EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (6-22, 4-15 OVC) downed SIUE (5-23, 3-16 OVC) by a final score of 71-66 inside First Community Arena on Thursday evening. Guards Zoe Best and Lexi McCully each scored 24 points to lead the Redhawks in scoring as the duo combined for 48-of-70 SEMO points in their fourth OVC victory of the season. 

Center Ainaya Williams, who did not score a point in the first half, scored 10 second half points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked five shots. 

As a team, SEMO shot 41.0-percent from the field (25-61) but the story of the day was the Redhawks at the free throw line. The Redhawks outshot SIUE by an 85.7 to 50.0-percent advantage.

Best and McCully combined finished 10-11 at the foul line as SEMO shot 13-15 as a team. 

The Redhawks started the game slow as the Cougars jumped out to a 6-0 run to force SEMO into a timeout at the 8:54 mark after a layup from SIUE's KK Rodriguez.
 
Skylar Barnes would halt the run by splitting a pair of free throws to make it 6-1 home team with just under nine minutes to play. Lexi McCully drained her first-of-three first half three-pointers to get SEMO to within a point. 
 
Zoe Best answered McCully with a three of her own to spark an 8-3 SEMO run as the Redhawks took their first lead on the Best three-pointer to lead 7-6. Trailing 9-7, McCully drove to the lane and used the window to tie it at nine a piece with 6:57 left in the opening frame. 
 
After a 4-0 run from SEMO with two layups by McCully and Barnes made it 13-12 SEMO before the Cougars used a 7-0 run to gain a six-point advantage with just a minute to go before the quarter break. Best would sink a pair of free throws to close the quarter as SIUE led 19-15. 
 
SEMO exploded in the second quarter, scoring 22 points in the second 10-minutes behind sharp shooting from McCully. McCully opened the quarter with a three to get the Redhawks to within a point, 19-18. 
 
McCully recorded a steal which led to a fastbreak opportunity for Sophie Bussard who finished with her left hand to cut the deficit back to just a point with 7:47 left until halftime. 
 
The two teams continued to trade baskets over the next three minutes of action, capped off by an elbow jumper from McCully which gave SEMO a three-point lead and forced SIUE into a timeout with 4:35 left in the half. The Redhawks led 29-26 at the timeout. 
 
Back-to-back three pointers from SIUE grew their advantage back to three points before McCully sparked a 7-2 SEMO run. Back-to-back three pointers from McCully and Best made it 37-34 Redhawks at the halftime break. 
 
McCully led all scorers with 19 points in the first half on 8-11 shooting from the field, including 3-5 from behind the arc. SEMO shot 42.2-percent from the field as a team as McCully and Best were responsible for 30-of-37 first half points for the Redhawks. 
The third quarter was all Redhawks as SEMO grew an 11-point lead after an Ainaya Williams layup made it 53-42 SEMO for their largest lead of the contest with 1:31 left in the third. 
 
McCully finished an old fashioned three-point play with a tough runner off the window through contact to make it 56-45 before a final SIUE free throw gave SEMO a 56-46 lead after the third quarter.
 
The Cougars would cut the SEMO lead to as little as three points after a layup from SIUE's Molly Sheehan made it 66-63 Redhawks with just over two minutes to play in regulation. 
 
But the Redhawks would ice it at the free throw line behind huge free throws from Best and Jariyah Williamson as the Redhawks held on for the 71-66 victory in Edwardsville.