SEMO keys to success against SIUE

As Saturday’s matchup between the Redhawks women’s basketball team and SIUE draws closer, both teams are near the bottom of the conference and could each use the win. SEMO, at 2-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference are coming off a loss at Tennessee Tech, meanwhile, the Cougars are 0-5 in the OVC with a recent loss to Morehead State.

SEMO head coach Rekha Patterson said the week off between Tech and SIUE would be huge for her team.

“Patience, our athletic trainer, will do a great job with recovery. Our strength coach, Danny Strong, will do a great job of helping them recover,” Patterson said. “Then our coaches will do a great job with scouting and the players will be locked in and focused. We'll see if we can come back here and play the same way for 40 minutes and see what happens.”

Three keys to success will be crucial in making sure the Redhawks defend their home court and come out of Saturday with a win.

__1. Don’t take the Cougars lightly__

Although SIUE is 0-5 in the conference and 3-15 overall, their record does not mean this game will be easy. SEMO saw an example of this firsthand when the Redhawks went on the road and defeated Western Illinois, who at the time were 10-2.

__2. Hold on to the lead__

SEMO has had a tendency this season to lose leads in the second half and you cannot allow teams to see any light while you have a lead. The Redhawks will have to play a complete game to win, similar to how they did with Lindenwood last Thursday.

“I thought we were connected. I thought that we played the SEMO way for 40 minutes,” Patterson said. “Happy that we were able to get back-to-back OVC wins, that’s the first time we've done that this year so we should feel really good about that.”

__3. Limit KK Rodriguez__

Rodriguez is leading the Cougars in scoring at 22 points per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. The Redhawks can simply not afford for Rodriguez to get going as she can shoot from anywhere and rarely turns the ball over.

Fouling her before she can get shots off is not the way to contain her either, as she is an 85% free throw shooter.