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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Brittany Harriel and Bailie Roberts combined for 27 points to lead the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team to a 54-47 win over Jacksonville State at Pete Matthews Colliseum on Thursday evening.

Harriel led all scorers with 17 points while Roberts contributed 10 more to account for half of the Redhawks' (7-21, 4-11 Ohio Valley) offense. More importantly, it helped deliver Southeast its first road victory of the season, snapping a 17-game road losing skid in the process.

“We just did enough to win the basketball game tonight,” Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said. “For a team that doesn't have experience winning on the road in this league, this is a real confidence builder.  We came out well in the first half by hitting some shots. We got a little stagnant when they changed up their defense in the second half and they went on a little run, but we were able to get our composure back late in the game.”

Brittany Harriel's three-pointer opened the scoring for the night. After Danielle Vaughn got the Gamecocks (4-24, 1-14 OVC) on the board with a rebound and put back, Bianca Beck drove to the lane for a bucket and Karley Evans found Harriel by herself right by the basket for another layup to make it 7-2 at the first media timeout.

Vaughn scored the next two JSU baskets from in close to make it 7-6, but hoops from Harriel and Allyson Bradshaw moved the Redhawks' lead back to five at 11-6. The Gamecocks countered with a 7-0 run to take a 13-11 lead, but Harriel grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play on the ensuing possession to put the Redhawks back on top. The junior scored 10 of Southeast's first 14 points of the game.

After a JSU turnover, Bradshaw connected from three-point range to make it 17-13. Jacksonville State's Brianna Morrow cut the gap in half with a layup, but Harriel answered less than a minute later with another three-point play, giving her 13 of Southeast's first 20 points and making it 20-15

The Gamecocks scored the next four points on two more layups, making it 20-19 and forcing the Redhawks to take a timeout. Bailie Roberts caught fire out of the timeout, going on a personal 8-0 run with a jumper, two free throws, a layup and another jumper to make it 28-19 with less than four minutes to go in the opening stanza.

In total, the Redhawks outscored the Gamecocks 12-2 over the final 5:47 of the first half to take a 32-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Redhawks shot 50 percent (12-of-24) in the first 20 minutes, their second highest percentage of any half this season. The 11-point halftime lead was Southeast's second largest of the season, trailing only the 33-18 advantage it held in its last meeting with Jacksonville State on Jan. 2.

Southeast opened the second half with the first four points as Roberts made a jumper and Courtney Shiffer got a layup, extending its lead to 36-21. JSU countered with a 9-2 run that pulled it within eight points (38-30) with 11 minutes to go.

After going over three minutes without scoring, Bradshaw got the Redhawks back on track with another three-pointer to move the lead back to 41-30. The Gamecocks scored the next six points to get within five points at 41-36 with 6:29 remaining.

A pair of Shiffer free throws put the Redhawks back up seven, but Brianna Morrow drew the Gamecocks back to 43-38 with a bucket from the lane.

With JSU's press holding Southeast's offense at bay, Shelah Fields broke a drought of nearly 10 minutes without a field goal by going coast to coast and scoring to make it a seven-point lead again. Once again, the Gamecocks cut the cap to five as Candace Morton stole a pass and scored in transition, leaving the score at 45-40 with four minutes remaining.

The five-point gap was the closest the Gamecocks got the rest of the way. Beck got to the rim for a big basket that made it 47-40 and two Harriel free throws with 1:10 remaining made it a nine-point game and effectively ended the JSU rally.

Southeast shot 37.5 from the floor and JSU countered with 36.4 percent shooting for the night. The Redhawks held the Gamecocks to only 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from three-point range while making four of their 13 (30.8 percent) attempts from beyond the arc. Southeast also made 14-of-19 (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe and limited Jacksonville State to only nine free throw attempts (six makes).

The Gamecocks held a 36-33 advantage in rebounding. However, the Redhawks forced 26 turnovers, though committed 23 themselves.

The victory keeps Southeast in the drivers' seat for a spot in next week's OVC Tournament heading into Saturday's regular season finale at Austin Peay. A Redhawk victory will give them the OVC Tournament's seventh seed, thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker with Tennessee State, who lost to Murray State.

Saturday's contest against the Lady Govs starts at 5:15 p.m. CT and the winner will secure the final spot in the OVC Tournament.