Southeast falls at Southern Miss

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team stuck with Southern Mississippi for most of the first half Saturday.

But the Golden Eagles pulled away in the closing minutes and emerged with the 64-47 victory in Hattiesburg, Miss.

"We were playing pretty well together," Southeast coach John Ishee said of the first half. "We actually could have been up four or five, but we had several turnovers. We didn't take care of the ball against their pressure."

The Redhawks closed within a point at 21-20 with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first half when Lesley Adams hit a jumper. But that's as close as Southeast would get. Southern Miss went on a 9-2 run to pad its lead.

The closest Southeast got in the second half was six points, when Lauren Sharpe hit a layup with 14:16 left.

After struggling in the first half, Sharpe turned it around after intermission. She scored all 14 of her points in the second half, going 6 of 8 from the field.

"I think she was being more aggressive," Ishee said. "The fact we were rebounding the ball, when we got stops, we were able to get the ball in transition."

In the first half, it was Tarina Nixon who did the scoring. She went 5 of 10 from the field, including 2 of 5 on 3-pointers, to finish the opening 20 minutes with 12 points. The rest of the team went 3 of 16 from the field in the first half and matched Nixon's 12 points.

It was Pauline Love who gave the Redhawks fits. The 6-foot junior forward scored 19 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.

"Next to Florida State, they're as tough as anyone we'll play all year long," Ishee said. "We just couldn't make any shots. I was proud of our effort. They just didn't quit."

The loss dropped Southeast to 4-5 overall, but Ishee said he saw improvement from his team.

"I really think we're getting better," he said. "Two weeks ago, I didn't feel that way. Once we get into January and February, I think we're going to be a good basketball team."

The game was a homecoming for Ishee, who graduated from Southern Miss in 1986. He served as an assistant coach for the Golden Eagles from 1991 to 1994, plus he's a native of Gulfport, Miss., about 65 miles from Hattiesburg.

"It was really special," Ishee said. "It was kind of surreal walking out on the court hearing the Southern Miss fight song that I heard as a student and student coaching."

But Ishee didn't leave any doubt that he wanted the win.

"I had a Redhawk pin on my lapel," he said. "I wanted everyone to know who I was representing."

The Redhawks return to action Saturday when they play Providence in the Tulane Double Tree Classic in New Orleans.