Southeast Missouri (8-3) at Austin Peay (9-2)

Game Information
Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020
Tip-off: 5:30 p.m., CT
Location: Clarksville, Tenn.
Arena: Dunn Center
Series: APSU leads, 34-23
Last Meeting: APSU 56, SEMO 54 | February 21, 2019 | Dunn Center
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (63-68, Fifth Season). David Midlick (78-54, Fourth Season).
 
Media Information
Video: ESPN+
Radio: SEMO ESPN 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Twitter: @OffiicialSEMOWBB

Tipping Off 
The Southeast Missouri women's basketball team tips off Ohio Valley Conference play at Austin Peay Thursday. Start time is set for 5:30 p.m., CT, at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee. Head Coach Rekha Patterson is 2-2 in OVC openers. The Redhawks have a 32-36 OVC record under Patterson.

Follow the Redhawks 
Fans can listen to Thursday's game live on the radio at SEMO ESPN 1220 AM with Erik Sean calling the action. The broadcast will also be streamed at SEMOESPN.com and on the SEMO ESPN app. Video can be accessed at ESPN+. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates will be available at @OfficialSEMOWBB. 

Series History 
Southeast Missouri trails its all-time series against Austin Peay, 34-23. The most recent matchup was at the Dunn Center where the Redhawks dropped a close 56-54 contest on Feb. 21, 2019. SEMO is 2-6 against the Governors under head coach Rekha Patterson. The Redhawks are 10-18 against Austin Peay in Clarksville.

Scouting the Governors
The Governors are 9-2 this season with the pair of losses to Illinois (Nov. 13) and #14 Kentucky (Dec. 1). APSU is 4-0 at home and is currently on a four-game winning streak. The Governors average 73.7 points, 39 rebounds and 9.6 three-pointers per contest. Freshman Shay-Lee Kirby was named Co-Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. Kirby has scored in double figures in all four of the Governors home contests. Senior Arielle Gonzalez-Varner was named OVC Player of the Week this week after posting her fourth double-double of the season. Gonzalez-Varner is ranked first in the conference in offensive rebounds (4.4 rpg) and second in field goal percentage (.525).

Non-Conference Play
The Redhawks finished their non-conferece slate with a 8-3 record. SEMO dropped games to Eastern Michigan (64-69, Nov. 19), Saint Louis (76-61, Dec. 3) and Western Illinois (97-91, Dec. 17). The Redhawks blew past SEC's Ole Miss (70-53, Dec. 14) and Harris-Stowe (106-64, Dec. 29), and beat Evansville (83-60, Nov. 10), Arkansas State (79-67, Nov. 13), Purdue-Fort Wayne (58-48, Nov. 21), Southern Illinois (79-65, Dec. 7) and Indiana State (68-55, Dec. 21). Carrie Shephard leads the team with 18.4 points and 3.7 three-pointers per game. SEMO was undefeated when leading at halftime and forced 15-plus turnovers in all but one contest during its non-conference season.

1,000 Point Club
Junior Tesia Thompson became just the 10th Redhawk in the Division I era to surpass 1,000-career points. She reached this milestone at Ole Miss (Dec. 14) in the first quarter. In her career, Thompson averages 15.8 points per contest. She was sidelined for three games this season due to a concussion.  Olivia Hackmann (2012-2017) was the last Redhawk to score over 1,000 points.

Redhawks Topple Ole Miss
Southeast Missouri recorded a dominating 70-53 win over SEC member Ole Miss for its first road win over an SEC school in program history. The win was SEMO's second all-time against a SEC foe and first since the Redhawks beat Missouri, 90-71, at home on Nov. 24, 1998. The Redhawks started a season with wins in six of their first eight games for the first time since 1993-94.