Murray State collects first OVC win with victory over Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team

MURRAY, Ky. -- Members of the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team took consolation in battling back from a 19-point deficit against a Murray State team that entered the CFSB Center without a win in the Ohio Valley Conference on Thursday night.

While the Redhawks were pleased with the positives, an 86-81 loss to the Racers left the teams even in last place in the conference standings at 1-9.

"I just think we brought it. We never had it in our heads that we couldn't win," Southeast junior Connor King said. "We just kept fighting and kept fighting and kept fighting, and we had a chance. We had a really good chance."

MSU used a 21-3 run over an eight and a half minute stretch in the first half t for a 31-12 lead with 5 minutes, 11 seconds left before halftime.

The Redhawks were 1 of 8 from the field during that span and turned the ball over seven times.

"Offensively, we were lacking confidence and our shots weren't falling," King said. "We were getting great shots and they just weren't going in, and we kind of got down. And when you're not always hitting on the offensive end, your defense tends to struggle a little bit, so then they started getting to the rim and getting easy buckets."

An Olivia Hackmann 3-pointer sparked a 17-8 run for the Redhawks to close out the half.

Sophomore guard Brianna Mitchell, who finished with a career-high nine assists and 11 points off the bench, sank a 3-pointer as time expired to pull Southeast within 39-29 at the break.

Southeast Missouri State coach Ty Margenthaler reacts to a call during the second half of the game against Murray State Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015 in Murray, Kentucky. (Fred Lynch)

"We could've folded and we could've gotten blown out by 40 points, but we didn't," King said. "We fought back, and the second half with came out with a lot more confidence and we hit those shots."

The Redhawks' 10-point deficit remained with 13 minutes left in the contest before they scored seven unanswered points in a minute.

Senior forward Hillary Lively hit a jumper, King connected on a three-point play and senior guard Yelena Rosada knocked down a pair of free throws that made it 53-50 with 11:56 to go.

Southeast took its first lead of the half on a 3 by Hackmann to go up 55-54 with 10:37 remaining.

"We finally got on a roll, the lid came off the basket and gave us an opportunity," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "Again, to be down by [almost] 20 is difficult. It wears on you. It's taxing, especially when you haven't been winning, but it's obvious our team is fighting. They're not giving in."

The Redhawks took one more lead, but the Racers led the remainder of the contest once they went up 64-63 with 8:47 to go on a free throw.

A basket by King with 1:12 left brought the Redhawks within two, but MSU (6-17) iced its first conference win with free throws.

"They gave us a chance to win and I was really proud of that," Margenthaler said. "It kind of came down to we didn't get the proper stops. We knew they were a great scoring basketball team. We knew also they're not a very good defensive team. To put them on the line 35 times is really the key. We tried everybody to guard their guards, and we struggled."

The Racers shot 47.5 percent in the game from the field and were 22 of 35 from the charity stripe.

Southeast shot 42.9 percent in the game, and 51.2 percent in the second half. The Redhawks were 16 of 22 from the line and 5 of 16 from behind the arc.

"I think the second half we executed our sets and we executed our ball screens and we got offensive rebounds and we made our free throws," King said. "We did all things that great teams do because we can be a great team."

King finished with a career-high 19 points --17 in the second half -- and was 8 of 10 from the field.

"The one thing we did a really good job of, and we haven't done this in the past, is we stuck to what was working," Margenthaler said. "Connor was really doing a great job. We made them adjust instead of just doing something different."

Senior guard Jasmine Robinson scored 24 points to lead Southeast. Kirby led the Racers with 26. Forward Ke'Shunan James had 22 and Wright finished with 15.

Southeast, which has lost four in a row and dropped to 8-15 on the season, returns to the Show Me Center to host Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

"We've got to go get a win, and we've got to keep them [the players] up," Margenthaler said. "I'm doing my best I can. I know what I'm doing tomorrow, and I just hope they follow along and do the same thing. We have to carry over and feel good about the offensive performance."