Redhawks will debut tonight in exhibition game

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach John Ishee is looking forward to seeing his team in game action for the first time even though it won't count on the Redhawks' record.

The Redhawks play their first of two exhibition contests today when Missouri Baptist visits the Show Me Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

"It's that time to see what we look like, where we're at, where we need to go," said Ishee, whose squad hosts Bethel (Tenn.) on Monday in its final exhibition before opening the season Nov. 12 against Sam Houston State in the Mississippi tournament.

Southeast is trying to bounce back from one of the worst seasons in program history.

Saddled with inexperience and hit with key injuries, the 2009-10 Redhawks went 7-21 overall and a last-place 4-14 in the 10-team Ohio Valley Conference.

Although still young -- there are no seniors and only three juniors -- the Redhawks are much more experienced.

Southeast officially ranked as the nation's fourth-youngest team with nine freshmen last year. Eight of those rookies returned, including leading scorer Jasmine Davis.

Davis, a sophomore guard, averaged 10 points per game last year but played in only 13 contests before a knee injury ended her freshman season.

Ishee said he has been satisfied with the way practice is progressing although Southeast has been without one of its anticipated key players who isn't expected to return soon.

"They've been working real hard. I've been very pleased," Ishee said.

Brooke Taylor, a freshman forward from Bismarck, Mo., was only recently cleared for light practice due to an iron deficiency problem. Ishee said he doesn't expect to have Taylor in games for a while.

"I don't know exactly the timetable," Ishee said. "We were really counting on her."

While Ishee wants to win today's game, he also wants to get a look at all of his available players.

"You always want to win. If it didn't matter, they wouldn't hang a scoreboard," Ishee said. "But you hope to get everybody in there, see where your returning players have grown and get the newcomers a taste of Division I.

"We want to see where we're at compared to last year."

Missouri Baptist, an NAIA program from suburban St. Louis, already has opened its season, beating Culver-Stockton 87-52 on Tuesday.

The Spartans went 17-13 last year, including 8-8 in the American Midwest Conference. They are led by 6-foot-1 senior Jessica Moore, who paced the AMC last season in scoring (18 points per game) and field-goal percentage (54.6) to earn first-team all-league honors.

Moore had 15 points in Tuesday's rout of Culver-Stockton. Alexis Rhoades, a 6-2 senior, led the Spartans with 20 points.