CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- Southeast Missouri (1-3) picked up its first win of the season with a 81-71 victory over Western Illinois (1-5) Tuesday night at the Show Me Center.
Tesia Thompson registered her fourth career double-double with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Thompson was one of four Redhawks scoring in double figures.
Adrianna Murphy followed with 20 points,
Carrie Shephard pitched in a career-high 16 points and
Taelour Pruitt fiinished with 10 in the balanced effort.
SEMO outscored WIU, 31-15, in a big third quarter and never looked back. The Redhawks shot 52.2 percent (12-of-23) in the period and followed that up with 24 more points in the final 10 minutes.
The Redhawks largest lead reached 22 points when Pruitt knocked down a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
SEMO dropped in 10 three-pointers for the night, with both Murphy and Shephard sinking three apiece.
The Redhawks had 21 assists nine of which belonged to Murphy. The Fishers, Indiana native now has 506 assists in her career and 20 through four games this season.
Murphy also added seven steals, nine assists and six rebounds to go along with her 20-point performance..
As a team, SEMO shot 9-of-15 (.600) at the free-throw line.
Defensively, the Redhawks forced 28 turnovers and tallied 17 steals.
SEMO hits the road for the NJIT Thanksgiving Classic this weekend. The Redhawks face North Alabama (Nov. 24) and host NJIT (Nov. 25) in Newark, New Jersey.
