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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – A late rally fell short for the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team falling 81-74 to Belmont in a New Year's Eve matinee Tuesday at the Show Me Center.
 
The Redhawks, playing in its Ohio Valley Conference opener, were down by as many as 17 points but were able to climb within one point on a pair of Brianna Mitchell free throws with 1:12 remaining in the game.
 
Southeast falls to 4-10 overall and 0-1 in the OVC. Belmont, who lost to SIU Edwardsville Saturday in its conference opener, improves to 4-11 overall and 1-1 in the OVC.
 
The first half saw five lead changes including an 18-14 Redhawks advantage with 9:56 remaining in the half. But an 8-0 Bruins run gave Belmont all the momentum it needed to open up a lead it would not relinquish entering halftime with a 40-27 lead.
 
Down by 17 points with 8:30 remaining, Southeast began to make its move on a late rally going on a 10-0 run.
 
"I like the effort where we got back into the game," Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said. "We were pretty deflated at one of the time outs but they definitely stepped up and I was pleased with some of our players off the bench."
 
After Patricia Mack sank a pair of free throws, Mitchell, one of those bench players, started to take matters into her own hands, hitting three of her career-high 12 points.
 
The Redhawk defense moved into a stifling full-court press forcing Katie Carroll to turn the ball over and opening Mack up for a trey of her own. Holding the Bruins to a stop on the defensive end, Mitchell hit a jump shot in the paint to pull the Redhawks to within seven points at 62-55 with 6:47 remaining.
 
Belmont regained its composure on a mini 6-2 run to rebuild its lead at 70-58 with 4:37 remaining.
 
The Redhawks then took over for the next four minutes using a 14-3 run to nearly take the lead.
 
After a pair of Mitchell free throws, Blair Bryce hit one-of-two from the charity stripe for Belmont leaving the door open for Southeast to continue its run. Allyson Bradshaw sank a 3-point basket to pull within eight with 3:15 remaining.
 
Another strong defensive stand opened Mack up for her second long-range basket, showing the Redhawks down five.
 
Jordyn Luffman and Bradshaw traded a pair of free throws leaving the Belmont lead at five. Hillary Lively, making her first appearance in three games, took a look in the paint but stayed with her shot, gaining one of 15 Redhawk offensive rebounds, and laying it in for the easy basket and a three point Belmont lead.
 
With momentum on their side and down three, the Redhawks forced Belmont into a turnover as Mitchell made a steal and took the ball the length of the floor before being fouled on her layup attempt. Her shot, which would have counted, rolled around the rim and jumped back out.
 
She proceeded to sink both free throws to make the score 73-72 with 1:12 remaining. However, Adrienne Tarrence broke free of the press and scored on an easy layup to end the Southeast threat as the Bruins sank its final four free throws for the 81-74 victory.
 
"I thought our effort was there," Margenthaler said. "I thought we played hard. We missed a lot of layups early. We got the shots we wanted, they just didn't fall and Belmont was rolling pretty much the whole game."
 
Mack led the Redhawks with her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds while Kara Wright added 13 points and Mitchell's 12.

Luffman scored a game-high 24 points for Belmont while Tarrence added 14 points.
 
The Bruins were red hot throughout the game, shooting 58.7 percent from the field but Southeast was able to keep the game close, forcing 16 turnovers and committing a season-low eight turnovers of their own. The Redhawks shot 38.8 percent from the field.
 
Southeast enters the New Year with two-straight games on the road, beginning with a 5:15 p.m. contest at Austin Peay on Saturday.