SEMO spoils Lexi Rubel's homecoming

Lexi Rubel knows the Show Me Center well.

For three years, she hoisted the Holiday Classic trophy with her Notre Dame teammates to kick off Christmas.

“This is definitely a very familiar gym,” Rubel said.

The Show Me Center was her home court away from home, but this visit was different. Rubel returned to the Show Me Center on Thursday as a freshman forward for Ohio Valley Conference rival UT Martin. The fans both got to see her play and the Redhawks defeat the Skyhawks 56-54 on a game-winning basket by Kori Tomlin.

It was the best of both worlds for the local fans, which were wearing a different, more familiar shade of blue.

“It’s just really exciting,” Rubel said. “I had a lot of fans and it's really fun to play in front of my high school friends, my teachers, my family, and everything. It's just really fun to come back and know I have all that fan support.

“I wasn't expecting to have that many people come out,” she added.

Rubel capped off a 7-0 opening run for the Skyhawks with a pair of free throws. Those were the only points she scored in the entire game. She also finished with three rebounds.

Rubel entered the game averaging 25.6 minutes per game but has only scored more than 10 points once this season, 12 points against Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 23, 2022.

When asked about the most challenging part of going from dominating high school to playing in college is “looking for your open shots” and “learning to create for yourself more.”

“Everything's more physical at the college level,” Rubel said.

The Skyhawks led the Redhawks 17-8 after the first quarter but were outscored in each of the remaining quarters.

Down 44-39 starting the fourth quarter, the Redhawks went on an 8-0 run to take a 46-44 lead with seven minutes left in the game.

After that, it became a back-and-forth affair right until the end. Sophie Bussard sank back-to-back free throws to retake the lead at 51-50 with 3:22 remaining.

The Redhawks were stuck on 51 points until the final minute. A flurry of free throws put the Skyhawks on the brink of winning with mere seconds remaining.

Rahmena Henderson, who has been SEMO’s sharpshooter of late, made the clutch three-point basket to tie the game 54-54 with 39 seconds left.

Kiyley Flowers had an underrated impact on the Redhawks rally. She assisted Henderson’s jumper, forced a turnover, and then kicked the ball to Tomlin for the game-winning three-pointer.

Or at least that was supposed to be the play until Tomlin moved further toward the basket to put up a midrange shot for two pivotal points.

“I know they think that we're gonna shoot the three but, I mean, the midrange was open,” Tomlin said.

Bussard led the Redhawks with 15 points, followed by Henderson’s 12 points.

SEMO (8-10, 3-4) now has won three straight OVC games after starting league play with four straight losses. The Redhawks are now tied for fifth place in the conference and will host Tennessee Tech on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.