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NASHVILLE – A sluggish first half proved costly for the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team as it dropped a 68-58 decision at Tennessee State on Monday night.
The loss snaps the Redhawks' (8-9, 2-2 Ohio Valley) three-game winning streak and drops them to .500 in conference play.
“I give Tennessee State a lot of credit, they are a very physical team and they deserved to win that game,” Southeast head coach
Ty Margenthaler said. “My frustration with this game is that you can't have that kind of performance on the road defensively, giving up 40 in the first half to a team that's struggling to score points. Our energy level and effort were bad in the first half. I was disappointed because I felt this was a game we could get.”
TSU (6-9, 2-2 OVC) scored the game's first four points on hoops by Avery Jones and Simone Hopes.
Kara Wright's three-pointer put Southeast on the board and after the Lady Tigers grabbed a 6-3 lead,
Jordan Hunter nailed four-straight free throws to put the Redhawks in front 7-6.
The Lady Tigers eventually grew their lead to 10-7, but
Connor King made a baseline jumper and Hunter nailed a three-pointer to put the Redhawks on top 12-10.
From there, TSU stormed in front on the strength of an 11-2 run. That spurt put the Lady Tigers on top 21-14 with 10:17 left in the opening frame. A three by
Olivia Hackmann pulled the Redhawks within four points, but the Lady Tigers eventually pulled ahead 27-19 with 6:31 left. Free throws by King, Harriel and
Bailie Roberts over the following two and a half minutes brought the Redhawks to within five points at 30-25.
TSU pulled away from there, scoring 10 of the last 13 points of the half and holding Southeast to only one field goal in the last 7:58 of the frame to take a 40-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Lady Tigers held a 28-0 advantage in points in the paint in the first half, though the Redhawks stayed within striking distance thanks to 13-of-14 free throw shooting in the half.
The Lady Tigers came out strong in the second half and went up 45-30 with 18:43 showing on the clock. Southeast snuck back within 11, but TSU upped the lead to 49-36 with 15:48 left after two Chelsea Hudson free throws.
Southeast would not go quietly, scoring the next seven points on a layup and free throw by
Patricia Mack and two layups from
Allyson Bradshaw to cut the deficit to 49-43 with 12:47 left.
“We responded well and played harder in the second half,” Margenthaler said. “This team has to learn how to play with more mental toughness or we're going to keep getting these results when we go on the road.”
The teams traded baskets to move the score to 51-45, but that was as close as the game got the rest of the way. A three-point play by TSU's Simone Hopes put the Tigers up by nine and started a 9-2 run that made it 60-47 with 6:09 left. The closest Southeast got from there was seven points, which came with 37 seconds left.
Hunter finished with a team-best 17 points and seven assists, the only Redhawk to score in double figures. Roberts grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, tying her career high. TSU's Kesi Hess (18 points) and Hopes (14) both scored in double figures as well.
The Redhawks shot 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) in the first half and finished the game at 33.3 percent from the field. TSU shot 48.5 percent in the opening frame and finished at 39.7 percent overall. The Redhawks were done in by a season-high tying 24 turnovers while the Lady Tigers committed 15 of their own. Southeast held a 44-35 advantage in rebounding.
The Redhawks return to the Show Me Center on Wednesday when they host defending OVC champion UT Martin. Opening tip is at 6:30 p.m.
