OVC #14
Southeast Missouri (11-7, 9-4 OVC) at Belmont (10-4, 7-2 OVC)
 
Game Information
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021
Tip-off: 5 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.  
Arena: Curb Event Center
Series: Belmont leads the all-time series, 12-5
Last Meeting: SEMO Win 114-99 | March 6, 2020 | 2020 OVC Tournament
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (91-80, Sixth Season); Bart Brooks (89-24, Fourth 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)
Belmont (PDF)
 
Redhawks Start Three-Game Road Swing Tuesday at Belmont
Southeast Missouri women's basketball (11-7, 9-4 OVC) heads to Nashville, Tennessee, Tuesday to face Belmont (10-4, 7-2 OVC) and open a three-game road swing this week. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m., CT Tuesday for the meeting between SEMO and Belmont at the Curb Event Center. After Tuesday, the Redhawks head to Murray State on Thursday followed by Austin Peay on Saturday. 
 
Follow the Redhawks 
Fans can listen to Tuesday's game live on the radio at ESPN 93.5 FM & 1220 AM with Erik Sean calling the action. The game will be televised live on ESPN+. Follow the game on Twitter @OfficialSEMOWBB.
 
Series History 
Belmont leads the all-time series against SEMO, 12-5. The Redhawks won the most recent meeting on March 6, 2020, at the 2020 Ohio Valley Conference tournament, 114-99, in Evansville, Indiana. The matchup featured the most combined points (213) of any tournament game in OVC history. The Bruins won the 2020-21 regular season matchup 57-45 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on Jan. 9, 2020. 
 
Scouting the Bruins
Belmont logged its 1,000th win in program history with a 78-33 road rout of SIU Edwardsville Saturday afternoon at First Community Arena. The Bruins recorded season high marks in field goal percentage (.544), points in the paint (44) and fast break points (21) in their fourth consecutive win. Belmont (10-4, 7-2 OVC) also dished out 22 assists, forced 20 turnovers and grabbed 45 rebounds.

Four Bruins tallied double-figure points, as sophomore forward Cam Browning led Belmont with her first career double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. Freshman guard Whitney Hay posted a team-high 14 points for the Bruins, while fellow first-year guard Tuti Jones racked up 12 points and five steals. Freshman forward Madison Bartley rounded out the team's double-digit scorers with 11 points. 

Second Tuesday Matchup for SEMO this Season
SEMO faces Belmont Tuesday in their second and final matchup this season on that particular day of the week. The Redhawks downed the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy, 75-44, at the Show Me Center on Tuesday, Dec. 1 
 
Week Recap
After falling at UT Martin on Feb. 1, 80-70, SEMO returned to Cape Girardeau for a pair of victories over Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State. The Redhawks held off a late rally by TTU, 59-55, on Feb.4 before beating JSU, 62-54, on Feb. 6.
 
Thompson in Double-Figures
Tesia Thompson has finished in double-digits scoring in each of the past 10 games and posted double-figures for boards five times this season. She now has 93 double-figure point games in her career as a Redhawk. She registered her first double-double since Jan. 9, 2021 at Tennessee State on Jan. 30 against Eastern Illinois, finishing with a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Thompson most recently notched a double-double of 26 points with 14 rebounds in SEMO's win over JSU on Feb. 6. Thompson started the game strong, collecting all nine of SEMO's points to open the game with a 9-2 advantage. She had 13 points and four boards, shooting 6-for-10 in the first quarter. Thompson finished 11-for-22 from the floor and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe.
 
In the OVC this season, Thompson leads the conference in field goal attempts (293), field goals made (119), free throw makes and attempts (91-for-119). She also tops the conference with 340 points and is second in the league with 18.9 points per game. Rebounding, Thompson is third in the league overall with 8.3 boards per game (150). Lastly, she is fifth in the OVC with 598:10 minutes of court time. 
 
Welcome Back, TP!!!
Taelour Pruitt played in her first game since Jan. 14 this past Saturday (Feb. 6) against Jacksonville State. Pruitt had previously missed the past eight with an injury. She finished with three steals, two assists, two points and a board in 19 minutes of action in the contest with the Gamecocks.
 
Off the Bench
Nyrobi Pillers led the Redhawks off the bench against Jacksonville State on Feb. 6 with seven points, shooting 3-for-5 from the field with four rebounds.
 
Back in the Win Column
SEMO (10-7, 8-4 OVC) held off a late rally by Tennessee Tech (9-6, 7-5 OVC) Thursday at the Show Me Center for its 10th win this season. SEMO edged the visiting Golden Eagles, 59-55. The win by SEMO also halted a two-game losing skid and completed the regular-season sweep of TTU.
 
Way to Bounce Back 
Tesia Thompson struggled in the first half on Feb. 4 against Tennessee Tech. Thompson paced the Redhawks with 17 points, rebounding from a difficult opening half where she shot 2-for-14. Thompson ended the night 6-for-19, going 4-for-5 in the second half and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line. She also dished out a season-high seven assists.
 
Phi-Fi-Fo-Fum
Sophia Hancock, a former walk-on, was surprised with a scholarship during the team's morning film session on Jan. 20. Hancock has come off the bench for SEMO in the past nine contests.
 
Hancock registered a career outing against Tennessee Tech on Feb. 4. The Puxico, Missouri, native registered a career-best four steals to lead the Redhawks. She also notched personal-bests with six points and five boards in 27 minutes of court time.
 
A Career Day for Scott
Roshala Scott led the Redhawks at UT Martin on Feb. 1 with a career-best outing of 22 points. Scott went to the break with 15 points and finished the contest 8-for-10 from the field in a career-high 37 minutes of court time. The Earle, Arkansas native, was 4-for-6 from behind the arc and also tied a season-high seven rebounds. Scott hit a personal-best eight field goals and four 3-pointers.
 
Scott also dished out four assists at UTM and has divvied out a career-best six twice in the past four games. She is second in the OVC for assists with 62 (3.4 assists/game, sixth). Scott tallied six at Eastern Kentucky (1/23) and against SIUE (1/28). Offensively, Scott is averaging 8.7 points per game in 30.4 minutes per game.
 
Pick Pocket
Terri Smith registered a career-best seven steals on Feb. 1 at UT Martin. Prior to that contest, Smith had only registered two on three occasions. Offensively, she finished with 12 points for her fourth double-digit game as a Redhawk. Smith knocked down a career-best six field goals against the Skyhawks, shooting 6-for-14 from the floor. 
 
Smith in the Starting 5
Terri Smith has appeared in the Redhawks starting lineup each of the past nine games with the absence of Taelour Pruitt due to injury. She has finished in double figures four times including most recently 12 for the second time this season against UTM on Feb. 1.
 
Smith, a Western Kentucky transfer, chipped in a career-best 14 points in 39 minutes of action against Austin Peay on Jan. 16. 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 on Jan. 14, finishing with six points in 36 minutes of play.
 
Blocks Queen Leads the OVC
LaTrese Saine leads the conference with 4.06 blocks per game and 73 blocks. Nationally, she ranks second for both statistics.
 
Saine registered a pair of blocks at Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 23) to surpass Chandra Brown (2004-05, 49) for first overall in Redhawks history in a single season. In the SEMO record books, Saine also ranks first for career blocks (182) and single-game blocks (10 vs. Murray State 1/14/21) along with single-season blocks (73).
 
She also ranks first in the OVC with seven double-doubles this season, most recently notching the feat with 10 points and 11 boards at UT Martin on Feb. 1.
 
Iron Lady
Sophie Bussard leads the Redhawks and is first in the OVC with 35:45 minutes per game and 638:01 total minutes played.
 
Bussard has competed in all 40 minutes four times this season. In the past six games, Bussard has finished with 38 minutes or more in each of those contests. 
 
Bussard is averaging 8.7 points per game and has totaled nine or more points in each of the past five games. She has totaled double-digit points in each of the last two games with 11 against Tennessee Tech (2/4) and 12 at Jacksonville State.
 
Board Woman Gets Paid
The Redhawks lead the league with 40.72 rebounds per game and 733 rebounds. SEMO is outrebounding their opponents by an OVC-best margin of 4.1.
 
The Redhawks finished with a positive double-digit margin at Morehead State (50-38) on Jan. 21 and against Eastern Illinois on Jan. 30 (46-32). SEMO also finished with a positive margin of nine at UTM on Feb. 1.
 
Four Redhawks in Double-Figures
When SEMO finishes with at least four double-digit scorers, the Redhawks are 7-1 including 5-1 in the OVC (wins on TTU, TSU (2), EKU, SIUE). SEMO most recently fell to OVC leader UT Martin on Feb. 1 for its first loss while registering the feat of four Redhawks in double-digits scoring. SEMO also had four double-digit scorers in its wins over Western Illinois on Dec. 11 (67-57) and University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy on Dec. 1 (75-44).
 
Starting January 2021 on a High Note
SEMO registered a 6-2 mark in the first month of 2021. The Redhawks rang in the New Year with an 84-50 win over Tennessee State on Jan. 2 which started a four-game win streak in January and bridged a five-game win streak from Dec. 30, 2020 through Jan. 16, 2021.  SEMO also picked up wins on (at) TSU (1/9), Murray State (1/14), Austin Peay (1/16), Eastern Kentucky (1/23) and SIUE (1/28).
 
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 against Austin Peay on Jan. 16 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 vs. Murray State and Austin Peay). She also had seven rebounds.
  
Block Party!!
The Redhawks notched single-game records for blocks in SEMO's victory over Murray State on Jan. 14. 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 114 blocked shots and 6.3 blocks per game. The Redhawks also lead the conference in field-goal percentage defense (35.6). SEMO ranks second in the OVC for scoring defense (58.9).
 
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 1,837 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.