MACOMB, Ill. — The Southeast Missouri women's basketball team improved to 4-1 and extended their winning streak to four games with an 89-84 victory over Western Illinois (3-2) Tuesday.
Southeast's 89 points was a season high and the Redhawks had five players in double-digit points, led by
Olivia Hackmann who tied a career-high 26 points.
In her first career start, freshman
Adrianna Murphy tallied her first double-double with 13 points and 12 assists while also grabbing eight rebounds.
It was the first time Southeast has ever beaten Western Illinois in Macomb.
The Redhawks' four-game winning streak is the longest since the 2007-08 season.
Southeast led 22-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Connor King and
Imani Johnson each had five points in the opening frame to lead the Redhawk offense.
Deja Jones was the Redhawks' rebounding leader with four.
The Redhawks hit 4-of-6 3-point shots in the quarter and shot 47.1% from the field.
Southeast's largest lead of 10 points, 27-17, came on a bucket by
Hannah Noe early in the second quarter. A 9-2 WIU run ensued to narrow the Southeast lead to three.
A 3-point shot by Michelle Maher with nine seconds left in the half gave the Leathernecks a slim 38-36 lead going into halftime.
Hackmann drained two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws in the second quarter to become the Redhawks' point leader with eight at halftime. King led the squad with six rebounds at half.
Hackmann came out of halftime with nine straight points to put the Redhawks back on top, 45-40. A 3-pointer by Murphy and a layup by Jones put the Redhawks back up by 10, 3:40 into the half.
As soon as the Redhawks went up 10, Western Illinois immediately went on a 10-point run to draw the eighth tie of the game with 3:43 to play in the third.
Another 3-pointer by Murphy with just seconds left in the third quarter broke a 60-60 tie to give the Redhawks a three-point lead going into the final frame.
The Leathernecks found a two-point lead early in the fourth quarter on a pair of good free throws but the Redhawks would regain the lead and never relinquish it the remainder of the game.
Southeast hit 13-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter en route to downing the Leathernecks, 89-84.
Hackmann put up nine more points in each the third and fourth quarters, bringing her final point total to 26.
Jones and Murphy each finished with 13 points, a career-high for each.
Erin Bollmann and Noe had 10 and 11 points, respectively.
Jones led the team with nine rebounds while King and Murphy each had eight.
Bollmann picked up a career-high four blocks in the game to compliment her 10 points and seven boards.
Southeast shot 42.9% (30-70) from the field, 52.2% (12-23) from 3-point range, and 73.9% (17-23) from the charity stripe.
The Redhawks outrebounded WIU, 55-39.
The Leathernecks got off 48 3-point attempts in the game, making only 12 to shoot 25% from beyond the arc. From the field, WIU shot 36.3% (29-of-80) and 66.7% (14-of-21) from the free-throw line.
The Leathernecks featured three players with double-figure points, led by Maher with 29. Taylor Higgenbotham recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
The Redhawks will fly to El Paso, Texas for the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic. Southeast will play Idaho State at 5:30 p.m. on Friday to open tournament play. Southeast will then play either UTEP or UC Riverside in game two on Saturday.