Smith tries to tackle defensive woes, turnovers

~ The Redhawks struggled with both in Wednesday's loss at ETSU.

To say that Southeast Missouri State coach B.J. Smith was not in a pleasant mood late Thursday morning would be a major understatement.

Smith was still reeling just a few hours after the Redhawks had returned to Cape Girardeau following a long bus ride from Johnson City, Tenn.

Southeast fell to 5-6 by losing its final nonconference game of the season, 81-74 at East Tennessee State (6-3).

"It's very disappointing," Smith said. "We're just not playing very well right now. We're making so many mistakes, things we have to correct."

Smith said the most disturbing thing about Southeast's play so far this year is defense. The Redhawks, after allowing less than 62 points per game last season in compiling their best-ever Division I record, are giving up more than 73 points a contest.

"We can't defend right now. That's the most disappointing thing," Smith said. "We've always been able to defend since I've been here."

Turnovers have also been a problem. The Redhawks had 22 turnovers Wednesday night.

"You can't do that and win on the road," Smith said.

Not that Smith expected an easy time with East Tennessee State, which has won all four of its home games this season and has already defeated the Ohio Valley Conference's top two teams from last year in champion Eastern Kentucky and runner-up Southeast.

"They were a good team, but at some point we've got to beat a good team," said Smith, whose squad lost all three of its nonconference road games this year. "They're not a top-20 team."

With nonconference scheduling often difficult, Southeast lined up East Tennessee State for a home-and-home series, with the Buccaneers visiting the Show Me Center next year.

"For us, home and homes are huge. It's hard to get people to come to our place, especially after the season we had last year," Smith said. "We want to play good people. They're one of those good teams that people might not know about. We were one of those last year."

The Redhawks were scorched by 5-foot-5 senior guard B.J. Banjo, a preseason Atlantic Sun all-conference choice who scored a career-high 39 points, including 12 of 20 shooting from the field. She made four of eight 3-point attempts, and is averaging about 20 points per game.

Southeast, which was tied 31-31 at halftime, fell behind 48-33 with under 15 minutes remaining. The Redhawks got within 75-72 with under 2 minutes left but fell short.

"We got back with a chance to win, but we just made key mistakes," Smith said.

Blunt was bright spot

The best thing about the game for Smith was the play of freshman reserve forward Rachel Blunt from Dexter High School, who poured in a season high 16 points on seven-of-eight shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds in 22 minutes.

Blunt entered the contest having scored 12 points all season, while averaging 7.9 minutes per game.

"She was the one bright spot. I thought she played phenomenal," Smith said. "It's a tough transition from high school, and it's a confidence thing.

"She played zero minutes against Tennessee Tech [on Dec. 10], but she came to the gym and worked so hard the next day. She never had a bad attitude. She's a joy to coach."

Southeast, which has played three straight road games, will look to get back on track Monday night when it resumes OVC play at home against Eastern Kentucky.