Second-half rally carries Southeast women to win

~ The Redhawks trailed by as many as 13 points but won 73-60

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach John Ishee expected the Redhawks to have a tough time breaking their five-game losing streak Wednesday.

Ishee couldn't have been more accurate in his assessment of Bethel University.

The NAIA Wildcats, ranked 24th nationally, gave the Redhawks all they could handle and then some.

Southeast trailed the entire first half -- including by 13 points -- before finally taking control during a 73-60 victory at the Show Me Center.

"I'm not surprised at all," Ishee said of how much Bethel pushed the Redhawks. "I'm telling you, they're good. They would win some games in our conference.

"Selfishly for me, it's a relief. But most of all I'm happy for our players because they've been working so hard and it's nice to see them rewarded again."

Southeast improved to 3-5 as the Redhawks won for the first time since Nov. 16, when they upset Southern Mississippi at home. Bethel, located in McKenzie, Tenn., fell to 7-5.

"It felt good. We were like, it's a new breath of fresh air," freshman forward Bailie Roberts said. "We were sick and tired of losing."

The Wildcats, led by preseason All-American Nina Djokovic, had Southeast on its heels virtually the entire first half.

Djokovic, a 6-foot-1 senior forward averaging nearly 21 points and 10 rebounds, scored her team's first 11 points as the Wildcats started fast.

Bethel scored the game's first five points and led 17-6 midway through the first half as Southeast hit just 1 of its first 16 field-goal attempts. The Wildcats opened a 24-11 advantage more than 14 minutes in.

"We didn't come out playing like we should have," freshman guard Jasmine Davis said.

Southeast finally got its offense clicking and tightened its defense. The Redhawks ended the opening period on a 15-5 run to pull within 29-26 at the intermission.

"We communicated a lot more on defense and we got our motion going on offense," Davis said.

The Redhawks took the lead for good on a Roberts jumper with just over 16 minutes remaining that made it 34-32.

Still, despite opening a 59-46 lead with less than six minutes left, Southeast was ahead 62-57 with nearly three minutes remaining before pulling away for good.

"We just had to come out and compete," Davis said of a second half that saw Southeast outscore Bethel 47-31.

Roberts had the first double-double of her young college career with 17 points and 11 rebounds. She had 12 second-half points. Her previous high point total at Southeast was 12.

Davis had 14 points and five rebounds while freshman wing Katie Norman contributed 10 points to match her collegiate high.

"Bailie is a very gifted offensive player. She and Jasmine are going to get better and better with time," Ishee said. "And I thought Katie had an outstanding game."

Bethel was led by senior guard Tristan Johnson with 22 points -- she hit 6 of 13 from 3-point range -- and Djokovic with 19 points.

But Djokovic had only eight points after her early outburst as freshman forward Brittany Harriel and senior center Lesley Adams took turns making things difficult for Djokovic.

"We didn't post defend very well to start the game," Ishee said. "Brittany did a good job and Lesley responded well in the second half."

Harriel had nine points and six rebounds in addition to her strong defense.

Junior wing Lauren Sharpe contributed nine points, seven rebounds and three steals. Sophomore point guard Bianca Beck added eight points and five assists.

Southeast shot 56.7 percent in the second half after hitting only 25 percent in the opening period.

"Our ball movement was a lot better in the second half and we had a lot more back cuts," Ishee said.

The Redhawks' rugged nonconference schedule continues Saturday when Texas-Arlington (3-4) visits the Show Me Center.

UTA went 22-11 last year and won the Southland Conference regular-season championship.

"They're very good," said Ishee, who joked that "I'm the worst nonconference scheduler in the country."