Southeast eases to 7th win in a row

The Redhawks' domination continued with a 79-56 road victory over Tennessee-Martin.

MARTIN, Tenn. -- It's one thing for Southeast Missouri State's women to crush their Ohio Valley Conference opposition at the Show Me Center, as they did during a recently completed four-game homestand.

But to do the same thing on the road ... well, that had coach B.J. Smith in a pretty fine mood Thursday night after he saw the Redhawks begin a three-game road swing by routing Tennessee-Martin 79-56.

"I'm very pleased, especially with the first half," Smith said. "We came out and really took care of business."

The Redhawks (14-6, 8-1) posted their seventh straight victory and remained in second place in the 11-team OVC, one-half game behind Eastern Kentucky (9-1), which they can tie by winning at Murray State on Saturday.

"We know we have to be more focused for away games," Southeast junior forward Simone Jackson said. "We know we have to keep our intensity."

Smith was concerned about Thursday's contest because the Skyhawks (6-14, 5-4) upset the Redhawks last year in Martin, Tenn.

But, after a tight first few minutes, the Redhawks again turned things into an early blowout, much as they did during the recent homestand when they won the four games by an average of 32 points.

UTM led 8-7 before Southeast used a 22-4 run to go up 29-12 and pretty much end all suspense barely halfway through the opening period.

Southeast led 44-21 at halftime, thanks to sizzling shooting (69.2 percent on 18 of 26, including five of eight 3-pointers). The Redhawks went ahead 59-27 early in the second half and UTM got no closer than 19 points, that coming in the closing minutes.

"We've struggled here," Smith said. "But the first half was probably as good as we've looked all year. We shot it well and took care of the ball."

Senior guard Brandi Russia led five Southeast players in double figures. She scored 16 points and also grabbed seven rebounds.

Jackson hit six of seven shots and scored 12 points, while junior forward Natalie Purcell added 11 points off the bench, including three of five 3-pointers.

Senior center Chandra Brown had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. She also blocked three shots and recorded three assists.

Junior center Tatiana Conceicao, the OVC's leading scorer at more than 18 points per game, attempted just three field goals and added 10 points along with three steals.

"Teams are going to try and take her away, and we're having other people step up," Smith said.

The Redhawks wound up shooting 51 percent (28 of 54), including nine of 18 3-pointers. UTM shot just 34 percent (17 of 50). Southeast won the rebounding battle 40-29.

"They're a good team," Jackson said, "but we just came out and got the job done."