Southeast women beat Austin Peay, post fourth straight win

As impressive as Southeast Missouri State University's women were in their last outing, they just might have topped themselves Saturday night.

Playing in front of several thousand fans who remained in the Show Me Center following the Redhawks mascot introduction and the men's game, Southeast blitzed Austin Peay 84-52.

Coming on the heels of Thursday's 17-point rout of Ohio Valley Conference preseason favorite Tennessee Tech, Saturday's win improved the Redhawks to 11-6 overall and 5-1 in OVC play, as they remained in a first-place tie.

Austin Peay, which has won the past two OVC regular-season titles and captured the last four conference tournaments, fell to 6-11 and 2-4.

"I think we were a little more complete tonight," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said. "We put a couple of offensive halves together."

With only four returning players from last season -- and just one who started a year ago -- Smith knew it would take some time for his squad to blend together. But lately, that appears to have happened.

"We're looking less and less like the team with 10 new players at the start of the season. We're looking more and more like a basketball team," said Smith, whose squad has won four straight. "It's exciting, it's great, but we can't let down. We have to keep getting better."

Said junior guard Tiffanne Ryan, one of the returning players from last season who came off the bench to dish out four assists and grab five steals: "We're finally starting to do what coach is asking. It's exciting to play this way, but we have to keep it up."

Junior center Tatiana Conceicao, the OVC's leading scorer who entered play Saturday averaging 18.2 points per game, tied her season high with 27 points, 18 coming in the first half. The junior college transfer hit 10 of 13 field-goal attempts, including seven of eight in the opening period. She added four steals.

"We knew it would take some time, but now we're playing really good," Conceicao said.

Senior guard Brandi Russia and junior guard Katrisha Dunn scored 13 points apiece as each hit three of five 3-pointers. Russia is a returning player from last season.

Junior forward Simone Jackson added 10 points, while senior forward Chandra Brown had eight points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

Smith also praised freshman center Leanne Evans for solid play off the bench. She was credited with four assists to tie Ryan for team-high honors.

"Leanne gave us some great minutes," Smith said. "And Tiffanne Ryan played great."

Southeast grabbed an early 15-4 lead and never looked back. The Redhawks shot 68 percent in the first half (17 of 25) and forced 17 turnovers in piling up a 45-25 advantage at the break. The lead never dipped under 20 points in the second half.

The Redhawks finished shooting 50 percent for the game (30 of 60) and also made half of their 3-pointers (eight of 16). They forced 36 turnovers, 25 coming on steals, and held the Govs to 28.6-percent shooting (16 of 56).

"Defense was the key, again," Conceicao said.