CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's basketball fell to Belmont 67-57 to open up OVC play on Thursday evening.
 
Belmont came into the game picked to finish first in the preseason poll, and also had both preseason co-players of the year in Darby Maggard and Sally McCabe. The Bruins leading scorer, Kylee Smith, had to miss the game with an ankle injury.
 
Southeast scored the first bucket of the game but then followed that by going scoreless the next 5:03. Belmont took a small lead during the SEMO drought, but Southeast battled back the last few minutes and took the lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
SEMO led 15-13 after one.
 
In the second period Belmont found a rhythm on the offensive end, knocking down four three-pointers as a team. The Bruins also limited the Redhawks to just three field goals of their own in the second quarter to take a nine point lead into the half.
 
After the second period, Belmont led Southeast 32-23.
 
The Redhawks traded buckets with the Bruins for a majority of the third quarter, not able to gain any ground on the lead. With 3:46 left, Southeast went on a 6-0 run led by Adrianna Murphy to cut the lead to just five points heading into the fourth.
 
SEMO trailed 46-41 at the end of three.
 
Southeast fell down nine early in the fourth and couldn't come climb back. They went on a few little runs of its own and even cutting the lead to back to six points with under three minutes left. However, Southeast was not able to get any closer, falling by 10 points to the defending OVC Champions.

As a team, Southeast shot 34 percent from the field and 11 percent from three.
 
Adrianna Murphy once again led the way for the Redhawks with 14 points and five assists.
 
Tesia Thompson chipped in 10 points and three rebounds off the bench for Southeast.
 
Sally McCabe had a season high 22 points to lead the Bruins.
 
Southeast now falls to 5-8 overall and 0-1 in OVC play. They will next battle the Tennessee State Tigers on Saturday at the Show Me Center. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.