CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Lexi McCully scored 15 points and made two game-winning free throws with 6.7 seconds to lead Southeast Missouri (5-21, 3-14) to a 51-49 victory over Western Illinois (13-13, 7-10) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
 
WIU, which was once down by 22, battled back to tie the game at 49-49 when Reagan McCowan drove in for a layup with 17 seconds left.
 
McCully was then fouled and calmly made the decisive shots.
 
The Leathernecks had one last chance, but McGowan missed a layup and Mia Nicastro's second-chance jumper came off the rim as time expired.
 
SEMO, which never trailed in the game, ended a 13-game losing streak.
 
The Redhawks heated up to make their first six 3-pointers of the game and built a 24-2 lead in the opening 7:24 of the contest.
 
Zoe Best and McCully each buried two threes, while Skylar Barnes and Jariyah Williamson hit one each. Williamson's three capped the Redhawks 22-point surge with 2:36 remaining in the first quarter.
 
WIU, which missed its first 11 field goals, stopped its drought when McCowan scored on a stepback jumper with 2:03 left.
 
SEMO ended the first period ahead, 24-6, after shooting 53.3 percent (8-of-15) with all but two of its makes coming from downtown.
 
Addi Brownfield's layup cut the Redhawks lead to 28-15 with 4:21 left in the second quarter, but Sophie Bussard and Ainaya Williams answered with back-to-back baskets.
 
A driving layup by Brianna Hill gave SEMO another 17-point lead before the Redhawks headed into the intermission ahead, 34-19, for their largest halftime lead in Ohio Valley Conference play this year.
 
Both teams went scoreless for the first 3:21 of the third quarter.
 
Nicastro's made a second-chance layup and Mallory McDermott made a 3-pointer to cut SEMO's lead to 34-24 just ahead of a media timeout with 5:07 to go.
 
Williams' turnaround jumper snapped a stretch of eight-straight misses by the Redhawks with 4:39 left.
 
WIU went on to outscore SEMO, 12-2, and get within five at 36-31 after three quarters of play. The Redhawks were just 1-of-16 from the field in the third stanza.
 
The Leathernecks continued to chip away and narrowed SEMO's margin to 36-33 when Nicastro made a jumper with 9:30 remaining.
 
Nicastro made a layup, this time, to get WIU within a point at 45-44 with 4:19 to go.
 
Williamson, however, countered with a 3-pointer and SEMO later took a 49-44 lead on two free throws by Best at the 1:44 mark.
 
Addi Brownfield's 3-pointer dropped the Redhawks lead to 49-47 and WIU got the ball back after Sophie Bussard missed two free throws with 30 seconds left.
 
SEMO hung on despite being outscored, 30-17, in the second half.
 
McCully made all three of her field goals from 3-point range and did not miss a free throw going 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. She also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
 
Best followed with 14 points.
 
Nicastro led WIU with 14 points.
 
SEMO hosts Lindenwood in its home finale Saturday.