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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – A quick first half lead followed by stopping resurgent comeback attempts, the Southeast Missouri women's basketball defeated SIU Edwardsville 69-60 Monday night in Edwardsville, Ill.
 
The win improves the Redhawks position as it attempts to qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn. Southeast is 8-16 overall and 4-7 in the OVC while SIUE falls to 7-18, 3-9. The Redhawks swept the season series with the Cougars.
 
"It is a great win when you can go on the road and get a win in Division I," Southeast head coach Ty Margenthaler said, who earned his first victory as a head coach at the school he played and coached at.
 
"It is nice for this team and it was nice that it was a total team effort."
 
It took a few minutes for the first points to get on the scoreboard before SIUE scored two free throws. The Redhawks answered in quick succession with six-straight.
 
Olivia Hackmann sank a jump shot from the right block and was fouled on the play. Although she missed the opportunity for the three-point play, Patricia Mack snagged the rebound and hit Allyson Bradshaw cutting towards the basket for the easy layup.
 
Southeast then forced the Cougars into a turnover on the inbounds pass that saw Hackmann score on an uncontested lay-in.
 
"We were able to get some steals that gave us some early momentum," Margenthaler said.
 
All six points came within 21 seconds and the ball never left the three-point arc on the Redhawks offensive end.
 
With Southeast holding an 8-6 lead, Mack hit a jumper that sparked a 13-2 run, pushing the advantage to a 21-8 lead.
 
With the score at 21-12 score with 7:21 remaining in the half, Bradshaw hit back-to-back 3-point baskets, breaking a tie for fourth place all-time on the Redhawks career 3-point list.
 
That gave Southeast a 27-12 advantage with 5:59 remaining in the first half.
 
With two starters on the bench for the Redhawks in foul trouble, the Cougars made a small 9-2 run at the Southeast lead to cut the score to 29-21. But the Redhawks were able to enter the intermission with a 33-23 lead.
 
Much of the second half consisted of each squad trying to gain traction as each basket was traded for basket throughout the first eight minutes.
 
Southeast appeared to gain that traction when the Redhawks 47-40 lead ballooned to 58-43 over a six-minute span.
 
The 11-3 run was highlighted by a Bradshaw 3-point basket from the right corner.
 
The Cougars wouldn't go away quietly though, as they stiffened up on defense, pushing a short 6-1 run to cut the deficit to ten points.
 
That margin would remain the same over the final minutes of play as the Redhawks withstood the comeback attempts for their first win in Edwardsville since Jan. 8, 1990. The 24-year span is skewed slightly due to the two squads not playing for 20 years.
 
Bradshaw led the Redhawks with 16 points while Hackmann added 15. Mack contributed 11 points as Southeast shot 47.2 percent from the field.
 
The Redhawks held SIUE to just 26.7 percent shooting while Micah Jones scored 21 points, nine of which came from the charity stripe. 
 
Southeast had a season-high 11 steals, led by Mack with three while Jordan Hunter, Hackmann and Bradshaw each had two.
 
The Redhawks return to the Show Me Center Saturday to take on league-favorite UT Martin. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
 
"We're going to continue to move forward," Margenthaler said. "Hopefully we'll have a great week and work for an upset win."