OVC #7
Southeast Missouri (7-4, 5-1 OVC) at Morehead State (4-8, 3-5 OVC)
 
Game Information
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2021
Tip-off: 3 p.m., CT
Location: Morehead, Ky.
Arena: Johnson Arena
Series: SEMO leads 24-21
Last Meeting: SEMO Win 67-61 | Jan. 30, 2020 in Morehead, Ky. 
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (87-77, Sixth Season); Greg Todd (102-98, Seventh Season)
 
Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+
Radio: ESPN 93.5 FM & 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Twitter: @OfficialSEMOWBB
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)
Morehead State (PDF)
 
Redhawks Head to the Bluegrass State to take on Morehead State Thursday
Southeast Missouri women's basketball (7-4, 5-1 OVC) takes on Morehead State (4-8, 3-5 OVC) Thursday to open a two-game road swing in the Bluegrass State. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m., CT, at Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky. 
 
Follow the Redhawks 
Fans can listen to Thursday's game live on the radio at ESPN 93.5 FM & 1220 AM with Erik Sean calling the action. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN+. Follow the game on Twitter @OfficialSEMOWBB.
 
Series History 
SEMO leads the all-time series with Morehead State, 24-21. The Redhawks won the 2019-20 matchup in Morehead, Kentucky, 67-61. Prior to that meeting, the Eagles had won four-straight games in the series. 
 
Scouting the Eagles
Morehead State most recently defeated SIUE, 53-47, Tuesday in a hard-fought battle at Johnson Arena. Gabby Carter poured in a game-best 14 points while Ellie Jo Johnson added 10.
 
This past week, Morehead State fell to Eastern Illinois before beating SIUE to snap a three-game losing streak. Ariel Kirkwood notched a double-double in each game last week. She had 10 points and 10 rebounds versus EIU and followed that up with 20 points and 12 boards against SIUE. Tyler Moore had a team-high 16 points versus Eastern Illinois. The Eagles currently lead the nation with 7.5 blocks per game so far this season. 
 
About Last Week
SEMO beat Murray State, 69-53, last Thursday at the Show Me Center and then bested Austin Peay, 74-61, this past Saturday. Tesia Thompson led the Redhawks this past week with 61 points (30.5ppg) and 14 rebounds (7.0pg) in 74 total minutes as SEMO extended its OVC win-streak to five games. Terri Smith finished the week with 20 points (10.0ppg) and six rebounds (3.0rpg) in her first two career starts at SEMO.
 
Five in a Row!!
SEMO has won its last five Ohio Valley Conference games after dropping its league opener to UT Martin on Dec. 18, 2020. Since then, the Redhawks have notched four-straight wins over Tennessee Tech (Dec. 30, 2020), Tennessee State (Jan. 2 & Jan. 9) and most recently Murray State (Jan. 14, 69-53) and Austin Peay (Jan. 16, 74-61). 
 
SEMO at UT Martin Elevated to ESPNU
SEMO's game set for Monday, Feb. 1 against UT Martin will now be televised live on ESPNU as part of the OVC's 2020-21 ESPN basketball linear television schedule. Tip is set for 4 p.m., CT at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center in Martin, Tennessee.
 
SEMO vs. Morehead State Game Rescheduled
SEMO's game against Morehead State on Friday, Feb. 19 has been rescheduled to Saturday, Feb. 20. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center.
 
Season-High For Tesia
Tesia Thompson led all scorers this past Saturday against Austin Peay 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.
 
Thompson has finished in double-digits scoring in the past three games and posted double-figures for boards three times this season.
 
In the OVC this season, Thompson leads the conference in field goal attempts (175), free throw attempts (72) and free throws made (58). She also is second in the league with 215 total points (19.5ppg) and field goals made (75). Thompson is fourth overall with 89 rebounds.
 
Smith Earns First Two Redhawk Starts
Terri Smith made her first two career starts as a Redhawk with the absence of Taelour Pruitt due to injury this past week. Smith, a Western Kentucky transfer, chipped in a career-best 14 points in 39 minutes of action this past Saturday against Austin Peay. Smith was 5-for-10 from the field and knocked down 50 percent from three (4-8) and tallied five boards. She made her first career SEMO start against Murray State last Thursday, finishing with six points in 36 minutes of play.
 
Phi-Fi-Fo-Fum
Sophia Hancock has come off the bench for SEMO in the past two contests. Hancock registered a career outing this past Saturday against Austin Peay. 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.
 
Hancock, a former walk-on, was surprised with a scholarship during Wednesday morning's film session. 
 
Pillers of this Team
Nyrobi Pillers finished Saturday's game against Austin Peay with seven points to go along with five rebounds and a block in nine minutes of court time. At the charity stripe, she was 5-for-6. Pillers has finished with six or more points in each of the past two games.
 
Boards for Bussard
Sophie Bussard has four or more rebounds in each of the past five games. Bussard finished last week with 10, compiling five each in the victories over Murray State and Austin Peay. She added seven points in the win against the Racers this past Thursday. 
 
RO SCOTT with the Assist
Roshala Scott is averaging 3.4 assists per game which ranks eighth in the OVC. She also has an assist turnover ratio of 1.32 (eighth in the OVC). In the past five games, Scott has registered two or more assists in each of those victories. 
 
Offensively, Scott is fourth on the team with 88 total points (8.0ppg) and has finished in double-figures scoring in four of the last five games. 
 
Charity Stripe
SEMO knocked down a season-best 19 free throws on 24 attempts (79.2 percent) this past Saturday against Austin Peay.
 
Board Woman Gets Paid
The Redhawks lead the league with 41.45 blocks per game and has 456 this season (fourth in the OVC). SEMO is outrebounding their opponents by an OVC-best margin of 4.3. 
 
Block Party!!
The Redhawks notched single-game records for blocks in last Thursday's victory over Murray State. LaTrese Saine swatted away a career-best 10 to improve upon her previous Redhawk single-game blocks record (6 at Morehead State, 2/8/18). As a team the Redhawks finished with 13, which surpassed the previous mark of 10 set on Feb. 14, 2007 at EIU. 
 
SEMO is second in the OVC with 70 blocked shots and 6.4 blocks per game. 
  
Three Ball
SEMO knocked down a season-high 50 percent from beyond the arc in last Thursday's victory over Murray State. The Redhawks were 6-for-12 on treys and were led by Tesia Thompson (2-4). Terri Smith (1-4), LaTrese Saine (1-2), Roshala Scott (1-1) and Sophie Bussard (1-1) each had a trifecta in the game. It marked the second OVC game this season that SEMO had hit 6-for-12. 
 
That's In SAINE
LaTrese Saine led the Redhawks this past Thursday against Murray State with a career-best 10 blocks and a season-high 16 rebounds. She just missed the triple-double, finishing with nine points. 
 
Saine leads the OVC with 40 blocked shots and 3.64 blocks per game. She has also accumulated 87 rebounds this season (7.9rpg) which ranks sixth in the league.  
 
Go off Tesia!!
Tesia Thompson led the Redhawks last Thursday with a game-high 28 points including 17 in the final quarter of play. In the fourth alone, Thompson was 5-for-8 on field goals. Overall, she was 9-for-18 and 2-for-4 from behind the arc. Thompson was also perfect at the charity stripe, knocking down all eight attempts.
 
50 Conference Wins
With last Thursday's victory over Murray State, head coach Rekha Patterson has now totaled 50 career Ohio Valley Conference wins. In six seasons at SEMO, Patterson has fashioned an 87-77 mark with a record of 51-41 in league play.  
 
Non-Conference Slate
SEMO posted a 2-3 mark during the non-conference portion of it 2020-21 schedule. The Redhawks opened the season with a 74-53 loss to #5 Louisville on Nov. 25 before earning their first victory of the campaign over the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (75-44) on Dec. 1. SEMO dropped a 63-49 decision to Eastern Michigan on Dec. 6. The Redhawks notched their second win of the season over Western Illinois, 67-57. SEMO then fell to regional rival, Southern Illinois, 67-51, in Carbondale, Illinois, on Dec. 18. 
 
In five non-conference games, Tesia Thompson paced the team with 93 points (18.6 ppg) and 29 rebounds (5.8 per game). Taelour Pruitt (48 points) and LaTrese Saine (47 points) averaged just under 10 points per game during the non-conference slate. Saine also posted 33 boards (6.6 per game) with 14 blocks (2.8 per game).
  
OVC Preseason Poll
SEMO was picked third in the 2020-21 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Poll. Tesia Thompson was named to the Preseason All-OVC Team for the third-straight year. SEMO tallied 206 points in the overall voting by the OVC Head Coaches and Communications Directors. The Redhawks also collected two first-place votes. 
 
1,000 Point Club
Tesia Thompson became just the 10th Redhawk in the Division I era to surpass 1,000 career points. She reached this milestone last season at Ole Miss (Dec. 14, 2019) in the first quarter. She currently has 1,712 career points, putting her second all-time on the school's career scoring list in the Division I era. 
 
OVC Tournament Champions
SEMO won its second OVC Tournament Championship in program history and first since 2006-07 this last season. The Redhawks went undefeated at 3-0 in this year's conference tournament winning each of their final two games by double figures against the tourney's top-two seeds. A day after a staggering offensive showcase, #3 Southeast Missouri used a remarkable defensive effort to stomp UT Martin and win the 2020 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title with a 67-47 victory on Mar. 7, 2020. The Redhawks, who claimed the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, were unable to play further into the postseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Ring Ceremony and Banner Reveal
The Redhawks brought back the members of their historic 2019-20 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship team for a ring ceremony and banner reveal prior to their game against University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Dec. 1). SEMO capped the 2019-20 season with an overall record of 25-7 and 14-4 mark in OVC play. The Redhawks put together three record-breaking performances at the OVC Tournament to capture the crown and secure the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.