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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Using solid team basketball with 24 assists on 27 made field goals, the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team defeated Illinois Springfield 72-56 Thursday at the Show Me Center.
 
Senior Jordan Hunter had a game-high seven assists while fellow senior Patricia Mack had a career-high six assists as the Redhawks improve to 4-8 on the season.
 
A return home, where the Redhawks are 3-2 on the year, was a welcome sight making a season-high 49.1 percent of their field goals.
 
"There is no question, it was nice to get back to the Show Me Center to play," Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said. "Our kids definitely feel comfortable at home. It was a game we really needed."
 
UIS played Thursday's contest as an exhibition with their record remaining unchanged at 3-6.
 
The Prairie Stars made the game's opening basket, a layup from Courtney Knuckles, which proved to be the only lead UIS saw.
 
Sophomore Kara Wright hit a jump shot assisted by Hunter, followed by a 3-point basket assisted by Mack to give Southeast a 5-2 lead.
 
"The one stat I really talked to our team about in our pregame was about the Southern Illinois and Kansas City games, the ones we really had success in, is we had assists," Margenthaler said. "Twenty four assists shows we had really good ball movement. We hit shots.
 
"When you make shots, everything goes just a little bit easier. Tonight we really shot the ball well."
 
A 13-2 run over a five-minute span gave Southeast a 19-8 lead with 9:23 left in the first half. Junior Allyson Bradshaw hit a 3-point basket to end the run, which was one of 11 made treys in the game for the Redhawks.
 
It is the first time Southeast eclipsed more than 10-made long-range baskets since Nov. 12, 2012 when they sank 10 at UMKC.
 
An 18-6 run over the closing minutes of the first half gave Southeast it's largest lead of the stanza at 39-16 when sophomore Connor King hit her first 3-point basket of the season.
 
Southeast entered the intermission with a 40-21 lead.
 
The Redhawks jumped out of the gates in the second half on a 15-6 run as freshman Brittany Harris scored four of the first six points of the second half. Jordan Hunter, Wright and Bradshaw each hit a long-range shot in the run which gave the home squad a 52-24 lead with 16:11 reaming.
 
The lead would hover above 20 points for most of the second half until the Prairie Stars ended the game on a mini 8-2 run to bring the final score to 72-56.
 
Mack and Bradshaw led the Redhawks with 12 points apiece while Wright chipped in 11 points.
 
Meredith Marti scored 15 points for Illinois Springfield while Megan Bergerud scored 13.
 
The Redhawks also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding UIS 42-27 led by King who snagged nine rebounds.
 
Southeast will take a short break for finals before hitting the road to Springfield, Mo., to take on Missouri State Saturday Dec. 21. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.