Southeast picks up pace in victory over Lyon

If Tuesday's basketball game had ended after about seven minutes, Lyon College would have been in good shape.

Unfortunately for the Pipers, however, they were forced to play the full 40 minutes -- and thus had to endure the expected rout at the hands of Southeast Missouri State University.

Southeast, despite a somewhat sluggish start, opened its home schedule with a 107-45 blistering of the NAIA squad from Batesville, Ark.

Southeast, which lost at 21st-ranked Oklahoma on Friday, evened its record at 1-1. Lyon fell to 4-4.

"Early in the game we were trying to go 100 miles per hour," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said. "But after the first seven or eight minutes, we woke up and started playing. I was really pleased with the last 30 minutes."

The Pipers led 17-13 with 13:04 left in the first half. Southeast quickly tied it at 17-17, then scored six straight points to go up 23-17.

And the rout was on. It was 46-22 at halftime, followed by a 61-23 Southeast onslaught in the second half.

"We started out slow, but it was good to be at home after a long trip," Southeast senior guard Brandi Russia said.

Russia had 16 points, five assists and five steals.

Leading the way for Southeast was junior forward Natalie Purcell, who scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals.

"We were kind of shaky early," Purcell said. "We're still getting used to each other."

Purcell, one of 11 new players for Southeast, is not nearly as heralded as fellow junior college transfer Tatiana Conceicao, the jewel of the recruiting class.

But Purcell has impressed Smith with her versatility. She has 36 points in the first two games.

"I thought Natalie played really well tonight," Smith said. "She's a lot better than we thought she was. At the 3 spot, she's hard to guard. She puts the ball on the floor and she can shoot it."

Conceicao, a junior forward who earlier Tuesday was named the Ohio Valley Conference newcomer of the week for her 26-point performance at Oklahoma, added 17 points and seven steals.

Senior forward Chandra Brown, Southeast's lone returning starter from last year, scored 14 points. Junior guard Katrisha Dunn, another newcomer, added 11 points.

Taking advantage of numerous easy baskets, Southeast shot 54.2 percent from the field (39 of 72), including 63.2 percent in the second half (24 of 38).

Lyon shot just 25.5 percent (12 of 47) and had 38 turnovers, including 25 steals credited to Southeast.

Southeast will next see action as it hosts the HealthPoint Plaza Thanksgiving Classic, a four-team event set for Friday and Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Friday's schedule has Southeast playing Texas Southern at 7 p.m., following a game between Illinois-Chicago and Arkansas-Little Rock at 5 p.m.

On Saturday, Southeast takes on Illinois-Chicago at 4 p.m., after Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas Southern square off at 2 p.m.