LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (4-20, 2-13 OVC) fell in a tight battle to Little Rock (13-11, 11-4 OVC) by a final score of 60-52 from the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night.
 
Senior Lexi McCully led all scorers as she finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-13 shooting. McCully finished 3-7 from three and a perfect 1-1 at the free throw line. Center Ainaya Williams recorded double digits as well finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds. 
 
As a team, SEMO shot 33.3-percent from the field (20-60), 25-percent from three (5-20), and a perfect 7-7 at the charity stripe. The Redhawks won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Little Rock by a 39-34 margin. 
 
Zoe Best and Brianna Hill led the Redhawks on the boards, finishing with nine apiece. For Hill, nine rebounds set a new career-high. 
 
A tale of two quarters in the opening half as the Redhawks began the game 0-8 from the field and 0-3 from three-point land. Ainaya Williams got the Redhawks on the board with a pair of free throws to make it 4-2 Trojans early in the game. 
 
LR would go on a 9-2 run to start the game, capped off by a pair of Jordan Holman free throws before Lexi McCully halted the run with a three-pointer at the 4:10 mark in the opening quarter to make it 9-5 LR. 
 
Sophie Bussard got on the stat sheet with a three of her own, cutting the LR lead to just seven with 1:33 left in the opening frame. SEMO closed the quarter on a 4-1 run to make it 19-12 Trojans at the end of 10-minutes. 
 
The Redhawks improved in the second quarter, outscoring the home team 10-6, on 29.4-percent shooting from the field. 
 
After a layup from LR's Faith Lee, back-to-back baskets from Brianna Hill would get the Redhawks to within five, the closest they had been since the 4:10 mark in the first quarter, as the Trojans led 21-16 with 7:22 left before half. 
 
Hills' baskets sparked a 10-0 SEMO run over the next three minutes of action as a pair of Ainaya Williams baskets got the Redhawks to within a point. Zoe Best gave SEMO its first lead of the evening with a beautiful jumper off an inbounds pass from Jariyah Williamson to put SEMO in front, 22-21, with 3:51 left until half. 
 
The Trojans would close the half with back-to-back jumpers to take a 25-22 lead into the locker room. 
 
As a team, SEMO shot 8-32 from the field, 2-9 from three, and a perfect 4-4 at the free throw line. The Redhawks were led in scoring by Ainaya Williams who had six first half points. 
 
The Redhawks dominated the glass in the opening 10-minutes, outrebounding the Trojans by a 24-16 margin led by Best with six boards. 
 
Skylar Barnes sparked a quick 3-0 for the Redhawks to get SEMO to within a point, 27-26, with 7:09 left in the third quarter. 
 
Trailing 33-29, a huge three-pointer from Lexi McCully go the Redhawks back to within a point and on the next possession Sophie Bussard gave SEMO its first lead of the contest with a beautiful floating jumper on the fast break to make it 34-33 SEMO. 
 
The two teams would trade baskets as Zoe Best regained the lead for the Redhawks for the second time in the contest before back-to-back baskets from LR made it 39-36 as the third quarter expired. 
With 7:40 left in the final quarter, the second of two-straight McCully baskets made it 43-42 giving SEMO its first lead of the fourth quarter. Following a pair of LR free throws, Indiya Bowen pulled up at the elbow and swished a jumper to regain a one-point advantage for SEMO. 
 
The Redhawks led by as many as three following an Ainaya Williams layup to make it 47-44, but that was the biggest lead of the game as LR went on a run to steal the game.