Eagles bomb Redhawks women from long range

~ The offense sputtered in Southeast's 65-50 loss

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team used to be almost invincible in Cape Girardeau.

But this is not a normal season for the Redhawks, thanks in part to inexperience and injuries.

Southeast's struggles at home continued Saturday with a 65-50 loss to Morehead State that was much more lopsided than the score indicates.

That makes six straight home defeats for the Redhawks, the program's longest home losing streak since the 1976-77 season that marked the second year for Southeast women's basketball.

"Losing's frustrating period," said Southeast coach John Ishee, whose squad trailed 40-16 at halftime.

The Redhawks (7-17, 4-10 Ohio Valley Conference) suffered their fifth straight loss overall as they remained last in the 10-team OVC. Southeast has won just two of its past 11 games.

Second-place MSU (19-8, 12-3) posted its second rout of Southeast, the other being 75-37 on Jan. 14 in Morehead, Ky.

"They're a good team," freshman forward Katie Norman said.

Norman was a bright spot for the Redhawks as she scored 19 points, hitting 7 of 11 from the field, including 5 of 7 3-pointers.

"My shot was just on tonight, I guess," said Norman, whose previous high point total was 11. "It hasn't been falling lately."

Norman scored 14 second-half points.

"Katie really came on strong," Ishee said.

Freshman forward Bailie Roberts added 10 points for Southeast. Freshman forward Patricia Mack grabbed 10 rebounds.

Junior guard Chynna Bozeman, the OVC's top scorer, paced MSU with 18 points, which is just under her season average.

The Eagles, who have made more 3-pointers than any team in the country, hit 14 of 46. They had only six two-point baskets.

"That's a really explosive offensive team that we played," Ishee said.

Southeast never challenged MSU after the Eagles scored the first 10 points and led 24-4 less than 10 minutes into the contest.

MSU's 40-16 halftime lead never dipped under 20 points until the final three minutes. The closest Southeast got was 15 points on the final basket of the game.

The Redhawks return to action Thursday at Murray State.