Southeast Missouri (18-5, 10-2 OVC) vs UT Martin (15-8, 11-1 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Thursday, February 13, 2020
Tip-off: 5:15 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Arena: Show Me Center 
Series: UTM leads, 28-38
Last Meeting: UTM 61, SEMO 50 | Feb. 14, 2019 | Martin, Tenn.
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (73-70, Fifth Season). Kevin McMillan (211-134, 10th Season).
 
Media Information
Video: ESPN+
Radio: SEMO ESPN 1220 AM (Glen Cantrell, Jess Bolen)
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Twitter: @OffiicialSEMOWBB

Tipping Off 
The Southeast Missouri women's basketball team hosts Ohio Valley Conference leader UT Martin Thursday. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center. 

Follow the Redhawks 
Fans can listen to Thursday's game live on the radio at SEMOESPN 1220 AM with Glen Cantrell calling the action alongside Jess Bolen. The broadcast will also be streamed at SEMOESPN.com and on the SEMOESPNapp. 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 UT Martin, 38-28. UTM holds a 19-15 advantage over SEMO at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks lost their last six meetings with UTM. SEMOhas won just one game in its last 21 matchups with the Skyhawks dating back to 2010. The Redhawks are 1-8 against UTM under head coach RekhaPatterson. 

Scouting the Skyhawks
The Skyhawks are 15-8 this season. With a 11-1 mark in conference play, UTM is first in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. Right behind UTM is SEMO. UTM's only conference loss was to Eastern Illinois (74-70) on Jan. 23. The Skyhawks average 69.6 points, 36.6 rebounds and 4.8 blocks per contest. Junior Chelsey Perry averages 25.9 points and 8.8 rebounds in OVC play. Perry leads the team with 41 blocks and 22 three-pointers. She is a six-time OVC Player of the Week this season.

Redhawks Nationally Ranked
The Redhawks rank in the top 20 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4th, 16.7), rebounds per game (7th, 44.57), rebounds (8th, 1,025), rebound margin (12th, 9.3). SEMOleads the OVC in assist/turnover ratio (1.08), fewest turnovers (324), offensive rebounds per game (16.7), rebound margin (9.3), rebounds (1,025), rebounds per game (44.57), scoring margin (12.0), scoring offense (74.0), turnovers per game (14.1) and won/lost percentage (78.3). Individually, TesiaThompson ranks in free throws made (21st, 110) and free-throws attempted (34, 136)

Shephard Reaches Top 20
Guard Carrie Shephard ranks among the top NCAA women's basketball players in various categories. The Steele, Missouri native is ranked in 3-point field goals per game (7th, 3.13), 3-point field goals made (8th, 72), 3-point field attempted (19th, 179), steals (28th, 58) and steals per game (34th, 2.52). Shephard leads the OVC in each of these categories.

Nine-Game Winning Streak
Southeast Missouri is on a season-long nine-game winning streak going into Thursday's matchup. SEMO is 9-1 at home this season. The nine-game winning streak is currently the longest in the Ohio Valley Conference and is tied for the seventh longest streak in Division I women's basketball. The last time the Redhawks held a winning streak this long was during the 2007-08 campaign. SEMO won 12-straight games and finished with a 17-3 mark in OVC play to win the regular-season title that year. 

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
The OVC Basketball Championship will be held at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana again this year. The Championship will feature 14 games of basketball action spanning four days as teams compete to capture the OVC title and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The opening rounds of the 2020 OVC Basketball Championships begin on Wednesday, March 4. The championship games will be played on Saturday, March 7, 2020. 

Start of Conference Play
SEMO finished the first half of Ohio Valley Conference play with a 7-2 record. The Redhawks ended on a six-game winning streak, that has now reached eight wins in a row. This is the best start in conference play for the Redhawks since a 5-1 mark in the 2015-16 season. The Redhawks have recorded wins over Tennessee State (Jan. 11), Murray State (Jan. 18), SIUE (Jan. 23), EIU (Jan. 25), Morehead State (Jan. 30) Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 1), Jacksonville State (Feb. 6) and, a sweep of Austin Peay (Jan. 2, Jan. 16). The Redhawks two conference losses came against Murray State (Jan. 4) and Belmont (Jan. 9).

Block Party
Redshirt-junior LaTrese Saine registered 36 blocks this season, landing her tied for eighth among the school's single-season leaders. Chandra Brown holds the record with 49 blocks in a single season. Saine has 97 blocks in her career, putting her fourth among SEMO's career leaders. Vera Roberts holds the career record with 115 blocks. 

Shephard Drains Threes
Carrie Shephard has made 72 three-pointers this season and ranks second behind her own record of 73 made 3-pointers a year ago. The Steele, Missouri native is currently shooting 40.2 percent (72-179) from beyond the arc. Shephard made 145 three-pointers in her career thus far and stands fourth on SEMO's all-time career list. Julie Meier (1991-1995) holds the record with 174 three-pointers made.

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 earlier this season due to a concussion. Olivia Hackmann (2012-2017) was the last Redhawk to score over 1,000 points. 

Thompson Scores Big
Junior Tesia Thompson has 1,280 points in her career at Southeast Missouri. Thompson is 10th all-time on the school's career scoring list. Gray C. Harris (1992-1996) holds the scoring title with 2,176 career-points. Thompson currently has 353 points this season, averaging 17.7 per contest. 

Non-Conference Play
The Redhawks finished their non-conference 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.

SEMO Sweeps Austin Peay
Carrie Shephard scored a game-high 19 points and Southeast Missouri used a key run down the stretch to hold off Austin Peay in a 79-66 Ohio Valley Conference opening win Jan. 2 at the Dunn Center. It was the first time the Redhawks defeated the Governors in Clarksville under head coach Rekha Patterson. The Redhawks then forced a season-high 25 turnovers, resulting in a season-best 15 steals in an 81-43 victory over the Governors on Jan. 16. SEMO held APSU to a season-low 23 points in the first half of that game. It was the second-straight game SEMO held its opponent to 23 first-half 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.