All-state forward from Dexter one of two committed to women's team

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach Ty Margenthaler believes he significantly upgraded the Redhawks' front court for next season on Wednesday.

Margenthaler announced the signing of two forwards, one from a high school in the region and one from junior college, on the opening day of the NCAA's spring signing period.

Joining the Redhawks for the 2013-14 campaign will be 6-foot Dexter High School senior Brittany Harris and 6-1 Danville (Ill.) Area Community College sophomore Hillary Lively.

"I'm really excited about these two players we signed. I think they fill our needs for sure. They give us more depth in the post area that we needed after we graduated a lot of post depth," Margenthaler said. "They can both score and rebound. They give us size and strength inside, which we needed. I think they both really fit our system."

Harris led Dexter to a fourth-place finish at this year's Class 4 state tournament. The first-team all-state selection averaged 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Harris led the SEMO Conference in scoring three straight seasons, being named first-team all-conference each time. She is also a three-time all-state selection who broke the school's career scoring record with 1,783 points.

"I'm excited to get an all-state player like Brittany. She can score around the basket and step out and hit a 15-foot jumper," Margenthaler said. "She will continue to add strength and be a big help for us in the post."

Lively averaged a team-high 11.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore this year for a Danville squad that went 22-10. She earned first-team all-Midwest Athletic Conference and all-region honors while leading the nation in field goal shooting at 61.6 percent.

Lively, a native of Cayuga, Ind., averaged 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds as a Danville freshman.

"I like that Hillary has two years of junior college experience. She's very mobile and very strong and physical. She brings us a toughness factor," Margenthaler said. "She plays well around the basket and moves well. Her strength, rebounding and touch around the basket will be a big help. On the defensive end, she'll be able to guard a true center which is important."

Harris and Lively join four high school seniors who signed with Southeast in November during the NCAA's early signing period.

The early signees are Blue Valley (Kan.) 6-1 forward Bailey Geiman, Columbia (Mo.) Hickman 5-9 guard Jade Holly, Highland (Mo.) 5-7 guard Ashton Luttrull and Germantown (Tenn.) 5-6 point guard Brianna Mitchell.

"I'm excited about what we're bringing in. I told them all when we recruited them that we're bringing them in to help us immediately," Margenthaler said. "But we return a good amount of players with experience so we won't need for them [the new recruits] to be saviors. We just need them to make a nice, steady impact."

Margenthaler said there is a chance Southeast could still sign one more player this spring.