Redhawks need OT to tame pesky Skyhawks

~ The Southeast women moved into first place with their 58-51 win.

Undermanned Tennessee-Martin, the Ohio Valley Conference's last-place women's basketball team, made things more difficult than expected for Southeast Missouri State.

Much more difficult.

But the Redhawks survived a valiant effort by the Skyhawks on Saturday afternoon to post their sixth straight victory, 58-51 in overtime.

Southeast (15-6, 10-2) won for the 11th time in 12 games, and also moved into first place in the OVC. The Redhawks lead by percentage points over Eastern Illinois, which lost at Samford in double overtime.

"I give them a lot of credit," senior center Missy Whitney said of the Skyhawks. "It was ugly, but this is a big win."

The two-time defending OVC champion Redhawks played in front of a national television audience as the game at the Show Me Center was broadcast by ESPNU.

Southeast also played without its head coach as John Ishee served an OVC-mandated one-game suspension for being ejected from the Redhawks' last game.

Chris Harris, a former head coach on the NAIA and junior college levels, who is in his first season as a Southeast assistant, directed the Redhawks in Ishee's absence.

Asked his thoughts after the game, Harris smiled.

"Relief," he said. "Relieved it's over, and we got the win, and I can go back to being an assistant coach."

Senior guard Ashley Lovelady laughed when asked if there was a difference without Ishee on the bench.

"It's a difference. He [Harris] doesn't yell as much. He's more laid back," Lovelady said.

UT-Martin was no laughing matter for most of Saturday's contest, even though the Skyhawks had only six available players due to injuries and team suspensions.

The Skyhawks (4-19, 1-12) pushed Southeast to the limit as they overcame a 16-point first-half deficit and finished regulation on a 9-1 run to force overtime at 48-48.

Southeast dominated the five-minute extra period, scoring the first 10 points to finally nail down the victory.

"I don't think we took them lightly," Lovelady said. "They just played hard. ... Give them credit."

Whitney, the OVC preseason player of the year, continued to stamp herself as a solid candidate for that award following the season.

Whitney, Southeast's leading scorer and rebounder, had 20 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, which tied her career high. She posted her second double-double in the last three games.

"Coach always wants me to be aggressive," Whitney said.

Junior point guard Tarina Nixon, playing all 45 minutes, scored 10 points. She added three assists and four steals.

Lovelady contributed nine points and five assists, while junior forward Crysta Glenn added eight points and eight rebounds.

Southeast built a 29-13 lead late in the first half, but UT-Martin finished the period with a 12-2 run to enter intermission down 31-25.

"I thought we relaxed when we got up," Lovelady said. "We have to learn not to relax when we get a lead."

The Redhawks never could shake UT-Martin in the second half, and the Skyhawks finally tied things on a basket by Victoria Carlile with 34 seconds left.

Southeast could have avoided overtime when Glenn was fouled going up for a shot after an offensive rebound with four-tenths of a second remaining.

But Glenn missed both free throws. Southeast, shooting nearly 71 percent from the line this season, made just 8-of-19 (42 percent) against UT-Martin.

"If we would have hit our free throws, it wouldn't have been that close," Harris said.

With Whitney scoring seven overtime points, the Redhawks dominated the period with a 10-3 advantage.

"We won. That's all that matters," Nixon said.

Added Harris: "I thought Martin did a good job, but I never lost confidence that we would keep battling and pull it out at the end. We have experienced players who have been in big games."

Southeast visits Morehead State on Thursday.