Redhawks stumble at home

The one constant for the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team under third-year coach John Ishee has been defense.

Indiana State must not have gotten the memo.

The visiting Sycamores hit a sizzling 57.1 percent of their field-goal attempts, which paved the way for a 75-72 victory Friday night.

ISU (2-2) withstood an impressive 3-point shooting display by Southeast senior guard Tarina Nixon to hand the Redhawks (3-2) their second straight loss.

"We're known for our good defense," said Nixon, who hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in 12 attempts and tied her career high with 23 points. "We kind of let up tonight and it ended in a loss."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comSoutheast Missouri State's Rachel Blunt shoots over Indiana State defenders during the first half Friday.

Defense has been the primary reason Southeast already has won two Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championships since Ishee took over the program.

The Redhawks limited opponents to 39.2 percent shooting last year, and no squad other than national power Florida State had shot better than 37.5 percent against Southeast this season.

ISU hit 28 of 49 attempts -- many of the baskets came on driving shots or layups -- which eclipsed the 52.2 percent Florida State nailed in Tuesday's 62-31 rout of the Redhawks.

"Defense was definitely the downfall," Southeast senior forward Crysta Glenn said. "We couldn't guard the ball. They were penetrating every time."

The Sycamores shot 60 percent in the second half to rally after Southeast threatened to take control of a tight game by building a 60-52 lead with under 10 minutes to play.

Southeast Missouri State's Lauren Sharpe tries to steal the ball from Indiana State's Deja Mattox during the first half Friday.

"We couldn't guard the ball," said Ishee, whose squad was outscored 34-14 in the paint. "Every player on their team took us straight off the dribble."

For all Southeast's defensive shortcomings, the exciting, well-played game wasn't decided until the end.

No more than three points separated the teams over the last 8 minutes, 54 seconds.

ISU, which was behind for the majority of the contest, although not by a big margin, never trailed after going ahead 69-66 on a three-point play by Kelsey Luna with 3:06 left.

Southeast tied the contest twice, the final time on a layup after a steal by senior wing Sonya Daugherty with 1:15 remaining.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comSoutheast Missouri State's Sonya Daugherty drives against Indiana State's Kelsey Luna in the first half Friday at the Show Me Center.

Shannon Thomas answered with a layup with 54 seconds left to put the Sycamores on top 73-71. Southeast couldn't catch up after that.

Trailing 75-72 after ISU's Deja Mattox made 1 of 2 free throws with 8.7 seconds left, Nixon air-balled a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"This is one of those games where you hate to have a loser," said ISU coach Jim Wiede, whose team went 14-15 last year, but was 68-23 the previous three seasons, including a Missouri Valley Conference title. "Both teams were playing at a high level. Both teams had trouble stopping the other. It came down to one or two plays. It's a good win for our young team. Coach Ishee does a great job and they've got a great program."

Nixon, bothered all season by a finger injury on her shooting hand, had scored just 17 points in the first four games while hitting 2 of 9 3-pointers.

Playing all 40 minutes Friday, Nixon made 5 of her first 6 from beyond the arc. She said she didn't expect that type of offensive performance.

"It [the finger] isn't a lot better," said Nixon, a starter since her freshman season. "I don't know what happened tonight to be honest."

Said Glenn: "Tarina was unbelievable."

Daugherty scored 19 points and had a career-high seven assists. Glenn added 13 points and eight rebounds.

ISU got a monster game from senior guard Leah Phillips, who scored a career-high 27 points and matched her career high with six 3-pointers in eight attempts.

"We had a pretty good idea they were a good shooting team," Nixon said.

Southeast built an early 15-5 lead -- the biggest advantage of the night for either side -- but was ahead just 41-40 at halftime despite shooting 51.9 percent overall and making 9 of 17 3-pointers (52.9 percent).

The Redhawks cooled off considerably in the second half, shooting 30.3 percent and hitting only 3 of 14 3-pointers (21.4 percent).

ISU never did cool off, which kept the entertaining game tight until the very end.

"It was a heck of a game," Nixon said. "But all I can think of is the loss right now."

But Nixon doesn't believe the setback will hurt the Redhawks as they prepare to begin OVC play Thursday at home against Austin Peay.

"It's games like these that prepare you for conference," Nixon said.