CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's basketball (7-4, 5-1 OVC) extended its Ohio Valley Conference win streak to five with a 74-61 victory over Austin Peay (7-4, 5-2 OVC) Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
Tesia Thompson led all scorers with a season-high 33 points in her 100th career game in a Redhawks uniform. Thompson finished 12-for-21 from the field and was perfect at the charity stripe for the second-straight game (9-9, 17-17 past two games). She also had seven rebounds.
In her second career start at SEMO,
Terri Smith chipped in a career-best 14 points in 39 minutes of action. Smith was 5-for-10 from the field and knocked down 50 percent from three (4-8) and tallied five boards.
SEMO outshot the Governors, 48.1 percent to 30.8 percent, behind a 7-for-11 opening quarter (63.64 percent) to start the contest with a 23-12 lead.
After exchanging threes, Saine registered a three-point play to push the SEMO advantage to 17-7 with 2:36 in the first period. She finished the contest with eight points and seven boards.
SEMO went to the break with a 39-24 lead.
The Governors responded in the third and cut the SEMO edge to eight, 44-36, with just over five minutes left in the quarter after a 6-0 run that featured a basket and a free throw by Kemia Ward.
The Redhawks then grew their lead to 22, their largest lead of the night, with just under four minutes remaining in regulation. Smith hit a 3-pointer before Thompson converted consecutive free throws to pull ahead, 71-49.
Sophia Hancock had a career outing off the bench. The Puxico, Missouri native, played in 16 minutes of action and tallied four points with three rebounds. She shot 2-for-3 from the field.
SEMO outrebounded Austin Peay, 38-36. The Redhawks benefited from 28 points in the paint.
At the free-throw line, SEMO posted a 79.2 clip (19-24) on its attempts.
Tahanee Bennell scored 11 points to lead the Govs in scoring for the second time this season and the fifth time in her career.
SEMO next hits the road for a pair of OVC games in Kentucky. The Redhawks face Morehead State Thursday at 3 p.m., CT, in Morehead, Kentucky, before taking on Eastern Kentucky next Saturday in Richmond, Kentucky.
