MACOMB, Ill. – Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (4-10, 1-2 OVC) picked up it's first road and conference win of the 2023-24 season with a 72-66 victory over Western Illinois (10-3, 1-1 OVC) on Thursday night from Western Hall.
Alecia Doyle and
Jaliyah Green led the way offensively for the Redhawks with 17 and 16 points, respectively, as the duo has now scored double-digits in two straight games.
As a team, SEMO finished the game going 26-for-72 (36-percent) and 4-for-19 from behind the three-point line. The Redhawks did most of their damage in the paint as SEMO finished with a 30-24 advantage over WIU.
SEMO forced 19 WIU turnovers and converted them into 20 points as the Redhawks finished with a season-low seven turnovers as a team.
The Redhawks utilized their bench as they have all season, scoring 20 points from the reserves compared to just 13 from the Leatherneck bench.
Indiya Bowen contributed 14 points for SEMO in her highest total since November 28.
The Redhawks started the game with a nice offensive play between back court mates
Kiyley Flowers and
Jaliyah Green. Flowers found a cutting Green on the baseline and delivered a nice no-look pass for the game's first basket.
A pair of
Alecia Doyle free throws would give the Redhawks a 6-2 advantage at the 8:03 mark before going on an 8-0 run over the game's next four minutes.
Jaliyah Green knocked down a jumper, followed by Flowers with her own jumper, and a layup from
Indiya Bowen gave the Redhawks a 14-4 lead with 4:42 left in the quarter.
WIU got back to within four off a Mallory McDermott three-pointer and a pair of her own free throws as the Redhawks led 18-14.
The Redhawks would end the quarter on a 5-0 run via
Alecia Doyle layup and an Abby Stephens three pointer for a 23-14 first quarter lead.
Bowen opened the second quarter with her sixth and eighth point of the contest, both coming from layups, and a quick 4-0 run out of the quarter break forced WIU into a timeout.
The Leathernecks didn't get their first point of the quarter until the 7:35 mark via a Raegan McCowan jump shot to cut their deficit to 13.
A pair of
Jaliyah Green free throws midway through the second quarter put SEMO on top 34-20.
Nearing the end of the half,
Indiya Bowen registered her 10
th point of the ballgame off a jump shot, the assist from
Kiyley Flowers and the Redhawks led 38-24.
That would be the Redhawks final basket of the half, as WIU closed the half on a 8-0 run as SEMO led 38-32 at the end of 20-minutes.
SEMO shot 33-percent from the field in the opening half (15-46) and just 18-percent from three-point range (2-11). The Redhawks were led in scoring by Bowen who finished the half with 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
The Redhawks had a strong advantage at the free throw line, only missing one attempt, and finished the half 6-for-7 at the charity stripe. WIU was 10-for-20 (50-percent).
SEMO forced 11 first half turnovers and committed just two of their own, turning those into 12 points on the offensive end.
The largest lead of the half came at the 6:55-mark as SEMO led 32-17 (15).
Kiyley Flowers started the second half with a three-pointer on the Redhawks' first possession of the half to make the score 41-32.
The game featured a two-minute scoring draught before WIU's Raegan McCowan made 1-of-2 free throws with 7:53 left in the quarter.
Midway through the quarter, an Addi Brownfield layup got the Leathernecks to within four, but
Jaliyah Green would respond with a layup of her own to give SEMO a six-point lead with 4:50 to go before the final quarter.
The Redhawks would score three more points before the end of the quarter and led 49-46 as the game headed to the final 10-minutes.
Amiyah Buchanan got the scoring going in the final quarter with a nice layup in the post to give SEMO a 51-46 lead with 9:21 left.
A back-and-forth quarter, WIU failed to take the lead once, but got it to within three points with just a minute left in the contest.
SEMO, out of the timeout, set up a beautiful play to get
Alecia Doyle into open space and she connected on a reverse layup to give SEMO a 69-66 lead with just 30-seconds left.
Jaliyah Green iced the game with a pair of free throws as SEMO held on for the 72-66 victory in Macomb.
SEMO will be back in action on Thursday, January 11, when they take on Lindenwood. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m., CT. at the Show-Me Center.