MOREHEAD, Ky. – Down 13 points in the third quarter, Southeast Missouri (10-6, 3-0 OVC) women's basketball used a 28-point fourth quarter to come from behind and defeat Morehead State (6-10, 0-2 OVC) Thursday evening, 89-79.
 
"I don't know how that happened except for the fact our young ladies played extremely hard and tough and as one unit," head coach Rekha Patterson began.
 
With the victory, Southeast improves to a perfect 3-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time since 1998-99. The win also snapped a 10-game losing streak to Morehead State.
 
"I'm a first-time head coach and I don't pay that much attention to those specifics; I focus my time on how to make our players better, how to prepare them to win, and how to make them successful. Obviously, its great for our program and it's what we're trying to do but right now we take it game-by-game and are focused on taking care of the 2015-16 season."
 
The Redhawks are the first team in the OVC to reach the 10-win mark this season. Southeast has tied its 10-win mark from a season ago as well as tied its three-conference win mark.
 
Hannah Noe jumpstarted the game with a 3-pointer to begin the scoring for Southeast. The first quarter remained tight as neither team held much of a lead for long.
 
The period that featured four ties ended in a 20-20 draw.
 
Corneisha Henderson led the way for Southeast with seven points in the quarter.
 
Early in the second quarter, Henderson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Redhawks a 26-22 lead and notching a new career-high for the freshman.  
 
The first half ended with Morehead State out in front by eight, 47-39.
 
Henderson had 15 first-half points to lead the Redhawks. Henderson drained three 3-pointers en route to leading the squad in the half. Erin Bollmann tallied nine points in the first 20 minutes.
 
Adrianna Murphy and Connor King each pulled down five rebounds in the half.
 
Morehead State led by as much as 13 in the third quarter and was out in front of the Redhawks, 69-61 going into the final period.
 
Ashton Luttrull put an exclamation point on the frame with a 3-point bucket with six seconds left, cutting the Eagle lead to eight.
 
Southeast exploded for 28 points in the fourth quarter to come from behind and swipe the win away from the Eagles.
 
Luttrull started the period with a fast break layup off a steal, was fouled, and converted the 3-point play to cut the lead to six.
 
Southeast opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to pull within one of the Eagles, 69-68. A 3-point bucket by Noe a minute later tied the game at 71.
 
Tied at 75, Southeast opened an eight-point run, sparked by Luttrull's third 3-pointer, to go up 83-75 with 2:50 to play.
 
Southeast never relinquished the lead and held on to defeat Morehead State, 89-79.
 
"Before conference play started, I didn't know what our team identity was except for we are a team that doesn't quit," Patterson commented. "We talked about going on the road and how tough it was going to be and having to make adjustments. I think our team listened to Ashton when she said 'we are not going to lose' at the end of the third quarter and they fed off of that to fight hard in the final 10 minutes."
 
Bri Mitchell exploded for 13 points in the fourth quarter, finishing with a team-high 21 points.
 
Henderson finished her career night with 19 points in front of family and friends from her hometown of Cincinnati, about an hour and a half away from Morehead.
 
"Anytime one of our players is in front of her family, they want a chance to play and to play well," Patterson said. "Lucky for Corneisha, she was able to come out and perform the way they have always known that she can and I am very happy that she is going to see more playing time."
 
Bollmann tallied 15 points in the contest while Luttrull earned her second-straight double-digit point game with 12.
 
Murphy led the team with a new career-best nine rebounds. King also pulled down nine boards in the contest.
 
Mitchell tied a career-high nine assists while Murphy dished out eight.
 
Southeast shot 66.7% in the final frame, finishing the game shooting 49.3% from the field.
 
Morehead was led by a 20-point performance by Shay Steele. As a team, the Eagles finished the game shooting 38.3%.
 
The Redhawks continue their roadtrip Saturday at Eastern Kentucky. Southeast and EKU tip off at 3 p.m., CT.