Redhawks post 20th victory

The Southeast Missouri State women closed out their regular season Saturday with a less-than-stellar performance that still netted them 20 victories for the first time as an NCAA Division I program.

The Redhawks struggled more than normal at the Show Me Center before holding off Tennessee-Martin 76-63 on senior night.

It was more than good enough for Southeast to push its overall record to 20-7 and their Ohio Valley Conference mark to 14-2 for their best-ever OVC record.

Southeast, which had previously posted a pair of 19-win seasons since moving up to Division I in 1991-92, finished second in the 11-team OVC, one game behind Eastern Kentucky. It equals the Redhawks' best-ever OVC finish.

The Redhawks, the No. 2 seed for the eight-team OVC tournament, will host No. 7 Samford at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the first round.

"I wouldn't say we played well, but this time of the year, you just want to win," said Southeast coach B.J. Smith, whose squad is undefeated in OVC home games this season. "We had some distractions, with senior night and all, but it's nice to get to 20 wins, and now we can go from here."

Said forward Chandra Brown, one of three Southeast seniors: "It's a great way to end the regular season. And getting a new record with 20 wins is really good."

The other Southeast seniors are guard Brandi Russia, who like Brown is a starter, and reserve forward Miah Shelford, who received a rare start Saturday.

"You always want to win on senior night," Smith said. "It's the right way to send the seniors out. Even though we only have three, they've meant a lot to the program."

Two juniors paced Southeast in scoring Saturday, topped by center Tatiana Conceicao, the OVC's second-leading scorer at nearly 18 points per game. She pumped in 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Guard Tiffanne Ryan, who has battled back problems all season, came off the bench to equal her career high with 14 points in her second straight strong performance. She hit six of nine field-goal attempts.

Ryan, who on Thursday bettered her previous season high with nine points against Murray State, seems to have new-found energy lately as her back has gotten better.

"The last three, four days it's been a lot better," she said. "We've been doing stuff for it all year, but it's just paying off. It's playoff time now."

Added Ryan of the 20-win season: "It's cool, but now the real season starts."

Brown added 13 points as she hit all six of her shots from the field.

Senior forward Jenny Lannom led UTM (9-18, 8-8) with 20 points.

Despite the 13-point margin of victory, it was certainly not the home blowout that most Southeast fans have come to expect this season.

The Skyhawks led for a good portion of the first half before the Redhawks went ahead 25-23 on two Conceicao free throws with 5:44 remaining.

Southeast never trailed or was tied again, but the Redhawks also could never totally shake the visitors.

Ahead 38-31 at halftime, Southeast saw UTM pull within 38-36, then the Redhawks steadily widened the margin until consecutive 3-pointers by junior forward Natalie Purcell made it 53-39 with under 14 minutes left.

Southeast later built a pair of 16-point leads -- the last at 65-49 -- but UTM rallied to within 69-63 with a little more than 3 minutes to go.

Conceicao then scored five points in less than 30 seconds as the Redhawks regained control, closing the game with a 7-0 run.

"We didn't play all that good, but the main thing is we won," Brown said. "Now we'll get ready for the tournament."