CHARLESTON, Ill. – Zoe Best scored a team-high 15 points and Southeast Missouri (6-23, 4-16) ended its season with an 85-52 loss to Eastern Illinois (18-11, 15-5) Saturday afternoon at Groniger Arena.
 
SEMO was eliminated from Ohio Valley Conference Tournament contention. The Redhawks needed to win and have both Morehead State and Tennessee State lose to make the eight-team field. 
 
A cold start put SEMO behind early and the Redhawks couldn't recover.
 
SEMO missed nine-straight shots and 11 of its first 12 field goals during the opening 5:21 of the contest.
 
Meanwhile, EIU connected on 62.5 percent (10-of-16) of its shots in the first quarter. The Panthers used an 18-3 run out of the gate behind their hot shooting and never let up.
 
SEMO later trailed, 46-24, at halftime. 
 
The Panthers didn't cool off much in the second half and began the third quarter by scoring seven-straight points to run their lead to 53-24. Macy McGlone scored seven of EIU's first nine points of the period.
 
In terms of scoring, SEMO had its most points in the fourth quarter with 18.
 
Best shot 6-of-17 from the field, made three 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. She also had three steals and two assists. Best went over 400 points (405) for the season.
 
Ainaya Williams and Lexi McCully also scored double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
McGlone led all scorers with a double-double 27 points and 19 rebounds. EIU made 11 three-pointers and outrebounded SEMO, 46-35.