Baylor overpowers Southeast women

~ The Redhawks' 17-game win streak at the Show Me Center ended with an 81-51 loss.

Thursday night started out well for the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team.

First, the Redhawks saw their 2006-07 Ohio Valley Conference championship and NCAA tournament banners raised at the Show Me Center in a pre-game ceremony.

Then Southeast excited a crowd announced at 1,536 by building an early 11-5 lead over powerhouse Baylor.

"We were pumped up and I thought we started out strong," Southeast junior forward Rachel Blunt said.

Southeast Missouri State's Tarina Nixon tried to get a shot around the block attempt of Baylor's Danielle Wilson during Thursday's game at the Show Me Center.

If only the contest could have ended there for the Redhawks, because the Bears spent the rest of the evening showing why they are the nation's 10th-ranked squad.

Baylor, the first nationally ranked Division I women's basketball team to play in Cape Girardeau, turned Southeast every which way but loose during an 81-51 rout.

"They're the 10th-ranked team in the country for a reason," Southeast coach John Ishee said. "They're big, they're strong, they're athletic."

Said Southeast junior point guard Tarina Nixon: "They did show why they're one of the top teams in the nation. They came in and did what they had to do."

The Redhawks (4-3), after building that early 11-5 edge, still led 14-10 nearly seven minutes into the game.

Tarina Nixon takes a shot from behind the three-point line over the head of Baylor's Jessica Morrow during the first half of their game on Thursday, November 29, 2007 at the Show Me Center. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

But Baylor (6-0) used a 12-0 run to take control and soon turned things into a blowout with an overall 36-6 burst to lead 46-20 at halftime.

"I thought we played a great first 10 minutes," said Ishee, whose two-time defending OVC champions have lost three straight. "But basketball is not a 10-minute game, it's a 40-minute game."

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who led the Bears to the 2004-05 national title, said her team was prepared for a strong early surge from the Redhawks.

"We've got players who have been in that position before ... just stay composed and understand that when you go on the road, you're going to get everyone's best shot," Mulkey said.

Baylor built its huge halftime lead thanks largely to 66.7 percent field-goal shooting (16-of-24) and holding Southeast to 25.8 percent (8-of-31).

The Bears also pounded the glass for a 29-7 rebounding advantage during the opening 20 minutes.

"They've got a great inside game, a great outside game, they're strong, they play hard," Blunt said. "I would say they're one of the best teams I've played since I've been at SEMO."

While disappointed that Southeast wasn't closer at halftime, Ishee was pleased that the Redhawks kept things from getting totally out of hand in the final period.

Baylor, outscoring its opponents by an average of nearly 37 points per game, only held a 35-31 second-half advantage.

"I'm proud we didn't quit when we got down. We didn't roll over and play dead after being down 26 at the half," Ishee said. "We played a much better second half. We got better inside-out movement with the basketball."

Nixon, who has been battling back problems, scored a season-high 15 points to lead the Redhawks. She hit 3-of-4 from 3-point range and had four assists.

"Tarina looked like the Tarina of old," Ishee said.

Nixon, who had not scored in double figures previously this season, said her back is starting to come around.

"I'm not pain-free, but I'm at where I can tolerate to play more than four minutes," she said.

Junior forward Sonya Daugherty, Southeast's leading scorer on the season, hit 3-of-5 3-pointers and added 12 points. She scored 10 second-half points and finished with four assists.

Blunt scored all of her season-high 11 points in the second half.

"I liked that Rachel was aggressive offensively down the stretch," Ishee said.

Junior forward Rachel Allison led the Bears with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Sophomore center Danielle Wilson had 12 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Allison was the reason Baylor came to Cape Girardeau, as Mulkey wanted to get her a game fairly close to her hometown of Jonesboro, Ark. Allison had plenty of family and friends in the stands.

Baylor finished shooting 55.6 percent (30-of-54) and outrebounded Southeast 52-20.

"They're a great team," Ishee said. "They were hitting shots even when we guarded them well."

Despite not coming close to springing a major upset, the Redhawks said they relished the opportunity to play one of the nation's premier programs at the Show Me Center.

"It was a pretty awesome experience, just the fact they actually came to our house to play," Blunt said.

The Redhawks will have another crack at a traditional national power Sunday when they visit Purdue in their final tuneup before beginning OVC play.