COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Southeast Missouri women's basketball posted 19 points in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Ohio Valley Conference road game at Tennessee Tech to earn a come-from-behind victory over the Golden Eagles, 60-57.
 
Down 13 points with 6:12 to play, the Redhawks went on a 17-1 run to finish the game and earn the comeback triumph over the Golden Eagles.
 
Southeast Missouri (12-7) improves to 5-1 in OVC play to remain tied for first in the league. TTU falls to 5-14, 1-5 OVC.  
 
"Wow," head coach Rekha Patterson began. "These young ladies were resilient, they persevered through not being able to make a shot, and they made plays this evening. I am so proud of their effort and their hard work paid off."
 
Erin Bollmann led the way with a season-high 21 points. Bollmann complemented her performance with eight rebounds, four steals, and no turnovers. Bollmann made the game-winning putback with only seven seconds left in the game.
 
Patterson added, "I attribute Erin's energy and effort to her performance tonight. During a late timeout, Erin asked 'coach, do you want us to crash?' The play I drew up originally had Bri Mitchell set up to score but when Bri didn't make the shot, Erin crashed and was rewarded because of her effort crashing."
 
Tennessee Tech lead for the entirety of the first quarter. The Golden Eagles opened the game with an 8-2 lead on the Redhawks. Five made free throws by Southeast helped cut into the early lead.
 
Down 14-9, jumpers by Bollmann and Adrianna Murphy cut the TTU lead to one, 14-13, with 1:47 to play.
 
The first quarter concluded with five-straight Golden Eagle points to end with TTU out in front, 19-13.
 
Imani Johnson hit the Redhawks' first 3-pointer with 6:23 to play in the half to cut the Golden Eagle lead to 24-22.
 
Ahead 32-26 on the Redhawks, Tennessee Tech rattled off seven-straight points to find its largest lead of the game thus far of 13 points, 39-26.
 
Bollmann hit a jumper with seconds left in the half to bring the score to 39-28 going into halftime.
 
Bollmann led the Redhawks with 10 first-half points followed by Johnson with seven.
 
Southeast shot 33.3% (10-of-30) from the field in the first half while the Golden Eagles shot an efficient 50% (17-of-34).
 
Southeast narrowly outscored the Golden Eagles, 13-12, in the third period but it didn't make much of a dent in the Golden Eagle lead.
 
The Redhawks went on an 8-0 run to narrow the deficit to five, 41-36, with 5:40 to play.
 
TTU answered with six-straight points to bring the lead back to 11, 49-38.
 
Going to the fourth quarter, Southeast trailed by 10, 51-41.
 
Tennessee Tech widened its lead back to 13 with 6:12 to play. Johnson's second 3-point basket of the game sparked a 17-1 run by the Redhawks. During the run, the Golden Eagles were held scoreless for nearly four minutes and turned the ball over five times. The Redhawks converted TTU's poor ball handling into eight points off turnovers in the period.
 
Bollmann hit a jumper with 1:41 to play to bring the Redhawks within one, 57-56.
 
Mitchell missed a layup but Bollmann picked up an offensive rebound and gave the Redhawks their first lead on a putback with seven seconds remaining, 58-57 Southeast.
 
TTU called timeout and opted to advance the ball after the putback; however, the Golden Eagles were unable to get a shot off, rather Mitchell earned a steal with two seconds left.
 
Mitchell was fouled immediately and hit both free throws to widen the lead to 60-57.
 
TTU was unable to get the ball down court with only two seconds left as the Redhawks earned the comeback victory.
 
Mitchell earned her 10^th double-digit point performance in the last 11 games with 12 points. Johnson picked up 10 points in the contest.
 
As a team, Southeast shot a near season-low 29% (18-of-62) from the field and only hit two of its 22 3-point attempts. The Redhawks' saving grace was their performance at the free-throw line, shooting 22-of-27 (81.5%).
 
"I don't know how we came on the road, shot 29%, and won. I do know we did not let it get to a 20-point ballgame. We kept the game within reach and we came in and made the plays we needed to make in the fourth quarter."
 
Tennessee Tech's leading scorer Samaria Howard finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds Saturday. She was the only Golden Eagle to record double-digit points.
 
The Redhawks will take their 5-1 record to co-OVC leader SIUE Wednesday evening. SIUE defeated Eastern Kentucky Saturday evening, 89-74. The Redhawks and Cougars will tip off at 8 p.m. Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on the American Sports Network.