CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri (3-4) defeated Rust College (3-2), 63-60, behind Rahmena Henderson's 16 points Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
 
Henderson's final stat line featured 16 points, nine rebounds and an assist that helped get the Redhawks their third victory  of the season. 
 
SEMO trailed late in the fourth quarter (60-59) when Henderson hit a layup and was fouled. She sank the free throw to give the Redhawks a 62-60 edge.
 
Rust College missed its game-tying jump shot on the other end and Henderson sealed the victory with one last free throw.
 
SEMO shot 41.4 percent (24-58) from the field as a team for the game and hit 33 percent (6-18) from behind the arc. The Redhawks also shot 56.3 percent (9-16) from the charity stripe.
 
Kennedi Watkins got the Redhawks on the scoreboard with a layup at the 9:32 mark in the first quarter. SEMO used its size inside scoring eight points in the paint during the opening 10 minutes. 
 
At the end of the first quarter, SEMO led by a score of 15-9 with the help of five points from both Watkins and Sophie Bussard. 
 
The game opened up in the second frame as both teams got up and down the floor. The Bearcats trimmed SEMO's lead to two off back-to-back 3-pointers by Dekeriya Patterson. 
 
Patterson finished the game with 15-points to lead the Lady Bearcats.
 
A Faith Cattouse trey gave Rust College a 21-20 advantage with 3:51 remaining in the first half. 
 
Jaliyah Green made a layup to regain the lead for the Redhawks 39 seconds later. Back-to-back Henderson baskets then grew SEMO's lead to 26-23.
 
SEMO led by as many as 15 with 3:13 to go in the third quarter and was up eight (43-35) entering the final 10 minutes of play. 
 
The fourth quarter featured four ties and two lead changes before Henderson sealed it in the end. 
 
Rust College went on a 9-0 scoring run to close the Redhawks lead to two and SEMO called timeout with 6:30 remaining. 
 
Tied, 55-55, Bussard made a big shot in the lane to put SEMO up, 57-55.. 
 
A Rust College basket from Adjaratou Mbaye tied the game on the ensuing possession. 
 
Henderson layup put SEMO ahead once again, but not for long as the Lady Bearcats' Shuntorri Rodgers answered with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds to go.
 
From there, Henderson took over scoring the game's final seven points to polish off the 63-60 win. 
 
Watkins added 13 points and eight boards, while Bussard chipped in 15 points, including nine from downtown. 
  
SEMO dominated the paint outscoring Rust College by a +20 margin (32-12).
 
The Redhawks return to action when they travel to Big 12 Conference member Kansas Sunday.