Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team downs UMKC for third consecutive win

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team won't play another game at the Show Me Center for more than three weeks, so the Redhawks were determined to put on an impressive performance when they hosted Missouri-Kansas City on Friday night.

Southeast succeeded in putting together its most complete game on the young season, defeating the visiting Kangaroos 78-65.

It was the third win in a row for the Redhawks, who improved to 3-1 under first-year coach Rekha Patterson.

"Coming into the game, we wanted to make sure we gave our fans something to cheer about," Patterson said. "It's going to be a long time before they see us, and we wanted to play with great pride and passion and energy and effort and toughness, and I thought our young ladies did that tonight."

Southeast led for all but 1 minute, 40 seconds of the game. The Redhawks went ahead for good at 5-4 when Connor King made a jumper 2:17 into the contest.

King's basket began a 16-0 run for the Redhawks, who held UMKC without another basket until there was 2:17 left in the opening quarter. They held a 26-11 advantage after one.

Southeast Missouri State's Adrianna Murphy takes a shot against Missouri-Kansas City during the second quarter Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"Their best offense was offensive rebounding, and I felt like to start the game we did a good job of [keeping them from doing] that," Patterson said.

UMKC pulled within nine points with 2:56 left in the first half, but it was as close as the Kangaroos would get. A pair of Olivia Hackmann free throws 50 seconds later put the Redhawks up 38-27, and they led by double figures the remainder of the game.

Freshman guard Adrianna Murphy drove to the basket for a last-second shot, was fouled with .5 left on the clock and knocked down both free throws to give Southeast a 44-29 lead at halftime.

The Redhawks, who shot 60.6 percent from the free-throw line last season and were shooting 64.3 percent in the first three games, made all 10 of their free-throw attempts in the first half and finished the game 15 of 18 (83.3 percent).

"We don't make it a big deal, and I don't talk about the past," Patterson said about the difference in the free throws. "I talk about where we are and where we're going."

UMKC went without a field goal for a span of 2:58 in the third quarter during which the Redhawks went on a 13-2 run and make it a 20-point game with 6:17 left in the third.

Southeast Missouri State coach Rekha Patterson watches the game against Missouri-Kansas City Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

Ten of Southeast's points came in a burst of 54 seconds.

Hannah Noe knocked down a 3 in transition. After a UMKC free throw, Southeast broke the Kangaroos full-court press easily and Erin Bollmann made a layup.

Hackmann lobbed a pass to Imani Johnson for a close-range basket, and then the Redhawks got a steal and Hackmann quickly got the ball to Noe on the left wing for another fastbreak 3-pointer that made it 57-37.

"Once the ball handlers get it in and they look up and we have open people, it just makes it a lot easier whenever you can see the floor and you have people who can handle the pressure, and our guards do a good job of that," Hackmann said. "We've got to continue to take care of the ball in pressure situations."

UMKC cut it to 16 with a minute left in the third before Ashton Luttrull scored the final four points of the half. She drove and scored with 33 seconds left and then got a transition layup with 5 seconds remaining to make it 69-49 at the end of the third.

Deja Jones knocked down a jumper to start the fourth quarter, and a 3-pointer by Luttrull from the top of the key gave the Redhawks their largest lead of the night at 74-51 with 9:12 to go.

Luttrull, who played limited minutes last season due to recurring knee pain, was 4 for 4 and finished with a career-high nine points in eight minutes off the bench.

She also took a hit that the entire Redhawks' squad thought should've been a UMKC offensive foul and leapt out of bounds trying to make a save.

"Ashton, she went three days in a row last week and her body did not respond well, so we shut her down for about four days. And for her to come out and be able to perform like that, I am so happy for her," Patterson said. "I wish her body allowed her to do more, and I told her, 'Whatever your body allows we will listen to,' but she has a place and there is a spot for her on that floor because she just has a knack for playing basketball and she's tough. I know her mom is going to be like, 'Why do you keep falling?' but that's who she is, and I like that. I like that she's in our uniform."

Southeast shot 54.7 percent from the floor and made 5 of 12 from 3-point range (41.7 percent).

UMKC shot 42.1 percent and hit four 3s. The Kangaroos outrebounded Southeast 33-27, including 18 offensive boards that led to 15 second-chance points.

The Redhawks turned the ball over a season-low 11 times, and six came in the fourth quarter.

"I thought that we got great looks. I thought that our tempo was good," Patterson said. "And that's the thing -- that was our fourth game in six days, and we could've said, 'Oh, we're tired because we didn't get back from Alabama until 4 in the morning.' The coaching staff did a great job of making sure on those days in between games that we did not do much but shoot free throws and maybe walk through some things, so I think that kept their mind and their bodies fresh."

Hackmann led Southeast with 16 points and five assists. She was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.

Johnson had 12 points in 18 minutes, shooting 4 of 6 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the charity stripe. King had nine points and made 4 of 5 FGs and snagged four rebounds. Bollmann added five rebounds.

All 10 Redhawks that played scored.

"I think we had good flow throughout the game," Johnson said. "I think our chemistry's come a long way to where we're just making the passes, waiting for the right shot."

"I think we have a lot more trust in each other on the court, which makes a big difference," Johnson added. "That kind of just rolls along with our confidence in ourselves and each other."

Southeast's next six games will be on the road. The Redhawks travel to Western Illinois for an 11 a.m. game Tuesday.

They then head to El Paso, Texas, for the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic next Friday and Saturday.

"We're about to go on the road, and that's a little different than being at home," Patterson said. "You've got to be tough. You've got to be disciplined. You've got to stay together. It's going to be a tough road trip we're about to take, but I'm excited. I'm excited to be on the bus and on the plane with these young ladies."