EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Southeast Missouri women's basketball (15-10, 13-7 OVC) upended SIUE (6-19, 3-17 OVC), 63-52, Saturday at the First Community Arena, to secure the third seed in this upcoming week's Ohio Valley Conference Championship.
 
SEMO will make its sixth-straight tournament appearance and face #6 Murray State Thursday at 3:30 p.m., CT at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
 
Four Redhawks finished in double-figures as SEMO tallied its 15th win of the year. Terri Smith led the Redhawks for the second-straight game with 14 points, shooting 5-for-11 from the field and 4-for-7 on 3-pointers. She has now finished in double-digits each of the last three games.
 
Roshala Scott and LaTrese Saine each chipped in 13. Scott knocked down 5-for-9 field goals and was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, while registering six assists.
 
In her 100th career game as a Redhawk, Saine shot 6-for-7 with seven boards, four assists and a block. The West Memphis, Arkansas native, also surpassed 600 career points (612) in the victory.
 
Sophie Bussard rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 for her third-straight game with 10-plus points. Bussard was 5-for-11 from the floor, racking up a personal-high seven assists with seven boards and two steals.
 
SEMO opened its regular-season finale with a 9-2 advantage. A jumper from Deanay Watson made the lead 13-3 at the 3:15 mark.
 
Watson posted six points and five rebounds in her third career start at SEMO.
 
A 6-0 run by the Cougars cut the Redhawks edge to 13-9 with 1:07 left in the opening period.
 
SEMO widened the margin to 30-15 after a basket from Michaela Mayfield with 3:48 to play before halftime. The lay-up concluded a 10-0 run by the Redhawks.
 
Saine added a bucket to keep the advantage at 15 (35-20) with 2:27 left in the second quarter.
 
Allie Troeckler tallied a basket to cut the SEMO edge to 35-22 at the break.
 
Smith and Saine (9-point second quarter) each had 11 points in the contest through 20 minutes of play.
 
SEMO wouldn't relinquish its lead, keeping a double-digit edge till the final whistle.
 
Scott connected on a 3-pointer to widen the gap to 47-33 with 4:28 in the third quarter. Smith then added a trey to provide the Redhawks a 54-40 lead heading into the final frame.
 
A basket from Saine regrew the lead to 56-41 with 7:13 left in regulation. SIUE would come as close as 11 as SEMO captured the victory, 63-52.
 
SEMO shot 50 percent from the floor including a 62 percent second quarter. The Redhawks also connected at a clip of 67 percent and 60 percent from 3-point range in the second and third frames, finishing with a rate of .440.
 
SEMO hit both of its free throws for a perfect mark of 100 percent.
 
The Redhawks outrebounded SIUE, 33-29.
 
Prima Chellis led the Cougars with 11 points and four rebounds. Troeckler added seven boards to complement six points. SIUE shot 36 percent including 17 percent from beyond the arc.
 
#3 SEMO will next take on #6 Murray State in the First Round of the OVC Championship Thursday at 3:30 p.m., CT at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The game will be televised on ESPN+.