DAYTON, Ohio – Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (0-1) fell on Tuesday night by a final score of 75-70 behind a career-high 25 points from freshman guard Zoe Best. 
 
Best finished 9-for-16 from the field, including an impressive 66-percent from three-point range (4-6) and a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. She grabbed seven rebounds, recorded four steals, and dished out an assist in her collegiate debut. 
 
Junior guard Kennedy Claybrooks was the other Redhawk who finished in double-figures as she scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. She dished out a team-high seven assists and recorded a steal in 31 minutes of action. 
 
As a team, SEMO shot 43.3 percent from the field (29-67) outshooting Dayton in the contest (42.9). The Redhawks also held the advantage at the free-throw line with an 87.5 to 63.0 difference. 

UD was led offensively by Shantavia Dawkins who finished with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the contest. 
 
The Redhawks started the game on fire shooting 46.2 percent from the field in the opening quarter (6-13) behind 11 points from Zoe Best. Best shot a perfect 100-percent from the field (4-4) and from three-point range (3-3).
 
Kennedy Claybrooks gave SEMO its first point of 2024-25, splitting a pair of free throws to tie it at 1-1 with 8:33 left in the quarter.
 
A beautiful move in the post from freshman Ainaya Williams with 6:29 left tied the game at three apiece. Williams finished the quarter with two points, a block, and a steal. 
 
Best's lone two-pointer came just seconds later to cut a three-point Dayton lead to just one. The basket sparked two-straight jumpers from Best as the next possession she knocked down her first three pointer of the contest to give SEMO its first lead of the game (8-6). 
 
With 1:55 left in the opening period, Dayton put together two-straight possesions with made baskets to tie it at 14 after Best's second three of the quarter made it 14-10. 
 
The teams would trade baskets as the quarter ended as redshirt freshman Brianna Hill gave SEMO its 16^thpoint. At the end of the first quarter, the teams were deadlocked at 16. 
 
Guard Lexi McCully made a big impact off the bench in the second quarter as the redshirt senior chipped in six points on 3-of-7 shooting. McCully led the scoring amongst five Redhawks who scored in the quarter. 
 
Ainaya Williams scored her second basket of the game with a beautiful reverse layup to start the quarter giving SEMO an 18-16 lead. 
 
SEMO would lead by as many as six, 28-22, with 3:36 to go until halftime after a made layup from Hill. 
 
A 5-0 run from the Flyers capped off by a free throw from Ivy Wolf cut the SEMO lead to two before Lexi McCully drove to the basket to give SEMO a 30-26 lead with just under two minutes to go. 
 
At the half, SEMO led 32-30 after another McCully layup followed by a tip-in-layup from Dayton's Madol Ajok. 
 
SEMO outshot Dayton by a 40.0 to 30.3 advantage in the opening half from Dayton led by Best with 11 points. 
 
The second half started with a Sophie Bussard layup to give SEMO a four-point advantage with 9:29 left in the third quarter. 
 
Nearly two minutes of gametime later, Dayton would tie the game with a three-pointer from Nicole Stephens to make it 37-37 with 7:42 left in the quarter. 
 
Dayton led by as many as six points in the third quarter with 2:14 left but the Redhawks would not go away. A three-pointer from Indiya Bowen would spark a 5-0 run by Bowen herself to trim the deficit to just 49-48 with 90-seconds left in the quarter. 
 
Two free throws from Bussard and a Best layup would give SEMO a one-point lead with just 20-seconds to go, but Dayton would take a 53-52 lead into the final quarter. 
 
In the fourth quarter, SEMO would lead by as many as five after a Bowen layup made it 61-56 with 7:00 left in the game. 
 
SEMO would have its biggest lead of the quarter with 5:16 left after a layup from Kennedy Claybrooks made it 67-61 Redhawks before Dayton would get it to 67-65 with a two-straight field goals. 
 
A Zoe Best three-pointer with 2:32 left in the contest regrew a five-point advantage for SEMO, but the Flyers closed on a 10-0 run to steal the game by a final score of 75-70. 

The game was the first under first year Head Coach Briley Palmer. 
 
Looking Ahead
SEMO Women's Basketball will return to action on Sunday, November 10, when they travel to Austin, Texas to take on #4 Texas. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in the Lone Star State.