Game #26
Southeast Missouri (8-17, 5-9 OVC)
Vs. Little Rock (9-16, 8-6 OVC)
Game Information
Date: Thursday, February 22
Tip-off: 4:00 p.m., CT. 
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Arena: Show Me Center
Series: Little Rock leads 6-2
Last Meeting: SEMO lost 53-47 | January 27, 2024, | Little Rock, Ark.
Head Coaches: Rekha Patterson (125-139, Ninth Season at SEMO);
Joe Foley (407-241, 21st season)
 
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Watch: ESPNU / ESPN+
Listen: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM or 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
Redhawks Begin Final Homestand on Thursday Versus Little Rock
Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (8-17, 5-9 OVC) will begin the first of the final two home games of the regular season when they host Little Rock (9-16, 8-6 OVC) on Thursday, February 22, at the Show-Me Center. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m., CT. in Cape Girardeau. 
 
Nationally Televised
Thursday's contest will be broadcast live nationally on ESPNU as the contest was selected for the Ohio Valley Conference's sixth matchup of its 2023-24 ESPN basketball schedule. 
 
The game will air on ESPNU and will also be available for streaming on ESPN+ as all Redhawks basketball games are. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Trojans will matchup for the second time in 2023-24 and the first time in just under a month. SEMO played at Little Rock back on January 27, falling 53-47 in Little Rock. LR holds a 6-2 series lead including three victories last season against the Redhawks, defeating SEMO twice in the regular season and in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament. 
 
Double-Digits
The backcourt duo of Jaliyah Green and Alecia Doyle have provided much of the scoring for SEMO's offense in 23-24. Green and Doyle have now each surpassed double-digits in 18 games this season. Doyle leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points-per-game while Green is just behind her at 13.5 PPG. 
 
On the Glass
The Redhawks have crashed the glass in recent contests including, most recently, against SIUE last Saturday. The Redhawks collected 46 rebounds as a team, 29 defensive & 17 offensive, to SIUE's 32. SEMO Is averaging 32.1 rebounds-per-game led by Amiyah Buchanan. Buchanan is the leading rebounder for SEMO, averaging 5.0 RPG. She hauled in eight rebounds against SIUE marking her fifth game this season with 8+ rebounds. 
 
Take it Away
SEMO has been very active on the defensive end of the floor getting their hands on the basketball and earning extra possessions.  Led by Kiyley Flowers with 63 steals, the Redhawks have 230 steals on the season compared to just 197 from their opponents. SEMO averages 9.2 steals-per-game while their opponents only average 7.9. 
 
Last Time Out
Southeast Missouri defeated SIUE last Saturday afternoon in Edwardsville, Ill. by a final score of 67-57 at First Community Arena. 
 
Sophomore Alecia Doyle found her way back to double-digits as she finished with a game-high 20 points on 5-16 shooting and was 8-12 from the free-throw line. Backcourt mate Jaliyah Green also found double digits finishing with 16 points. 
 
The Redhawks dominated the paint outrebounding SIUE by a 46-32 advantage led by Amiyah Buchanan, Jaliyah Green, and Megan Barton who all finished with eight rebounds. 
 
SEMO collected 17 offensive rebounds and converted them into 18 second-chance points to SIUE's four. 
 
As a team, SEMO shot 36-percent from the field (24-66), 31-percent from three (7-22), and 63-percent from the foul line (12-19). 
 
Scouting the Opponent
Little Rock
The Trojans come to Cape Girardeau coming off of a 88-51 loss against Southern Indiana. Little shot 36.2% from the field, only 12.5% from behind the arc, and 88.9% from the stripe. 
 
Against Southern Indiana, Little Rock only had two athletes score above six points. Sophomore Faith Lee scored a team high 16 points and shot 8-21 from the field. Jayla Brooks went 6-15 and scored 15 points.
 
Faith Lee is the Trojans leading scorer this season. Lee is averaging 15.1 points per game which ranks sixth in the conference, and she is currently ranked seventh in field goal percentage (41.3%). 
 
Junior guard Jaiyah Harris-Smith is leading the Ohio Valley Conference in assists per game this season, (5.3 APG). Harris-Smith is the Trojans leader in rebounds too, averaging 4.6 per game. 
 
As a team the Trojans are ranked last in the conference only averaging 54.6 points per game, but their defense ranks first only allowing 61. 7 points per game. 
 
Little Rock is sitting in sixth place in the conference rankings with a record of 8-6. They are right behind UT Martin, Tennessee Tech, and Morehead State who also own a 8-6 conference record. 
 
Looking Ahead
The Redhawks will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 24, when they host UT Martin at the Show-Me Center. Tip-off is slated for 1:30 p.m., CT.