'Hawks stay in 'D' mode, stop Eagles

~ Southeast continued its strong defensive play in a 62-50 win over Morehead State.

Southeast Missouri State struggled on offense for the second straight game Thursday night.

But the way the Redhawks are playing defense these days, it hardly mattered.

The Redhawks overcame a slow start and the aforementioned offensive woes to extend their season-high winning streak to five games, beating visiting Morehead State 62-50.

Southeast improved to 11-7 overall and 8-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Redhawks remained one game out of first and moved into a second-place tie with Tennessee Tech, as the Eaglettes were upset by Murray State.

"We're starting to guard every night," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said. "When you do that, you've got a chance to win no matter what else you do."

The Redhawks, after struggling defensively for much of the season, have clamped down on the opposition during their current winning streak.

Southeast has allowed an average of just over 49 points during the past five games, and the Redhawks' last three opponents have scored 50 points or less, marking their top three defensive performances against Division I competition this season.

"That's what we've been working on, defense," Southeast senior center Tatiana Conceicao said.

MSU (10-7, 5-5) scored the game's first eight points, and Southeast did not take the lead for good until less than 4 minutes remained in the first half.

Smith and his players believed the Redhawks still might have been basking a bit too much in Saturday's 53-46 win at Tennessee Tech, which was then in first place in the OVC.

"I thought we had a little bit of a hangover from the Tech game," Smith said. "But also, you've got to give Morehead State credit. They're a good team, and they really played hard. I thought they did a good job against us defensively."

Said junior center Lachelle Lyles: "I think we were still stuck on Tennessee Tech."

Conceicao led the Redhawks offensively with a game-high 19 points. She hit seven of 13 field-goal attempts, including three of four 3-pointers.

Senior forward Natalie Purcell scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She hit four of 10 3-pointers.

Senior forward Simone Jackson added 10 points, while junior college transfer Lyles continued to add a major lift off the bench with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Lyles, who had six offensive rebounds, was a big reason why Southeast dominated the boards 43-31 and held a 16-6 advantage in second-chance points, thanks to a 17-10 edge on the offensive glass.

"Lachelle just keeps getting better and better," Smith said. "I thought a big difference in the game was the way we got on the boards."

Lyles also helped hold the Eagles' leading scorer, junior center LaKrisha Brown, to 11 points -- she was averaging more than 15 -- while senior guard Katrisha "Red" Dunn added her usual defensive spark off the bench.

Dunn helped hound sophomore guard Megen Gearhart -- shooting better than 37 percent from 3-point range -- into missing all six of her 3-point attempts. Gearhart did lead the Eagles with 12 points.

Dunn finished with three steals.

"Lachelle played good defense on Brown, who is a very good player, and Red really got after their shooter," Smith said.

Neither team shot well from the field, Southeast 37.5 percent (21 of 56) and MSU 34 percent (17 of 50).

But the Redhawks had a decided edge from beyond the arc, making seven of 22 3-pointers (31.8 percent) compared to just one of 12 (8.3 percent) for the Eagles.

"We're playing really good defense now," Lyles said.

Southeast never led in the first 15 minutes, then finally went ahead for good, 20-19, on two free throws by Jackson with 3:39 remaining in the half. The Redhawks led 30-23 at halftime.

It was 32-27 early in the second half, then Southeast outscored MSU 16-4 over the next 10 minutes to open up the night's biggest advantage, 48-31, with under nine minutes to play.

The Eagles closed to 53-45 with 1:35 left, but senior point guard Wanika Owsley and Jackson both made two free throws in the next minute, making it 57-45 and extinguishing any lingering MSU comeback hopes.

"It was slow at first, then we got going," Conceicao said. "Now we've won five in a row, and we want to keep it going."

Southeast's next opportunity to keep it going will be Saturday, when the Redhawks host Murray State at 5:30 p.m.