Game 20
Southeast Missouri (7-12, 3-7 OVC) at Western Illinois (16-3, 8-2 OVC) 
 
Game Information: 
Date: Thursday, January 29 
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Illinois
Venue: Western Hall 
Series: Series tied 10-10
 
Head Coaches:
SEMO: Briley Palmer (90-77 overall; 13-37 at SEMO; Second Season)
WIU: JD Gravina (231-212; overall; 15^th season)
 
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X: @OfficialSEMOWBB 
Live Stats: SideArm Sports
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM or 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
 
Game Notes (PDF)
Media Guide (PDF) 
 
Women's Basketball Begins Road Trip Thursday at Western Illinois
Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (7-12, 3-7 OVC) will return to action after a weekend off on Thursday, January 29, when they take on OVC-leading Western Illinois (16-3, 8-2 OVC) in Macomb, Illinois. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m., CT. from Western Hall on Thursday night. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Leathernecks will meet for the 21^st time in women's basketball and the second time in 2025-26 on Thursday night with the series deadlocked at 10-10. Earlier this season, Western Illinois defeated SEMO by a final score of 58-51 in Cape Girardeau. Over the last two meetings, the two programs are split with SEMO defeating Western Illinois in 2024-25 (51-49) before WIU won the first meeting this season. 
 
Last Thursday
Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball returned to the win column in their last contest picking up a 67-57 victory over Little Rock in the Show Me Center last Thursday night (1/22). Four Redhawks reached double-digits in the contest led by graduate Lexi McCully who finished with 18 points on 7-12 shooting. Carmen Taylor (12), Raissa Nsabua (12), and Kearra Jones (11) finished behind her as the leading scorers. The Redhawks outshot LR by a 40%-34% difference, scored more points in the paint (30-22), and converted 16 LR turnovers into 16 points for the third OVC victory of the season. 
 
Big Win for Palmer
Second Year head coach Briley Palmer picked up her first career win over Little Rock last Thursday night. Palmer adds LR to her list of OVC opponents defeated having defeated Tennessee State, Western Illinois, SIUE, and now Little Rock. She is also the only coach in SEMO WBB history to have defeated LR in league play. 
 
Historical
Thursday's victory over Little Rock marked the first time that Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball defeated LR in women's basketball as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. SEMO last defeated LR during the 2008-09 campaign in a non-conference matchup in Cape Girardeau. 
 
Second of its Kind
Sophomore Kearra Jones finished Thursday's contest with her second double-double of the season. Jones, a Madison, Wisconsin-native, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds
 and is the only Redhawk with a double-double against a DI opponent this season. 
 
Fourth This Season
With her 11 rebounds, Kearra Jones pushed her season total to four games with 10+ rebounds in a game. Her 11 rebounds are the most for Jones against DI opponents, with her season-high 15 rebounds coming against Harris-Stowe (NAIA) earlier this season. Jones has hauled in 97 rebounds this season and is averaging 5.1 RPG. 
 
Huge Night
Graduate Raissa Nsabua had one of her best performances of the season against Little Rock last Thursday night. Nsabua scored her second-highest point total of the season with 12 points and was a near-perfect 10-12 at the charity stripe. Her 10 made free throws tied for the single-game season-high for the Redhawks, while her 12 attempts is the most by an individual Redhawk this season. 
 
Two-of-Last-Three
Lexi McCully led the Redhawks in scoring last Thursday night against Little Rock. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-native tied her season-high 18 points on 7-12 shooting (58.3%) tying her best percentage of the season with 10+ attempts. She was also a perfect 3-3 at the charity stripe and is her fourth-straight game with at least an attempt at the stripe. McCully is averaging 11.9 PPG this season through 19 games played. 
 
Livin' at the Line
SEMO did a great job of getting to the foul line on Thursday night as the Redhawks shot 29 total free throws against Little Rock. The Redhawks finished 23-29 as a team (79.3%) as their 23 made free throws marked the second-most this season. Southeast's most free throws made in a game came in the season-opener at Illinois when they made 24 against the Illini (11/4).


Massive Win
Thursday's victory over Little Rock was a big boost the Redhawks within the Ohio Valley Conference standings. SEMO, who is now 3-7 in the OVC, would be in the 2025-26 OVC Tournament if the season ended today. The Redhawks are tied for eighth place with SIUE and Tennessee Tech. The Redhawks own the tiebreaker with SIUE, but do not own the same with Tennessee Tech having lost in Cookeville earlier this season. Western Illinois sits atop the league at 8-2 tied with Southern Indiana with just 10 conference games to go. 
 
40-Percent
Through 19 games, the Redhawks have improved their shooting-percentage as a team to 40.5-percent from the field. The Redhawks sit just behind Southern Indiana (40.8%) in sixth place in the Ohio Valley Conference for field-goal percentage. On the season, SEMO is 443-1093 as a team.  
 
Okay Rai
Raissa Nsabua has been steadily climbing up the leaderboard in the Ohio Valley Conference for free-throw percentage. Nsabua, with one less game played, is an impressive 49-60 at the stripe (81.7%) which ranks her sixth in the league. Nsabua also leads the Redhawks in free throw percentage. Ali Saunders of Southern Indiana leads the league with a 94.4-percent mark. 
 
From Three
Graduate guard Carmen Taylor has been lethal from three-point range this season. Taylor leads the Redhawks in three-point shooting (with more than 20 attempts) with an impressive 32.3% mark from deep. Taylor is 42-130 on the season and ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference with 2.2 three-point field goals per game. 
 
20 More
After recording four assists against Little Rock, Raissa Nsabua needs just 20 more assists to reach 200 for her career. Through 18 games played this season, Nsabua already has a career-best 78 assists in a single-season. 
 
3^rd in the League
Sticking with assists, the Redhawks rank third in the Ohio Valley Conference in assists as a team. Through 19 games, the Redhawks have recorded 250 total assists for an average of 13.16 APG. Lindenwood & Morhead State sit above the Redhawks, but both teams have each played two more contests than SEMO. 
 
2^nd in the League
As a team, SEMO has done a decent job of protecting the paint through 19 games this season. The Redhawks rank second in the Ohio Valley Conference in blocked shots with 67 total, averaging 3.53 BPG. Eastern Illinois, who the Redhawks play on Saturday, lead the league with 84 blocks through 21 games (4.0 BPG).