Rebounding key to SEMO men's loss, women's win against Morehead State

Birds of a feather may flock together but they don’t rebound together.

Rebounding made the difference between the Southeast Missouri State women’s basketball team defeating Morehead State 69-55 and the men’s basketball team losing 65-59 at the Show Me Center on Saturday.

During the women’s game, SEMO senior point guard Kori Tomlin, who scored 12 points off the bench, said the Redhawks prioritized “rebounding and being aggressive on the boards.” They edged the Eagles in the rebounding battle 35-28 but overwhelmed them 18-7 in offensive rebounds.

“Our primary focus is trying to get offensive and defensive rebounds,” said Rahmena Henderson, who scored 14 points for the Redhawks. “I know we struggle with that a lot, so I'm just going into this game and this weekend overall, rebounding was a big emphasis in practice this whole week.”

SEMO head coach Rekha Patterson said offensive rebounding played a big part in the Redhawks winning back-to-back games this week.

“We just talked about the fact that offensive and defensive rebounds were going to be important and we needed to make sure we were crashing,” Patterson said. “We had 15 on Thursday and 18 tonight, that's very good. If we're not hitting shots, we need to make sure we get past multiple shots at the basket.”

The Redhawks went on a 12-2 run during the final three minutes in the second quarter to take a 32-23 lead at halftime. Jaliyah Green scored 11 of her team-leading 15 points in the first half. Sophie Bussard scored seven of her 11 points in the second half and SEMO never trailed the rest of the game.

During the men’s game, the Redhawks were outrebounded 36-27 and only grabbed five offensive boards.

“We beat ourselves today,” said Phillip Russell, who led the Redhawks with 20 points. “We lost the rebounding war, and that just gave them second-chance points.”

Not being able to grab offensive rebounds was a fatal flaw for the Redhawks because they missed 30 of their 49 field goal attempts against the Eagles, who made six more baskets.

“I feel like if we rebound the ball much better, and we did things much better on a defensive side of this game, it wouldn't have been close,” said SEMO guard Aquan Smart, who had 14 points.

After winning four straight games and being tied for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Redhawks now find themselves in a three-game losing streak and in a five-way tie for second place behind the Eagles. While it might now be unlikely for the Redhawks to catch up and capture the regular season title, they will likely be in a favorable position in the OVC Tournament, which rewards the winner with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“I feel like we could still win the whole thing,” Russell said. “As I walked into the locker room, I see everybody shaking their head down. I know we lost, but that just showed me that the guys care. So I mean, it's just little tweaks in practice and hopefully, we can bounce back.”

The Redhawks will continue their final homestand with a matchup against Eastern Illinois on Thursday. The men’s team will have a favorable opportunity to stop their skid against a Panthers team that is at the bottom of the OVC, while the women will face a tough test against the conference leader.