Roberts' shooting sparks Redhawks

~ Freshman sinks three late 3-pointers

Southeast Missouri State freshman Bailie Roberts picked up a charge on a drive to the basket with a little more than 13 minutes left in the second half Monday.

The call didn't sit well with Roberts, who made the shot, which was wiped away.

"I kind of took it personal that they kind of took a score out of our hand," Roberts said. "Coach had been talking about taking it the rim, so that's what I did and I ended up with the charge."

Roberts' basket would have cut the Redhawks' deficit to three points. Jacksonville State responded by pushing its lead to nine points before Roberts started to exact her revenge.

Roberts nailed a pair of 3-pointers to help cut the Redhawks' deficit to 44-43.

"It built our spirits really big because we came out kind of slow tonight," she said. "Those two in a row, especially out of transition, I think it kept building for us to get on that run. My teammates were moving the ball really well and saw I was open."

But Roberts saved her best for the closing minutes. She raced into the corner, took a pass from Katie Norman and swished a 3-pointer from the baseline to give the Redhawks a 54-51 lead with 1 minute, 29 seconds left. Southeast never relinquished the lead on its way to the 56-53 win at the Show Me Center.

"I was just trying to focus on getting down the court," Roberts said. "I saw the ball coming to Katie and we've talked the past week or two about making extra passes. I know Katie is really good at looking for the open person and she just passed it over there. I was like, I'm wide open, so I shot it up."

Roberts ranks second on the team in scoring this season with 9.3 points per game. She's been making her presence felt from 3-point range, hitting 16 of 37 overall (43 percent) and 9 of 12 (75 percent) in Ohio Valley Conference play. She went 3 for 3 from long range Monday.

"I like to think I'm not a streaky shooter," she said. "Some games I do hit more than others. I've been focusing on shooting more 3s because shooting is one of my strengths. I'm trying to help out the team with that."

Roberts has found her rhythm recently. The 5-foot-10 forward from Maryville, Tenn., has averaged 10.8 points in her last four games, including a team-high 13 points Monday. She ranked sixth in the OVC in field-goal percentage at .446 entering Monday's game. She helped herself there by shooting 83 percent (5 of 6) from the floor against the Gamecocks.

"I'm starting to learn and get a better feel for the players," she said. "Especially since I'm playing a forward position, the players are usually a lot bigger than me so I have to look to my strengths and score that way.

"I am starting to feel more comfortable now. My ball handling skills are slowly but surely getting better. I'm starting to become more confident in putting it on the floor and taking it to the hole."

Southeast coach John Ishee said he likes Roberts' attitude and expects her to continue improving.

"Bailie is a scorer and has a scorer's mentality," he said. "I love the fact that she can miss 10 in a row and she thinks she's going to make the next one. Good scorers do that. Bailie's a winner."