CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Four Redhawks finished in double-figures as Southeast Missouri women's basketball (4-4, 2-1 OVC) pummeled Tennessee State (0-4, 0-2 OVC), 84-50, Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
 
Sophie Bussard led all scorers with a career-best 22 points, shooting 5-for-10 from three-point range to improve on her personal-best point total of 15 set Wednesday at Tennessee Tech.
 
Bussard, a sophomore from Silver Lake, Indiana, connected on an 80 percent clip (4-for-5) in the second half from behind the arc after opening the contest 1-for-5 on the three-ball in the first half.
 
LaTrese Saine chipped in her first double-double of the 2020-21 campaign and second of her career with 15 points and 10 boards with three blocks and three assists.
 
Taelour Pruitt added 14 points and Roshala Scott poured in a personal-best 13 points for the second-straight game. Scott also had six assists (PR) and six rebounds.
 
SEMO started slowly with an 11-9 opening quarter before gradually growing their margin.
 
A 6-0 run that featured back-to-back three-pointers by Bussard and Terri Smith made the edge 11-6 with 1:33 left in the first. Breannah McCullah hit a trey as the quarter expired to pull TSU within two, 11-9.
 
The Redhawks utilized a 26-6 second quarter to widen the margin to 37-15 at the break.
 
SEMO opened the second with a 10-0 run to pull ahead 21-9 with 4:43 left in the half. A Smith three extended the advantage to 20, 33-13, with just over a minute left in the period.
 
After the break, the Tigers outscored the Redhawks, 18-17, in the third quarter but that only cut the SEMO lead to 54-33.
 
SEMO kept its foot on the gas pedal in the final quarter, exponentially increasing the Redhawk advantage to 41 (81-40), its largest lead of the game, with 3:12 left in regulation.
 
SEMO shot 44.3 percent from the field including 46.67 percent (7-15) in the third and 64.71 percentage (11-17) in the final quarter.
 
From three-point range, the Redhawks finished 10-26 (38.5 percent) but shot 63.6 percent in the final 20 minutes of play (3-5 in the third, 4-6 in the fourth).
 
The Redhawks bench accounted for 12 points with Smith notching six. Nyrobi Pillers added four, hitting both of her field goal attempts. Deanay Watson concluded the contest with two points and four rebounds.
 
SEMO outrebounded the Tigers, 54-30, with Thompson grabbing 10 to complement her eight points, four steals and three assists.
 
It marked the first game since Dec. 21, 2019 that Thompson finished with less than 10 points and snapped a streak of 29 double-digit games (22 in 2019-20 and seven in 2020-21).
 
The Redhawks also benefited from 26 second chance points.
 
TSU seniors Andreana Wrister and Breannah McCullah paced the Tigers with 11 points each while Jaden Wrightsell had a team-best seven rebounds and nine points to go with four assists and four steals.
 
TSU shot 34.8 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three-point range.
 
The Redhawks next complete their home-and-home series against Tennessee State with a return trip to Nashville, Tennessee, next week on Saturday, Jan. 9. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m., CT.
 
SEMO's game against Belmont set for Thursday, Jan. 7, has been postponed. The OVC office is working to reschedule the game for a later date in 2021.