Eaglettes post 81-77 victory to end Southeast's home conference

Saturday's anticipated early-season Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball showdown lived up to its billing -- and then some.

The top two teams in the OVC's preseason poll needed overtime to decide things, with Tennessee Tech squeezing out a 81-77 victory over host Southeast Missouri State.

"It was a great game. I knew it was going to be," Tech coach Bill Worrell said. "SEMO is a very good team."

But not quite good enough on this night to prevent the Eaglettes from breaking the Redhawks' 18-game winning streak at the Show Me Center against OVC opponents dating to the 2003-2004 season.

"It's disappointing, but it's just one out of 20 [OVC games]," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said. "We just have to get the rest of them."

Tech, the conference's preseason favorite in a close nod over Southeast, improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in league play. The Redhawks fell to 4-4 and 1-1.

"It was two good teams going at it," Southeast senior forward Simone Jackson said. "It's a tough loss, and we just have to learn from what we did wrong."

Jackson certainly did her part to help the Redhawks, scoring a career-high 26 points as she carried the scoring load for senior center Tatiana Conceicao, who had a rare off night.

Conceicao, the OVC's reigning player of the year who was averaging a league-high 21.9 points per game before Saturday, faced double and triple teams virtually every time she touched the ball.

In addition, Conceicao found herself mired in second-half foul trouble and played just 11 minutes of the second half before fouling out in the late stages of regulation.

Conceicao scored only eight points, hitting three of nine field-goal attempts.

"Tatiana is a great player, but it's a team thing. Everybody had to step up," Jackson said.

Asked what Tech had done to take Conceicao out of the game, Smith said, "Tatiana took Tatiana out of the game. She just didn't play well. I thought she should have been more aggressive once she had the ball. She let the double team get to her."

Senior point guard Wanika Owsley also reached a career high with 14 points, and she very nearly gave Southeast a win in regulation when her short bank shot fell off the rim just before the buzzer.

"Wanika got a great shot at the end," Smith said.

Senior guard Katrisha Dunn came off the bench to score a season-high 11 points.

Senior forward Natalie Purcell had eight points and 10 rebounds. Junior college transfer center Lachelle Lyles added seven points and 10 rebounds off the bench while seeing extensive action when Conceicao was in foul trouble and after she fouled out.

"I thought Lachelle gave us a lift, and Simone played well," Smith said.

Tech senior center Emily Christian, who entered the game second in OVC scoring with a 19.5 average, poured in 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, although Southeast outrebounded the Eaglettes 48-32.

Southeast led most of the first half, but Tech rallied to go ahead 33-29 at the intermission.

The Eaglettes opened up a pair of 12-point leads early in the second half before the Redhawks steadily clawed their way back in the game.

Southeast had pulled to within 48-44 when Conceicao picked up her fourth foul with 11:41 remaining and went to the bench.

But the Redhawks continued to rally without their star on the floor and took their first lead of the second half when Jackson's basket with 8:10 left made it 55-54.

Things went back and forth the remainder of the half, but Tech appeared to have a bit of control after surging ahead 64-60 with less than 3 minutes to go.

Jackson's three-point play and Owsley's 15-footer put Southeast back on top 65-64 with less than 2 minutes remaining.

Conceicao picked up her fifth foul, against Christian, at the 1:25 mark. Christian made one of two free throws for a 65-65 tie.

Owsley hit two free throws with 44 seconds left to put the Redhawks on top 67-65.

Christian answered with a basket with 27 seconds left and she was fouled, but failed to convert the three-point play, leaving a 67-67 deadlock.

Southeast called a timeout with 19 seconds remaining. Owsley dribbled out most of the clock before driving to the basket. She got off a good shot but missed.

"We thought Wanika was going to win it right there," Jackson said.

But it was on to a 5-minute overtime, which the Eaglettes controlled for the most part.

Southeast led 69-67 early and again 70-69 after Jackson made one of two free throws with 4:06 left.

Senior guard Jana Reece nailed a 3-pointer at the 3:37 mark to put the Eaglettes ahead 72-70, and they never relinquished the lead.

With 43 seconds left and Southeast trailing 76-74, Jackson had a chance to tie but missed from in close.

Two Tech free throws with 27 seconds left made it 78-74. After a Southeast miss, two more foul shots made it 80-74 with 8 seconds remaining.

Owsley's long 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left made it 80-77, but Tech iced the victory with one more free throw.

Afterward, Smith lamented a technical foul he received with under 5 minutes to play in the second half. Tech made both free throws.

"I did a poor job," he said. "We should have won in regulation. The technical hurt."

Also hurting Southeast were 22 turnovers -- Tech had just 14 -- and making only 13 of 23 free throws, while Tech converted 23 of 32.

"We just have to bounce back and take care of business," Jackson said. "We've got a lot of games left."