Game #20
Southeast Missouri (8-11, 3-5 OVC)
vs. Tennessee State (7-12, 2-6 OVC)
Game Information
Date: Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023
Tip-off: 5:00 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.    
Arena: Show-Me Center
Series: SEMO leads 27-24
Last Meeting: TSU won 68-53 | Jan. 20, 2022 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.  
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (109-118, Eighth Season at SEMO);
Ty Evans (3^rd Season at TSU)
 
Follow The Game:
Video: ESPN+ 
Radio: SEMO ESPN (Erik Sean)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast 
 
2022-23 WBB Stats (PDF)
 
Redhawks on Social Media:
Twitter: @officialSEMOWBB
Instagram: officialSEMOWBB
 
 
Redhawks Host Tennessee State Thursday To Conclude Homestand
Southeast Missouri (8-11, 3-5 OVC) returns to the Show-Me Center on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023 to face the Tennessee State Tigers (7-12, 2-6 OVC) in a matchup of two teams battling for positioning in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. on Thursday evening. 
 
Series History
TSU and SEMO will face off for the 52^nd time on Thursday night with SEMO holding a slight advantage in the record book with an overall record against the Tigers of 27-24. These two teams first met back in 1992. 
 
Last season, TSU swept the season-series with the Redhawks winning the last matchup between the two by a final score of 68-53 on Jan. 20 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
 
Last Time Out
Jaliyah Green dropped in a career-high 21 points as one of three players in double figures as Southeast Missouri (8-11, 3-5) fell to Tennessee Tech (12-6, 6-2), 76-72, Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
 
SEMO saw its three-game winning streak come to an end in a game plagued by a combined 51 fouls that resulted in 66 free throw attempts between the teams. Interestingly enough, not one player fouled out from either squad.
 
SEMO scored the first basket on a second chance jumper by Green. After that, TTU answered with a 13-1 run and took a 13-3 lead on Kiera Hill's layup with 4:51 remaining in the first quarter.
 
The Redhawks pulled within three (13-10) following a 9-0 run of its own capped by Tamia Stallings' conventional 3-point play at the 2:06 mark.
 
Kori Tomlin's jumper got SEMO within a point at 18-17 early in the second quarter and the Redhawks were down, 27-24, when the Golden Eagles scored eight of the next nine points to grab another double-digit lead. Ansley Hall's fastbreak layup pushed TTU's lead to 35-25 with 1:52 to play.
 
The Golden Eagles later built a 39-29 lead at the half.
 
SEMO was within striking distance on several more occasions, but just couldn't get ahead of TTU.
 
Tomlin's jumper narrowed the Golden Eagles' lead to 44-43 with 3:12 left to play in the third quarter and prior to that SEMO trailed by two or three points three times.
 
SEMO headed into the fourth quarter trailing by eight and couldn't get any closer than three the rest of the way. Halle Smith's second chance layup made it a 56-51 game with 8:28 to go. 
 
Kennedi Watkins knocked down two free throws to slice TTU's lead to 63-58 at the 5:33 mark and Green's jumper narrowed the Golden Eagles' margin to 65-60 with 4:41 left.
 
Rahmena Henderson then scored on two free throw to get SEMO within five (67-62) with 3:43 remaining. And, Watkins split two free throws to make the score 70-65 with a little over two minutes.
 
SEMO continued to chip away and trimmed TTU's lead to 75-72 with 19 seconds. On the ensuing possession, Green stole the ball and immediately drove to the basket. Reghan Grimes blocked Green's shot and was then fouled.
 
Grimes split her two free throws to seal the win for the Golden Eagles.
 
Green shot 7-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free throw line in 33 minutes.
 
Watkins followed with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Alecia Doyle added 11.
 
SEMO made 24-of-31 free throws and did not make a 3-pointer (0-of-16) for the game.
 
Jada Guinn led TTU with 20 points on 7-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 at the free throw line.
 
The Golden Eagles made 26-of-35 free throws and shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54).
 
Scouting The Opponent
Tigers
Tennessee State comes into Thursday's matchup on a three-game losing streak, most recently having lost to Little Rock by a final score of 42-36 (1/21). 
 
The Tigers were led in scoring by Erica Haynes-Overton who had nearly half of TSU's points with 15 in a defensive slugfest. 
 
Kianni Westbrook was the second leading-scorer for the Tigers with 11, including nine rebounds and three blocks. 
 
The Tigers jumped out to a 6-4 lead at the end of the first quarter but trailed at the halftime break by four, 17-13. 
 
The Tigers trailed by just one at the end of the third quarter, 31-30, but could never regain the lead scoring just five points in the final quarter to drop Saturday's contest. 
 
TSU's defense was stifling holding Little Rock to just 42 points on 28.3-percent shooting. 
 
Thus far, TSU is averaging 65.6 points per game (1,246 total points) and allow 71.3 points per game to their opponents. 
 
Haynes-Overton leads the Tigers in scoring with a 14.7 PPG average and has registered 279 total points on the season. She leads the team in both field-goal percentage (.463) and free-throw percentage (.789) going 71-of-90 from the charity stripe. 
 
Gia Adams is the Tigers best three-point shooter with a .276-percent clip, knocking down 21 shots from behind the arc on the season. 
 
Where We Rank

• Southeast Missouri currently ranks eighth in the Ohio Valley Conference in team offense with 58.9 points per game. 
• SEMO ranks sixth in three-point percentage at a .293-clip. 
• Kennedi Watkins is 21^st in the conference in scoring at 9.2 points per game. She also ranks 17^th in the conference in rebounding (4.6 RPG)
• Kiyley Flowers is 11^th in the OVC in the assist category, dishing out 2.8 assists per game and is second in the conference with 42 steals (2.6 per game) 

 
Looking Ahead
Following Thursday's contest, the Redhawks will be on the road Saturday, Jan. 28, to take on OVC-leading Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m., CT.