SEMO comeback falls short

The SEMO women’s basketball team was defeated by the Skyhawks from Tennessee Martin 64-61 on Saturday at the Show Me Center. The offense of the Redhawks was led by Indiya Bowen who finished with 13 points, followed by Alecia Doyle and Jaliyah Green with 12 and 10, respectively.

SEMO started the first quarter strong with forced defensive turnovers leading to easy buckets on the other end. Martin sank a few threes, as they would the rest of the game, and fought back to within two points with the Redhawks leading 15-13 after one.

A big push to start the second quarter gave the Redhawks as much as a seven-point lead a few times and forced Martin into a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Skyhawks went on a 12-0 run to end the half, as has been a pattern this season SEMO went on a cold streak offensively. Martin took a five-point lead into the locker room, 31-26.

SEMO head coach Rekha Patterson said her team made it hard on themselves with some of the mistakes they made.

“I think we shot ourselves in the foot with possessions where we'd have a really good defensive play, then we'd go down and turn it over,” Patterson said. “Or we'd have a lack of awareness and urgency to defend the three-point line. Those two things hurt us a lot.”

The Redhawks battled back in the third quarter, back-to-back threes from Bowen and Doyle gave SEMO the lead. SEMO held onto the lead for the remainder of the quarter and led 46-41 entering the final frame.

Four fourth-quarter threes by the Skyhawks gave them the lead back but with 16 seconds left, SEMO had the game tied at 59-59. A foul with 14 on the clock put Martin to the line where they made both shots. SEMO missed on the ensuing possession and was forced to foul again, this time Martin went 1-2.

The Redhawks had the chance to get a three to tie but a miscommunication led to Kiyley Flowers going in for a layup, the shot fell but SEMO remained down one. The Redhawks were then forced to foul and their last-second heave fell short, giving the Skyhawks the win.

Patterson said while they were all disappointed in the outcome, the team showed a lot more fight than Thursday’s game.

“I hate that we were unable to come out on top because I think they were trying to pour it out there and fight,” Patterson said. “But we gotta be able to make plays and we gotta know time and score.”

SEMO will close the season on the road at Morehead State and Southern Indiana, the Redhawks will need nothing short of a miracle to get into the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Tennessee State would have to lose their two remaining games and SEMO would have to win their remaining two games for the Redhawks to qualify.