Redhawks earn win without top two players

~ Southeast played without Whitney and Daugherty.

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team had its back against the proverbial wall.

Southeast lost Thursday's Ohio Valley Conference opener to Tennessee State as preseason OVC player of the year Missy Whitney was out with an injury.

Against Tennessee Tech on Saturday, not only did No. 2 scorer Whitney miss her second straight game, but top scorer Sonya Daugherty did not play due to what coach John Ishee termed "an internal issue."

With senior center Whitney on the bench in street clothes and junior wing Daugherty in the Show Me Center stands, the Redhawks found themselves trailing by seven points at halftime.

"We did not want another loss, no matter what it took," junior point guard Tarina Nixon said.

The two-time defending OVC champion Redhawks made sure another loss didn't happen as they rallied for a 66-60 win to break a five-game losing streak and avoid dropping their first two league games at home.

"It's nice to win one," junior forward Rachel Blunt said. "I think it was huge for our morale.

"When you're on a five-game losing streak, you're just looking for something to get your confidence going."

Southeast evened its overall record at 5-5, while Tech fell to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

"I think it's a huge win for us," Ishee said. "I think we showed our mettle. ... I thought the cream rose to the top tonight. I couldn't be prouder."

Even with Daugherty, averaging 14.8 points per game, and Whitney (12.5), Southeast had been struggling offensively, scoring no more than 51 points over its last five contests.

The Redhawks also had suffered through rebounding woes, and that area would be challenged as Whitney and Daugherty are also their top two rebounders, combining for more than 12 boards per game.

But others picked up the slack both offensively and on the glass.

"I knew going into the game we would have to come together as a team," Nixon said. "Without Missy and Sonya, they're such a big part of our offense, I told the girls we would have to get scoring from everybody."

Blunt led four Southeast players in double figures with a season-high 17 points. Blunt has three double-figure scoring performances this year, all coming in the past four games.

"Rachel had a great game," Ishee said. "And she played a lot of the night at a position [center] she normally doesn't play because Missy is out."

Nixon, who has battled back problems all year, scored a season-high 16 points in a team-high 37 minutes. She led the Redhawks in rebounds with six and assists with five, while adding two steals and two blocked shots.

"We have a lot of warriors on our team, but this kid is like Roy Jones. Pound for pound, there's not a tougher player in the world," Ishee said of Nixon.

Senior guard Ashley Lovelady had 11 points, four assists and three steals. Lovelady scored in double figures for the first time since the season's third game.

Junior college transfer guard Tierra Johnson added 10 points off the bench. She had not scored more than six points in a game since netting 12 in the third contest of the season.

"I thought Tierra had her best game," Ishee said.

Southeast, shooting just 33.6 percent from the field this year, hit 49 percent (24-of-49), including a sizzling 57.1 percent in the second half (12-of-21).

"I think we shared the ball a lot better tonight," Blunt said.

Defensively, Southeast held Tech to 33.3 percent in the second half (9-of-27) after the Eagles had scorched the nets in the first half for 54.2 percent (13-of-24).

"We guarded like we had to guard in the second half," Ishee said.

After being outrebounded 16-12 in the opening half, Southeast had a 20-10 advantage on the boards in the final period.

No player had more than six rebounds for the Redhawks, but four players had at least five rebounds.

"It was kind of rebounding by committee," Ishee said.

The Redhawks trailed by 10 points late in the first half and 36-29 at the break.

Southeast still appeared to be in trouble when Tech led 47-38 early in the second half.

But the Redhawks took control with a monster 23-5 run during a 12-minute span that put them up 61-52 with three minutes left.

Johnson's 3-pointer with 9:32 remaining gave Southeast the lead for good, 48-47.

"I think in the second half we made better decisions offensively and defensively," Johnson said.

Tech pulled within 61-58 in the final minute, but Southeast hit 5-of-6 free throws to close things out. Lovelady and Blunt each went 2-of-2.

"I think it was a total team effort tonight," Ishee said.

The Redhawks don't play again until visiting Samford on Dec. 18. It is not known whether Whitney will be back by then. As for Daugherty's status, Ishee said that's "to be determined."