. The Bruins move to 7-7 overall and 2-0 in OVC play.

Katie Carroll and Alyssa Visbeen each hit three-pointers on BU's first two possessions to make it 6-0 early. Southeast countered with an 8-2 spurt that tied the game at eight apiece. Jordan Hunter made a three-pointer to put Southeast on the board and Kara Wright made a layup from in close. After a Katie Brooks jumper, Bailie Roberts tied it up with a three-pointer of her own.

Roberts extended the run and gave Southeast its first lead with a 15-foot jumper, making it 10-8 just past the five-minute mark. Allyson Bradshaw came off the bench and dialed long-distance with back-to-back three-pointers, making it 16-8 Redhawks and capping the run at 16-2.

The Bruins scored out of a timeout on their next possession and pulled within two points on the strength of a 9-3 run, making it 19-17 with 9:40 to go in the first. The Redhawks followed with a timeout and scored on a Patricia Mack put back.

Down 21-17, BU scored five in a row to go back in front 22-21. Roberts picked it up from there as Hunter found her cutting to the hoop in transition for a layup through contact. Roberts then hit a free throw and made a transition jumper to up the lead to 26-22. After a BU free throw, Wright scored from in close to make it a five-point advantage. Torie Vaught made a jumper to cut the Southeast lead to 28-25, but Courtney Shiffer, Wright and Hunter all made jumpers to help cap a 13-3 run that gave Southeast its first halftime lead (34-25) on the road this season.

“I was excited about the way we played for 20 minutes,” Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said. “We played together and with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I told them this is how you win in conference play and this is how you win on the road. I thought we showed great toughness in the first.”

The Bruins got back-to-back baskets from Katie Brooks to start the half, but a three-point play by Roberts put the Redhawks back up by eight points at 37-29. Shiffer made a jumper from the foul line on Southeast's next possession to make it a 39-29 game, Southeast's largest lead of the game to that point.

With the score 44-35 in favor of Southeast, BU scored nine-straight points to even the score, with the tying field goal coming on a drive through contact by Jordyn Luffman, making it 44 apiece. Luffman made the ensuing free throw to give the Bruins their first lead of the second half at 45-44. BU 's run eventually ended at 14-straight points, which made it 49-44 with 10:30 to play.

After Southeast and BU traded baskets, a jumper by Wright cut BU's lead to 51-48 and Bradshaw hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game. Torie Vaught then scored consecutive hoops to make it 55-50 with just under six minutes left.

Patricia Mack hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 55-52, but the Bruins outscored the Redhawks 16-6 the last 5:17 of the contest.

“I give Belmont a lot of credit, they showed resilience coming back and making a run,” Margenthaler said. “We just did not withstand that run and we didn't show a lot of toughness when they started coming back. Belmont played harder and smarter than us in the final 20 minutes.”

Belmont shot 60 percent in the second half to finish at 47.5 percent from the field overall. Southeast made 36.4 percent of its shots, but only 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) in the final stanza. The Redhawks made 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) three-pointers and the  Bruins hit 4-of-16 (25 percent) from beyond the arc. Southeast made 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) free throws while BU made 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) at the stripe. The Bruins held a 39-32 advantage in rebounding and won the turnover battle, forcing 15 Redhawks miscues (11 in the second half) against 13 of their own.

Roberts finished with a team-high 18 points, one shy of her career high, to lead Southeast. Hunter (13) and Bradshaw (10) also scored in double figures. Mack grabbed 11 rebounds, her seventh-straight game with 10+ boards. Hunter recorded a career-high seven assists.

BU's Katie Brooks scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half while Jordyn Luffman (13) and Torie Vaught (11) scored in double figures off the Bruins bench.

The Redhawks return to action on Saturday when they host Austin Peay at 2 p.m.