Southeast Missouri State women's basketball season ends with OT loss in OVC tourney

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State senior forward Connor King's eyes were red, but her voice steady as she recounted sitting in the locker room at Municipal Auditorium with her team.

After battling through overtime, the sixth-seeded Redhawks had fallen to No. 3 SIU Edwardsville 80-76 in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

King, someone who admittedly is not one to show emotion often, if ever, glanced around at her teammates in the moments following the defeat, and the final game of her career, and was overcome with pride.

"I am so proud, and I told them this, that I got to be a part of this team and this is how I got to go out," King said. "Not everybody gets to have such a great senior year, but the fact that my teammates went through what we went through this year and this is how we go out. Even though it wasn't the outcome we wanted there is nothing more I could've asked for. I would do that again with those girls every day."

The game featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes. The Redhawks held a 50-49 lead going to the fourth quarter.

Southeast Missouri State's Connor King dribbles the ball while being guarded by SIUE players during Thursday's OVC tournament quarterfinal game in Nashville.MICHAEL DANN ~ Special to Southeast Missourian

SIUE (18-12) went up by as many as four points in the frame and held a 61-57 advantage with 5 minutes, 56 seconds remaining in regulation after a 3-point play by OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Year CoCo Moore. It was tied up at 61 and again at 63.

A putback by Donshel Beck put the Cougars up 67-66 with 45 seconds to go, but King fed senior Erin Bollmann from the high post on the next possession to put the Redhawks on top 68-67 and force an SIUE timeout with 18.4 seconds left in regulation.

Forward Deja Jones, who had five of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, was whistled for her fifth foul before the Cougars inbounded the ball on the next possession and Beck split a pair of free throws to tie it at 68.

The Redhawks held for the final shot, but Bri Mitchell's runner was no good to send it to a five-minute overtime.

Gwen Adams put SIUE ahead with a three-point play to start overtime, but back to back 3-pointers from sophomore guard Ashton Luttrull gave the Redhawks a 74-71 advantage with 3:06 left.

Shronda Butts, the OVC Player of the Year, retied it with a triple. She again tied it at 76 after two Southeast free throws.

Southeast Missouri State’s Ashton Luttrull launches a 3-point attempt in the final seconds of overtime during Thursday’s OVC tournament quarterfinal game. MICHAEL DANN ~ Special to Southeast Missourian

SIUE got the ball back and took a timeout with 16 seconds left after a missed layup by Southeast. The Redhawks got Butts to miss on the ensuing possession, but Lauren White secured the rebound, scored and was fouled by Bollmann. Her free throw with 5.5 seconds left put the Cougars up 79-76. It was SIUE's 20th offensive board of the game.

"I'm going to give SIUE a lot of credit and I'm going to give their coach a lot of credit because at the end of the day they made plays," Southeast coach Rekha Patterson said. "They got offensive rebounds that hurt us, and that was the difference. I truly think those offensive rebounds at the end hurt us."

The Redhawks had one more chance to tie following a timeout and went to the hot hand. Luttrull, who was 2 for 2 from 3-point range in overtime and the game, got the ball near Southeast's bench but her shot came up short. Butts split a pair of free throws for the final score.

"Those 3s she hit were huge," Patterson said of Luttrull, who hadn't played due to knee pain in the regular-season finale vs. Austin Peay and hadn't practiced with the team until Wednesday. "Even that last one she got a great look, an amazing look, and she was aggressive and I'll have her take that shot every day of the week."

The Redhawks, with a renewed energy that was missing the last time the two teams played less than two weeks ago, jumped out to a 17-11 lead after one quarter.

SIUE went on an 11-2 run over the first four minutes of the second to take its first lead since the start of the game at 21-19. It was tied twice more before Southeast closed out the final four minutes of the half on an 11-3 run to take a 33-29 advantage into the break.

"We think we play hard, but I think SEMO plays hard, too, and anytime you get two teams like that, you get the type of game that you just saw," SIUE coach Paula Buscher said. "Neither team was going to back down. Neither team was going to go away."

Southeast Missouri State coach Rekha Patterson talks to her team during a timeout in the Redhawks’ OVC tournament quarterfinal game Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee. SIU Edwardsville won 80-76 loss in overtime.MICHAEL DANN ~ Special to Southeast Missourian

The Redhawks led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, while SIUE's final margin of victory was its largest of the game. The Cougars advance to face No. 2 Belmont at 2 p.m. Friday in a semifinal.

"I felt like they gave me their best, and that's all I can ever ask," Patterson said. "I'm proud of what we did this year and what we've accomplished, and I'm so happy that these seniors are able to go out leaving a legacy."

Southeast shot 40 percent from the field and was 5 of 20 from beyond the arc. The Redhawks finished 15 of 22 from the free-throw line. SIUE shot 36.8 percent and was 5 of 17 from 3. The Cougars, who have shot more free throws than any other OVC team, finished 19 of 26 from the charity stripe. Southeast was whistled for 28 fouls to SIUE's 19.

"I think a big thing that we did was we didn't give up, no matter what," Bollmann said. "No matter how hard they hit us or how much they pushed it down our throat, we continued to fight throughout the whole entire game. I hope they keep that fire under their butt and just keep fighting through any adversity they hit next year."

One of those returners is freshman point guard Adrianna Murphy. She finished with 13 points, eight assists and four steals. Her 144 assists on the season tied her for sixth on Southeast's single-season assists list.

The Redhawks, who reached the conference tournament for the first time since 2009, finished their first season under Patterson at 15-15.

"I'm excited about what we did this year," Patterson said. "Obviously disappointed that we don't get to continue playing, but we lost to a good basketball team and we left everything out there on the floor. Â… I'm excited about next season and the foundation that we have laid and the legacy that these two [seniors] have left, and excited to be back here next year."

SIU EDWARDSVILLE 80, SOUTHEAST 76

Southeast 17 16 17 18 8 -- 76

SIUE 11 18 20 19 12 -- 80

SOUTHEAST (76) -- Bri Mitchell 9, Adrianna Murphy 13, Erin Bollmann 14, Corneisha Henderson 4, Connor King 12, Ashton Luttrull 6, Deja Jones 11, Imani Johnson 7. FG 28-70, FT 15-22, F 28. (3-pointers: Mitchell 2, Luttrull 2, Johnson. Fouled out: Jones.)

SIUE (80) -- Shronda Butts 20, CoCo Moore 23, Donshel Beck 11, Sidney Smith 9, Gwen Adams 12, Lauren White 5. FG 28-76, FT 19-26, F 19. (3-pointers: Butts 2, Smith 3. Fouled out: None.)