Defense leads SEMO to victory

The SEMO Women’s basketball team defeated the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets 86-48 on Tuesday at the Show Me Center. Five different Redhawks scored 10 points or more, leading the scoring was junior Jaliyah Green who totaled 17 points. Green said the defense of herself and her teammates helped lead to her good outing.

“There were a lot of openings from my steals and my teammates' steals,” Green said. “We got a lot of passing windows so my teammates just passed me the ball and I was able to finish shots.”

Green shot 46% percent from the field while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds, four rebounds and dished out two assists. Defensively, the Redhawks held the Hornets to 33% shooting with the help of 23 steals and an uncountable amount of deflections. SEMO head coach Rekha Patterson said the defensive intensity was emphasized before the game started.

“I thought our defensive intensity and our defensive activity was really good and that created a lot of offense for us,” Patterson said. “That was a point of emphasis to go into the game using our athletic bigs on the defensive end and to create plenty of opportunities on the offensive end.”

This was the first game back at home since the Redhawks went on a three-game road trip to Chicago and Springfield, MO. Although SEMO lost all these games, they kept them close and learned a lot. Patterson said the team is figuring out who they are and how to play to their potential every time.

“From game one to today we are much better, our point guard play today was good as far as the pace and the tempo,” Patterson said. “We’re also getting good minutes from other people not just Jaliyah and Alecia which opens up more offensive opportunities. We’re figuring ourselves out against some really tough competition.”

The game was also the Classroom on the Court game in which the Show Me Center was filled with elementary school students from all over the area. With that many excited and screaming fans Patterson said the team was excited for today as well.

“We don’t always have the opportunity to play in front of 2,157 fans and then they’re cheering for you which is even better,” Patterson said. “I'm grateful to our school administration and marketing department for doing such a good job and then for the local schools and their administrations, bus drivers and teachers for allowing these kids to come today, it’s a really big deal.”

SEMO will return to the Show Me Center on Dec. 19 to take on Eastern Kentucky at 6:30 p.m.