Southern Mississippi's Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic
 
Mississippi Valley State (0-3)
vs. Southeast Missouri (1-3)
Game Information
Date: Friday, Nov. 26, 2021
Tip-off: 3 p.m., CT 
Location: Hattiesburg, Miss.
Arena: Reed Green Coliseum
Series: SEMO leads Mississippi Valley State, 2-1
Last Meeting: 78-44 SEMO Win | Dec. 30, 2000 | Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (96-87, Seventh Season); Ashley Walker-Johnson (14-98, Fifth Season at MVSU)
Video: Conference USA
Radio: SEMOESPN 
Live Stats: SIDEARM Stats
 
Arkansas - Pine Bluff (0-3)
vs. Southeast Missouri (1-3)
Game Information
Date: Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021
Tip-off: 9 a.m., CT 
Location: Hattiesburg, Miss.
Arena: Reed Green Coliseum
Series: First Meeting in Program History
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (96-87, Seventh Season); Dawn Thornton (10-43, Third Season)
Video: Conference USA
Radio: SEMOESPN 
Live Stats: SIDEARM Stats
 
Follow the Redhawks
Twitter: @OfficialSEMOWBB
Media Guide: Southeast Missouri
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Head to Southern Mississippi's Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic for Pair of Games Friday and Saturday
Southeast Missouri women's basketball (1-3) treks to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, this weekend to compete at Southern Mississippi's Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic Friday and Saturday at the Reed Green Coliseum. SEMO will open the tournament against Mississippi Valley State (0-3) Friday at 3 p.m., CT. The Redhawks close their stay at the Classic Saturday morning at 9 a.m. versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
Tournament host, Southern Miss will face UAPB Friday at 1 p.m., CT and MVSU Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
Follow the Redhawks 
Fans can listen to Friday and Saturday's games live on the radio at SEMOESPN. The games will also be televised live on Conference USA. Follow the games on Twitter @OfficialSEMOWBB.
 
Series History 
MVSU
SEMO leads the all-time series with, Mississippi Valley State, 2-1. Southeast Missouri last met the Delta Devilettes on Dec. 30, 2000, with SEMO prevailing 78-44 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
 
UAPB
Saturday will mark the first meeting between SEMO and Arkansas – Pine Bluff.

Scouting the Opponents
MVSU
The Delta Devilettes are 0-3 in the early 2021-22 season. Mississippi Valley State most recently lost to Murray State, 74-50, on Tuesday.
 
MVSU is coming off of a 4-16 season last year, and going 2-13 in SWAC play. Ashley Walker-Johnson is in her fifth year in Itta Bena, Mississippi.
 
UAPB
Arkansas – Pine Bluff will take on Southern Miss Friday at 1 p.m., CT before facing SEMO Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The Lady Lions enter the tournament with a 0-3 mark in 2021-22 with losses at Little Rock (73-63, Nov. 16), Arkansas (96-53, Nov. 12) and at home against McNeese State (65-60, Nov. 9).
 
Leading the returnees is Khadijah Brown, who earned Preseason Second Team All-SWAC honors. Last season, Brown averaged 15.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
 
Head Coach Dawn Thornton enters her third season at UAPB.
 
Green Named OVC Freshman of the Week
Jaliyah Green was named the OVC Freshman of the Week, the league announced Tuesday. Green averaged 8.0 points (16 points) and 4.5 rebounds (9 rebounds) this past week for SEMO on the road at Stephen F. Austin and #12 Texas.
 
Green paced SEMO with a personal-best 12 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes of action at #12 Texas Nov. 17. The freshman from Wentzville, Missouri, shot 4-for-6 from the field including 2-for-3 behind the arc. She also had four points at Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 15 to open the trip to Texas.
 
Overall, Green shot 33 percent from the field including 2-for-6 from three-point range. She was also 4-for-4 at the charity stripe and added two assists.
 
The weekly honor marks the first for Green in her career at SEMO. She is the first Redhawk since Tesia Thompson to earn the award. Thompson last captured the laurel during the 2017-18 season (Feb. 20).
 
Green has started in all four games for SEMO in 2021-22 and had her personal-best outing against Texas. She is averaging seven points per game with four rebounds in 22.8 minutes.
 
Green most recently had seven points and six boards against Arkansas State on Monday. She shot 3-for-8 from the field.

Arkansas State Recap
Three Redhawks finished in double-digits scoring as SEMO fell to Arkansas State of the Sun Belt, 73-65, Monday evening at the Show Me Center.
 
Roshala Scott paced SEMO with 14 points, shooting 5-for-12 from the field with three boards. Deanay Watson and Halle Smith each added 10 points.
 
For Smith, a freshman forward from Belle, Missouri, it was a career-best outing. She shot 3-for-6 from the field and was perfect on triples (1-for-1) and 3-for-3 at the charity stripe with four rebounds.
 
Watson and Kennedi Watkins each had a team best seven boards. Watkins matched her personal-best that she set in the regular-season opener against UHSP (Nov. 9).
 
Johné Stewart added a personal best four points with four rebounds. The Jacksonville transfer from Memphis, Tennessee, was 50 percent shooting, adding three assists, two steals and a block.
 
Kori Tomlin also chipped in a career best six points, three assists and a steal in 25 minutes on the court. Tomlin was 2-for-2 from the field, hitting both of her treys.

Career-High for Watson
Deanay Watson notched a career-best 14 points at Stephen F. Austin Nov. 15 at the William R. Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches, Texas. Watson, a senior from Bradenton, Florida, was a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe. She also added four rebounds in a team-high 25 minutes
 
Watson has started in all four games for the Redhawks and opened the season with double-figures points against UHSP (Nov. 9) and at SFA. She is averaging 9.5 points per game with 4.3 boards in 26.3 minutes.
 
Watson most recently tallied 10 points and seven rebounds Monday against Arkansas State.
 
Pruitt Returns Home to Texas
Taelour Pruitt, a senior guard from Crowley, Texas, returned home this past week to the Lone Star State for SEMO's matchups at Stephen F. Austin and Texas. The Redhawks ate dinner at Pruitt's house and practiced at her high school, Crowley HS.
 
Pruitt totaled 11 points with four rebounds at Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 15 before finishing the trip with 10 points and two boards at Texas on Nov. 17.
 
Pruitt has started in all four games this season for SEMO, averaging 8.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 21.0 minutes.
 
She is fifth in the OVC for three-pointers attempted with 28.
 
Scott off the Bench
Roshala Scott has paced the Redhawks off the bench in 2021-22. She is averaging 11.5 points per game with 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 20.3 minutes.
 
Scott hit a season-high 14 points for the second time this season Monday against Arkansas State. She shot 42 percent from the field and 2-for-6 on the three ball.
 
Scott has also totaled nine points at both Stephen F. Austin (Nov. 15) and Texas (Nov. 17).
 
Lone Star State Recap
SEMO dropped a pair of road tests in Texas this past week. The Redhawks fell at Stephen F. Austin, 83-59, on Nov. 15 before dropping an 88-47 decision at #12 Texas on Nov. 17.
 
Shymaryia Christopher notched 11 points at Stephen F. Austin, shooting 5-for-9 on field goals and 50 percent from beyond the arc with four rebounds. Christopher has also totaled four blocks this season (1.0 blocks/game), which is second in the OVC.

Redhawks Ink Alecia Doyle for 2022-23 Season
SEMO announced the signing of Alecia Doyle for the 2022-23 season Nov. 11. Doyle, a 5-8 guard from Herrin, Illinois, is a four-year starter and letter-winner and will graduate from Carterville High School in May 2022.
 
As a junior, she was named Southern Illinoisan Player of the Year, AP First Team All-State, Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-State, Mississippi First Team All-Conference and SICA All-South Team.  She averaged 20.1points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals per game.
 
First Win in 2021-22
SEMO captured its first victory of the 2021-22 campaign, 68-45, over the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (UHSP in St. Louis) (1-3) Nov. 9 at the Show Me Center.
 
Three Redhawks finished in double-figures including a team-high 14 points and four rebounds from Roshala Scott. Freshman Kennedi Watkins chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds in her first career start. Deanay Watson also finished with a career-best tying 12 points and five boards.
 
Shymaryia Christopher and Jaliyah Green also both made their first career collegiate starts in the victory. Christopher finished with eight points while Green had five. Halle Smith, Johné Stewart and Kori Tomlin also made their Redhawk debuts. Tomlin led all SEMO players with 25 minutes. Taelour Pruitt dished out a career-best matching seven assists to accompany eight points.
 
Exhibition Recap
SEMO defeated William Woods, 66-49, in exhibition play Nov. 1 at the Show Me Center.
 
Freshman Jaliyah Green led the Redhawks with 16 points to go with five rebounds and Deanay Watson chipped in 13 points hauling down eight rebounds. Roshala Scott added nine points and Shymaryia Christopher finished with seven.
  
OVC Preseason Poll
Southeast Missouri was selected to finish sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2021-22. The Redhawks received 91 points in the projected order of finish.
 
Belmont, the 2020-21 OVC Tournament Champions, was selected to finish first with 15 first place votes and 159 total points in the preseason poll. Destinee Wells, the 2020-21 OVC Tournament MVP and Freshman of the Year from Belmont, was tabbed the 2021-22 OVC Preseason Player of the Year.
 
Team Makeup
The Redhawks return four starters from its 2020-21 team in seniors Taelour Pruitt and Deanay Watson along with juniors Roshala Scott and Sophie Bussard.
 
Scott was third on SEMO this past season with 10.2 points per game (265 points) and ranked fifth in the OVC in 2020-21 with 3.4 assists per game. Pruitt averaged just under 10 points (9.9, 159 points) per game in 2020-21. Bussard netted 8.8 points per contest (230 points) and paced the OVC with 931:15 minutes of court time, averaging 35.82 minutes per game.
 
Sophomores Michaela Mayfield, Chandler Davis and Shymaryia Christopher round out the returnees this season. Mayfield was the lone freshman from that group to play this previous year and saw time at forward.

The Redhawks also added eight newcomers in three transfers, four freshmen and a sophomore.
 
Johné Stewart and Pearl Dean bring NCAA Division I experience to the team while Kori Tomlin transferred in from Moberly Area Community College.
 
Freshmen Kennedi Watkins, Halle Smith, Jaliyah Green and Diona Reed along with sophomore Joi Ward complete the 2021-22 squad.
 
2021-22 Schedule
The Redhawks will play a 30-game schedule with 16 matchups at the Show Me Center during the 2021-22 season.
 
Southeast Missouri will play 11 non-conference games to commence the season with home meetings against UHSP (Nov. 9), Arkansas State (Nov. 22), Southern Illinois (Nov. 30), Saint Louis (Dec. 3), Harris-Stowe (Dec. 5) and Purdue Fort Wayne (Dec. 9). SEMO will take a mid-November trip to the "Lone Star State" to face Stephen F. Austin (Nov. 15) and Texas of the Big 12 (Nov. 17). The Redhawks will trek to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to play Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 26) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Nov. 27) at Southern Mississippi's Thanksgiving Tournament. SEMO concludes non-conference play with a trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, to take on Xavier Dec. 19.
 
The Redhawks 2021-22 schedule also includes 18 Ohio Valley Conference matchups, playing each conference institution twice. SEMO will open league play at Murray State after Christmas break on Dec. 30. The Redhawks then host Austin Peay on Jan. 1 to ring in 2022.
 
2020-21 Season Recap
SEMO finished with an overall record of 15-11 and posted a 13-7 conference mark in 2020-21. The Redhawks qualified for their sixth-straight OVC Tournament as the #3 seed this past season.
 
2020-21 All-OVC performers LaTrese Saine, the 2020-21 OVC Defensive Player of the Year, and Tesia Thompson graduated this past May.
 
Looking Ahead
After this weekend's Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic, SEMO returns home to host Southern Illinois, Saint Louis and Harris-Stowe next week. The Redhawks face regional rival SIU Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center. SEMO then takes on Saint Louis Dec. 3 (6:30 p.m.) and Harris-Stowe Dec. 5 (2 p.m.)