Panthers get Redhawks' number

~ UW-Milwaukee edged Southeast for the second time in eight days.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Fortunately for Southeast Missouri State's Redhawks, they don't have to play Wisconsin-Milwaukee any more this season.

The Panthers posted their second narrow win over Southeast in a week, holding on for a 73-70 win on their home court Friday night.

On Nov. 25, in Cape Girardeau, UW-Milwaukee beat Southeast 90-87 in double overtime. Both teams are now 3-3, with the Redhawks having a two-game winning streak snapped.

"It's a tough loss, especially when they got us at home, and we felt like we had a chance to win," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said.

In a contest that was tight the entire way -- there were 16 lead changes and 10 ties, and the game's biggest advantage was seven points -- the Panthers surged ahead 61-54 midway through the second half and then held off the Redhawks.

Southeast senior center Tatiana Conceicao led the Redhawks with 28 points, and she also pulled down seven rebounds. She was nine of 16 from the field and nine of 11 from the free-throw line.

Conceicao, the reigning Ohio Valley Conference player of the year, has scored 85 points in the past three games. She leads the OVC in scoring at 22.5 points per game.

No other player reached double figures for the Redhawks, whose second-leading scorer was freshman guard Tarina Nixon. Making her second straight start, Nixon scored nine points, as she hit three of four 3-pointers.

Freshman center Traci Edwards had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Panthers. Edwards had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the earlier meeting.

"Their freshman center hurt us again," Smith said.

Also scoring in double figures for the Panthers were senior forward Nichole Drummond with 15 points, junior forward Megan Rogers with 13 points and sophomore guard Meredith Onson with 10 points.

Southeast outshot UW-Milwaukee from the field and from 3-point range, but the Panthers benefited from a big edge at the free-throw line, along with a sizable rebounding margin.

The Redhawks hit 25 of 46 field-goal attempts (54.3 percent) and eight of 15 3-pointers (53.3 percent), compared to the Panthers' 20 of 53 from the field (37.7 percent) and five of 16 from 3-point range (31.3 percent).

"I felt like we played well enough offensively to win the game," Smith said. "We got them out of their zone defense, which really hurt us at our place. But defensively, you can't give up 73 points and win."

UW-Milwaukee hit 28 of 37 free throws, compared to 12 of 18 for Southeast. The Panthers outrebounded the Redhawks 36-25, including 16-5 on the offensive glass.

"You look at the stats, free throws and offensive boards were big on their end," Smith said. "We have to do a better job on the boards. They hurt us in both games. I thought they just went after it harder than we did."

A tight first half that saw UW-Milwaukee lead by five points and Southeast lead by four points ended with the Panthers on top 39-38.

Consecutive three-point plays by Conceicao early in the second half gave the Redhawks their biggest advantage of the night at 47-41.

Southeast led 52-49 when UW-Milwaukee took control with a 12-2 run that put the Panthers up 61-54 with 9 minutes, 29 seconds remaining.

The Redhawks steadily battled back and found themselves behind just 71-70 on senior forward Simone Jackson's basket after a turnover with under a minute to play.

UW-Milwaukee missed a shot with 24 seconds left and Southeast rebounded. After calling a timeout, the Redhawks ran the clock down and tried to work a play, but they turned the ball over with 4 seconds left.

Senior forward Molly O'Brien made two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining to give the Panthers a 73-70 lead, and they survived when Southeast senior guard Tiffanne Ryan's 3-point attempt was off the mark at the buzzer.

Now the Redhawks will get ready for the start of OVC play as they host Tennessee State on Thursday.

"They [UW-Milwaukee] have a good team, and this is not the end of the year for us," Smith said. "We've just got to get better and get ready for the start of conference."