CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (4-12, 2-5 OVC) fell to Little Rock (8-8, 6-1 OVC) on Tuesday night at the Show Me Center by a final score of 67-63.
Freshman
Zoe Best led the Redhawks with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including 4-8 from three in 38-minutes of action. Best was one-of-three Redhawks to finish in double figures including
Da'Kariya Jackson (15 points) and
Skylar Barnes (11 pionts).
As a team, SEMO shot 25-of-50 from the field (50%), 6-of-18 from three (33.3%), but finished just 7-for-12 (58.3%) from the free throw line.
Jackson led the Redhawks in rebounding, grabbing nine of SEMO's 29 rebounds as a team. SEMO lost the rebounding battle by a narrow margin of 32-29.
The Redhawks forced LR into 15 turnovers and converted them into 16 points. Guard
Jariyah Williamson led the squad with two steals on Tuesday night.
A beautiful drive to the basket from
Skylar Barnes opened the scoring and sparked a 4-0 run as
Zoe Best matched her on the following position to give SEMO an early lead in the first quarter.
A three-pointer from Jayla Brooks got the Trojans on the scoreboard before
Ainaya Williams snatched an offensive rebound and finished the second chance opportunity to make it 6-3 Redhawks with 7:26 left in the opening quarter.
The Redhawks extended their lead out to nine just over midway through the first quarter with a turnaround jump shot by
Briah Hampton in the post, off a feed from Best to make it 14-5 SEMO.
LR's Faith Lee would cut the advantage to five with a turnaround jumper of her own to make it 15-10 Redhawks with just over two minutes to play in the opening frame.
A three-pointer from
Da'Kariya Jackson was the last basket of the quarter for SEMO as the Trojans answered with a two-pointer of their own by Brenna Burk to make it 17-13 SEMO at the end of the first.
A pair of LR free throws opened the second quarter before
Zoe Best drained a three pointer on the wing to put SEMO back up five points early in the second.
The Trojans got it to within two points after a converted three-point play, followed by two more free throws putting LR on a 5-0 run.
An
Indiya Bowen free throw halted the run to put SEMO back up three before Best drained another three pointer on the fastbreak to make it 24-18 SEMO with 7:49 left to go before halftime.
Another three from Jackson put SEMO on top by 10 points with just over five minutes to play in the half as the Redhawks led 30-20.
A big pullup three-pointer by Jackson with just over a minute to play gave SEMO a six-point lead before she sank 1-of-2 free throws to give SEMO a 38-31 lead at the break.
Jackson and Best led the Redhawks in scoring with 13 points each on a combined 10-16 shooting performance between the two of them. Best was perfect from three with a 3-3 shooting mark.
As a team, SEMO shot 58.3-percent as a team from the field and an impressive 50-percent from three-point range.
Best continued scoring to open the scoring in the second half with a driving layup to extend SEMO's lead out to nine points, 40-31.
An 8-0 run by LR got the Trojans to within a point before
Skylar Barnes hit a pullup jump shot to push it back to a three-point advantage.
After a pair of Barnes free throws, two-straight baskets from LR's Emerald Paker gave the Trojans their first lead of the half with a 45-44 advantage.
An 8-0 run from Parker turned into a 10-0 run from Little Rock as they lead 51-44 with 2:53 to go in the third quarter.
Da'Kariya Jackson halted the scoring with a driving layuup to make it 51-46 LR with 2:39 left in the quarter.
A half-court heave from LR's Jordan Holman found the bottom of the basket as time expired in the quarter and the Trojans took a four-point lead, 54-50, into the final quarter.
The Redhawks could never regain an advantage in the fourth quarter getting to within three points after another Best three-pointer made it 62-59 Trojans with 3:48 to play in the game.
LR would hold on to win by a final score of 67-63 on Tuesday night from the Show Me Center.
