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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Olivia Hackmann scored a season-high 15 points to lead the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team to a 56-47 win over Western Illinois at the Show Me Center on Saturday night.
Hackmann's outburst was the freshman's second career double-figure scoring game.
The Redhawks (5-5) scored the game's first five points on a Courtney Shiffer low post score and an Allyson Bradshaw three-pointer. The lead stretched to 13-2 after Bradshaw scored in transition, Patricia Mack hit two free throws and Bailie Roberts scored twice on the break.
A Michele Salvatori three-pointer ended a scoreless drought of over four minutes for Western Illinois (4-5), making it 13-5. The Southeast bench provided a lift to extend the lead as Hackmann made a 15-foot jumper, Dru Haertling connected on a three-pointer and then Hackmann scored five in a row on a jumper and three free throws to make it a 23-9 Southeast advantage with less than eight minutes left in the first half.
With the score 25-12, Jordan Hunter made a three-pointer to extend the lead to 16 points. Jackie Rieger hit two free throws to pull the Leathernecks within 14 in the final minute, but Hackmann beat the buzzer with a jumper to send the Redhawks to the locker room with a 30-14 lead. The Redhawks shot 52.4 percent from the field and held the Leathernecks to 22.7 percent shooting.
Southeast extended the lead to 40-16 with 12:38 showing on the clock after a Roberts baseline jumper. WIU responded with a 10-0 run that cut Southeast's lead to 14, but Hackmann calmly hit a jumper from the elbow to end the spurt. The freshman then jumped a pass for a steal and Hunter went the other way for a transition hoop. With the Redhawks up 44-27, Bradshaw hit a three-pointer to make it a 20-point bulge once again with nine and a half minutes left.
Western Illinois cut the lead in half with a 12-2 run, which made it 49-39 with just over four minutes left to play. A Mack free throw and a Roberts jumper upped the margin to 13 with 3:18 remaining, but the Leathernecks cut the deficit to 52-44 with 2:05 left after a Saule Kontautaite three-pointer and a Salvatori layup.
With WIU closing, Hackmann once again stalled a run, hitting a mid-range jump shot with 1:38 remaining to make it a 10-point game and effectively secure the victory.
“I'm extremely proud of this team,” Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said. “To respond to a very good Western Illinois team after a very emotional loss at Southern Illinois with that kind of effort is amazing. It shows where this program is going. They showed a lot of toughness, belief in each other and the system. This was a gutty 40 minutes of basketball. “
Hackmann finished 6-of-10 from the floor, contributing 15 of the Redhawks' 25 bench points. Mack pulled down 16 rebounds, her fourth consecutive game with 10+ boards. She also tied a career high with four assists while scoring six points.
“Olivia is a big time player,” Margenthaler said. “Our freshman are playing big minutes and providing quality minutes. To be able to depend on our bench like we have is big. It got a little tight down the stretch and she kept responding with a pull up jumper to stop their runs.”
The Redhawks shot 42.9 percent from the floor and held the Leathernecks to 28.1 percent shooting, the second time in three games they held their opponent to under 30 percent from the field. Southeast made 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) three-pointers and 10-of-14 (71.4 perent) free throws while WIU went 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from three-point range and 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) at the line, respectively. The Redhawks finished with a 42-32 edge in rebounding. Both teams turned the ball over 20 or more times, with Southeast committing 24 and WIU finishing with 20 miscues.
The Redhawks are off until Dec. 16, when they travel to Western Kentucky.
