Second-half woes cost Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team at Eastern Kentucky

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team built a nine-point first-half lead and was ahead by one at the break during its first Ohio Valley Conference road game.

But the Redhawks faltered in the second half Saturday, scoring just 14 points and allowing Eastern Kentucky to roll 52-37 in Richmond, Ky.

Southeast fell to 4-13 overall and 1-3 in OVC play. EKU improved to 7-7 and 3-1 after outscoring the Redhawks 30-14 in the final period.

"They really came out in the second half and played hard," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "We played very well defensively today, but we didn't play a complete game. We had a lot of good shots around the rim, but we couldn't get that proverbial lid off the basket."

The Redhawks were ahead 17-8 with less than eight minutes left in the opening period before leading 23-22 at halftime.

EKU scored the first four points of the second half and steadily pulled away.

The Colonels built their initial double-figure lead of 40-29 with a little more than 10 minutes left, and the margin never dipped back under nine points.

Southeast, the OVC's lowest-scoring team at 51.2 points per game, had averaged 66 points in its previous three contests.

But the Redhawks struggled offensively Saturday, shooting just 22 percent. They made only 4 of 30 shots in the second half for a miserable 13.3 percent.

Southeast hit just 1 of 13 3-pointers for 7.7 percent.

EKU, which shot 29 percent in the first half, heated up to 55.6 percent in the final period. The Colonels finished at 38.8 percent.

Junior forward Brittany Harriel was the only Southeast player to score in double figures. She had 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double and fourth in the last five contests.

Senior guard Karley Evans scored nine points in the first half for the Redhawks but was shut out in the final period.

Junior center Jade Barber paced EKU with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Barber scored all of her points in the second half and grabbed eight of her rebounds in the final period.

Southeast, which is playing five of its first six OVC games at home, returns to action Saturday when it hosts Eastern Illinois.