Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team falls to OVC newcomer SIUE

The SIU Edwardsville women's basketball team has been strong during its first season in the Ohio Valley Conference.

SIUE continued its impressive rookie OVC campaign at the expense of visiting Southeast Missouri State on Monday night, rolling to a 63-48 victory in Edwardsville, Ill.

The Cougars improved to 15-9 overall and a third-place 9-4 in OVC play after sweeping the season series from Southeast. They beat the Redhawks 58-43 in Cape Girardeau on Jan. 16.

Southeast (6-20, 3-10), shooting for the program's first OVC tournament berth in three years, is tied for ninth in the 11-team conference. The top eight finishers qualify for the tournament. Southeast is tied for eighth for tournament purposes because SIUE is ineligible for the event this season.

The Redhawks fell to 0-6 in conference road games and 0-13 on the road overall. They own a neutral site victory over Longwood.

Southeast held early leads of 2-0 and 5-4 on Monday, but SIUE began to take control midway through the first half, building an 18-9 advantage.

The Cougars went ahead 38-17 late in the half before settling for a 38-21 edge at the break.

"SIU Edwardsville came out in the first half and really played well," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "They were more physical than us and it's frustrating. They can really shoot the ball and they have good post players."

Southeast got no closer than 17 points until the closing minutes. SIUE's biggest lead was 25 points.

Senior point guard Bianca Beck led Southeast offensively with 11 points. Junior forward Brittany Harriel added 10 points, but she was in foul trouble much of the night and played only 18 minutes.

Sophomore forward Patricia Mack came off the bench and tied her career high with 13 rebounds. She scored eight points.

Junior forward Bailie Roberts added six points, 11 rebounds and three steals.

SIUE got a double-double from junior forward Raven Berry, who scored 11 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Jazmin Hill led the Cougars with 14 points. She hit 4 of 9 3-pointers.

Southeast shot 30.2 percent and made just 3 of 18 3-pointers (16.7 percent).

SIUE shot 39.3 percent -- 50 percent in the first half -- and hit 8 of 22 from beyond the arc (36.4 percent). The Cougars held a 41-37 rebounding advantage.

The Redhawks return to action at 7 p.m. Saturday with their final home game against second-place Tennessee-Martin (17-8, 11-1). The Skyhawks pounded Southeast 88-47 in Martin, Tenn., on Jan. 28.