No. 6 Southeast Missouri (15-14) vs. No. 3 SIUE (17-12)
Game Information
Date: Thursday, Mar. 3, 2015
Tipoff: 2:00 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Arena: Municipal Auditorium
Series: Southeast leads 21-16
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (15-14, First Season); Paula Buscher (63-58, Fourth Season)
 
Media Information 
Radio: SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM (Erik Sean, Jess Bolen) | Listen Live
Live Video: OVC Digital Network | ESPN3
Live Stats: OVCSports.com
Twitter Updates: @SEMOwbb
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri
 
Playing in March
Southeast Missouri women's basketball will make its first appearance in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament this week since the 2009 postseason tournament. The Redhawks will carry the No. 6 seed into the tournament. Southeast finished the regular season with a 15-14 overall record and an 8-8 record in OVC play, finishing tied for fifth. Southeast will begin Tournament play against No. 3 SIUE (12-4) Thursday, Mar. 3 at 2 p.m.
 
Follow the Redhawks
The OVC Tournament will be broadcast live on SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM. Erik Sean will provide play-by-play on the broadcast. Sean will be joined by Jess Bolen, who will provide analysis. Fans can download the SEMO ESPN app to listen to live broadcasts of Redhawks basketball at the Tournament. Live stats are available online at OVCSports.com. Live Twitter updates are available on the official Twitter page of the Redhawks, @SEMOwbb. The game will also be streamed for free on the OVC Digital Network and ESPN3.
 
Music City Mingle
The Ohio Valley Conference invites fans attending the 2016 Men's & Women's Basketball Championship to attend the "Music City Mingle" event between the afternoon and evening sessions on Wednesday (March 2), Thursday (March 3) and Friday (March 4). The event will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Nashville Downtown (315 4th Ave. North), one of two headquarters hotels for this year's championship. The hotel is located less than two blocks from Municipal Auditorium, the site of this year's OVC Championship. Fans can enjoy drink specials and camaraderie with fellow fans between the women's afternoon session and men's evening session on each of those days. The event will be held in 4th and U Bistro located on the lobby level inside the DoubleTree and runs from 4:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. each of those days.
 
OVC Tournament History
Southeast Missouri will make its 17th appearances in the OVC Tournament. The Redhawks are officially 8-14 in their all-time tournament appearances. The Redhawks have won two OVC Tournament titles (2006, 2007); however, the 2006 title was vacated due to NCAA sanctions. Southeast has made the OVC Tournament in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and now 2016. 
 
Mitchell Named Second Team All-OVC
Junior guard Bri Mitchell has been named Second Team All-Ohio Valley Conference. Mitchell played in 26 games during her junior campaign, starting 23. She is the Redhawks' leading scorer in OVC play this season with 14.9 points per game. Mitchell has a team-best 20 double-digit point games and five 20-point games. She has scored a team-high 356 points and shot 40.2% from the field. Her 356 points in a season is the most since Missy Whitney scored 399 in 2007-2008. The Germantown, Tennessee native scored 20 or more points in three of the Redhawks last five games of the regular season. Mitchell finished the regular season with a new career-high 24 points at Austin Peay on Feb. 27. In the league, Mitchell ranks 10^th in scoring (13.7 per game), ninth in assists (3.6 per game) and fifth in free-throw percentage (81.7%). Mitchell is the first Second Team All-OVC selection from Southeast Missouri since Tarina Nixon (2008-09).
 
As the No. 6 Seed
Southeast has been the sixth seed only once in its 16 OVC Tournament appearances. The Redhawks held the sixth seed in 2009 and faced No. 3 Tennessee State in the opening round. Southeast fell to the Lady Tigers, 77-66.
 
Clinching the Six
Southeast Missouri will carry the No. 6 seed into the OVC Tournament. The Redhawks, while tied for fifth in the league, will hold the sixth seed after losing the tiebreaker to Austin Peay. The Redhawks and Lady govs split the home-and-home series this season but the Lady Govs won the tiebreaker with a win over UT Martin, the No. 1 seed.
 
The Redhawks Versus...
SIUE will hold the No. 3 seed in the 2016 OVC Tournament. Southeast Missouri is 2-1 against the No. 3 seed in the postseason tournament. The Redhawks records against each seed are as follows:
 
            vs. No. 1 - 1-6
            vs. No. 2 - 1-3
            vs. No. 3 - 2-1
            vs. No. 4 - 1-3
            vs. No. 5 - 2-1
            vs. No. 6 - 1-1
            vs. No. 7 - 3-0
            vs. No. 8 - 2-0
 
Against the Cougars This Season
Southeast Missouri fell to SIUE in both meetings during the regular season. Southeast and SIUE met in Edwardsville, Illinois on Jan. 20. When the teams first met, they were tied for first in the OVC. The Redhawks played toe-to-toe with SIUE but ultimately fell in the end, 80-73. The teams met a month later in Southeast's home finale. A slow second quarter that featured only one field goal was too much of a hole to later dig out of for Southeast. The Cougars went on to defeat the Redhawks 89-75, sweeping the season series. Erin Bollmann recorded a career-best 23 points in the first meeting with SIUE. In two games, Bollmann averaged 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. As a team, Southeast narrowly outrebounded SIUE in two games by 2.5 rebounds per game.
 
Against SIUE in the Postseason
The Redhawks and Cougars have never met in the OVC Tournament. SIUE joined the OVC in 2011-12. In its five years in the OVC, SIUE has made the OVC Tournament each of the last four seasons.
 
Against the Field
Southeast Missouri is 4-7 against the seven other teams in the OVC Tournament this season. The Redhawks defeated Belmont, Tennessee State, Austin Peay, and Murray State. The Redhawks have narrowly been outscored in those 11 games by 2.5 points; however, Southeast has outrebounded those teams by 8.5 boards a game. Southeast also slightly outshoots its opponents in the tournament field 43.1% to 42.9%. The third quarter has also been big for Southeast in those contests, outscoring the opposition 216-198.
 
First Timers
As this is Southeast's first OVC Tournament appearance in seven years, no current Redhawk have ever played in the postseason in a Southeast Missouri uniform.
 
Let's Recap
The Redhawks ended the 2015-16 regular season going 2-5 in the month of February. Southeast began the month with a 30-point win over Murray State, scoring a season-high 96 points. From there, Southeast went on the road and dropped three straight games to Eastern Illinois, UT Martin, and Murray State. The Redhawk returned home and split a pair of games including routing Eastern Illinois by 30 points. Southeast concluded the regular season with back-to-back losses to SIUE and Austin Peay.
 
Looking at the SIUE Cougars
SIUE ended the regular season going 3-3 in its last six games with wins over Austin Peay, Southeast Missouri, and Eastern Illinois. SIUE's 3-3 February followed a January in which the Cougars went 8-1. SIUE enters the OVC Tournament sporting a 17-12 overall record and a 12-4 clip in league play. Redshirt-senior Shronda Butts leads the team this season with 21 points per game while shooting 41.7% from the field in 36.6 minutes per game. Sophomore Donshel Beck leads the squad with 7.3 rebounds per game while also scoring 11.5 points a game, second most on the team.
 
A Winning Campaign
2015-16 will be Southeast's first winning season since the 2008-09 season (15-15, 10-8 OVC), also the last year the Redhawks made it to the OVC Tournament.
 
Winning Starts at the Top
Of the eight head coaches in the history of Southeast Missouri women's basketball, Rekha Patterson becomes the fourth to record a winning season in their first year at the helm (Ed Arnzen, BJ Smith, John Ishee).
 
How May I Assist You?
With 136 assists this season, freshman Adrianna Murphy ranks ninth in Southeast's single-season assists top-10 list. Sherry Mitchell (1990-91) holds the single-season assists record with 232. The most recent player on the list is Sara Costello (2003-04) who ranks sixth with 144. Murphy ranks third in the OVC in assists.
 
One Sharp Shooter
With 85 made field goals, sophomore forward Deja Jones became eligible for Southeast's single-season field goal percentage top 10. Shooting 85-of-128 this season, Jones' .664 shooting percentage is in line to break the single-season field goal percentage record.
 
Second Half Push
The Redhawks have won five games in which they trailed at halftime. The Redhawks have outscored their opponents in the second half in 14 games this season, 10 of which were league games.