Cold start dooms Southeast women

~ The Redhawks fell behind 15-0 and lost to Murray State 90-72

Despite a slow start, Southeast Missouri State's offense was just fine without its top three scorers.

But the Redhawks' defense was another matter.

Visiting Murray State scored the first 15 points and shredded Southeast's normally reliable defense all game during Saturday's 90-72 women's basketball romp.

The Redhawks scored a season-high point total in Ohio Valley Conference play but also allowed more points than they had to any previous opponent this season.

"We have to step up on defense," freshman guard Erika Lane said. "Our defense wasn't together tonight. We weren't communicating as well as we normally do."

Southeast, which entered the week having won seven straight OVC home games dating back to last year, has dropped two straight league contests at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks (6-12, 3-6), losing for the fourth time in five games, fell into a seventh-place OVC tie. The Racers (9-11, 4-5) are deadlocked for fifth in the 10-team league.

"We have to have a lot better, tougher, more together mindset," said Southeast coach John Ishee, whose squad suffered a 49-46 home loss to Tennessee-Martin, a team that did not win an OVC game last season, on Thursday.

Ishee refuses to make excuses, but the deck is stacked against injury-riddled Southeast these days.

Missing their fifth straight games were leading scorer Jasmine Davis and third-leading scorer Lauren Sharpe.

Davis, a freshman guard, is out for the season with a knee injury. Sharpe, a junior wing, also likely is out for the rest of the campaign with back problems.

Not playing for the second straight time was freshman forward Bailie Roberts -- Southeast's No. 2 scorer and top 3-point shooter -- who has a deep bone bruise in her foot that could sideline her for several more games.

"You're going to lose people," senior center Lesley Adams said. "You got to get used to it."

Like Southeast, defending OVC regular-season champion MSU is in a rebuilding mode after losing its top players from last year.

But the Racers must have looked in championship form to the young, short-handed Redhawks.

"They had some injuries early on. They're a very young team like we are," Ishee said. "They're going to get better and better."

The Racers came out on fire, hitting 10 of their first 14 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

Southeast's defense offered little resistance as MSU consistently found itself with open shots, something that continued the remainder of the night.

"They were screening and we weren't defending the screen right," Adams said.

While MSU sizzled early, Southeast started ice cold. The Redhawks were scoreless for more than four minutes to begin the contest and missed 11 of their first 14 shots. Their first field goal came more than five minutes in.

"We weren't ready to play for whatever reason," Ishee said. "The game was lost in the first three minutes. You can't wait until you're getting embarrassed to start competing."

Southeast, which had been averaging just 40.7 points per game since losing Davis and Sharpe, easily surpassed its season scoring average of 53.2 points.

Lane led Southeast with 14 points off the bench as she doubled her previous high total for her young college career. She has 21 points in the last two games.

"Offensively, she can do some things," Ishee said. "She just has to continue to get better."

Lane, who entered the game averaging 2.9 points, said she slowly but surely is adjusting to Division I basketball.

"I feel like I'm starting to get comfortable and let the game come to me," said Lane, who added three assists.

Sophomore guard Bianca Beck matched her season and career highs with 13 points. Adams added 12 points.

Freshman forward Patricia Mack had the second double-double of her rookie college season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman wing Katie Norman contributed nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

After falling behind 15-0 right off the bat, Southeast made a few mild runs but never got within striking distance.

A 10-0 spurt sliced MSU's 24-5 lead to 24-15, but the Racers came right back with eight straight points. It was 45-27 at halftime.

The Redhawks opened the final period with a 12-5 burst to climb within 50-39 but got no closer. MSU built a 71-51 advantage and coasted home.

"Like coach said, it started the first two minutes of the game," Adams said. "We let them get away."

MSU wound up shooting 50 percent from the field (30 of 60) and hit 13 of 31 from 3-point range for a strong 41.9 percent.

"Some of those shots were contested shots," said Ishee, who didn't think Southeast's defense was particularly bad after the first several minutes. "They can always shoot the ball."

The Redhawks shot 34.8 percent (24 of 69), including 41.7 in the second half. They made 7 of 19 from beyond the arc (36.8 percent).

Senior guards Kayla Vance and Mallory Luckett, along with freshman guard Mariah Robinson, scored 14 points apiece for MSU.

Southeast begins a two-game road trip Thursday at Jacksonville State.