Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team holds on for first road win

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team used a career-high 19 points from senior point guard Yelena Rosado and 19 points from senior guard Jasmine Robinson to break a four-game losing streak with a 70-65 win over Bradley on Sunday in Peoria, Illinois.

The Redhawks, who led by as many as 18 points in the first half, had to weather a tense final minute in which the winless Braves had the opportunity to pull even or take the lead.

The Redhawks (2-4) had dropped their previous three road games at Missouri, Ole Miss and SIU Carbondale.

"This is by far the most unselfish 40 minutes of basketball by a team since I've coached here so far at Southeast," said Redhawks coach Ty Margenthaler, whose team finished with 14 assists, shot 55 percent from the field and got to the free-throw line 28 times. "They were very, very unselfish from top to bottom, whether they played or not playing. They were just all engaged in every play. It was a fun game to be involved in."

A 3-point basket by senior guard Allison Bradshaw gave Southeast its first lead of the game at the 16-minute, 29-second mark of the first half. It sparked an 11-0 run for the Redhawks, who never surrendered the lead.

Bradshaw, a Notre Dame graduate who scored all eight of her points in the first half, capped the run with a layup at the 12:24 mark for a 15-6 advantage. A pair of free throws by Bradley's Michelle Young ended the spurt, but Southeast followed with a 13-0 burst. A jumper by junior Erin Bollmann in the paint gave Southeast its biggest lead of the game, a 26-8 advantage, with 8:45 left in the half.

The Redhawks took a 36-24 lead into halftime.

Southeast maintained a double-figure lead over the first five minutes of the second half, but the Braves (0-6) went on a 15-6 run to trim the deficit to 49-48 on a Leti Lerma layin with 10:48 left in the game.

"We had a few careless turnovers and defensively we did a few things where we went for some steals we shouldn't do, and they scored in those situations," Margenthaler said. "That's how it got a little bit closer, but I liked the way we held our composure at the end and got the stops we needed to and made the shots when we needed to and made a few free throws down at the end to put the game away, which is what good teams do."

Rosado and Robinson helped steady the Redhawks by scoring the team's next seven points to keep Southeast in front.

Rosado, who had established a new career high two days earlier with 11 points in a 78-62 loss to SIU, hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left to push a tenuous lead to five points at 67-62.

The Redhawks needed the cushion as Charnelle Reed hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left and was fouled on the play. Reed's basket pulled the Braves to within 67-65. She missed the accompanying free throw, but Bradley controlled the rebound. However, the Braves lost possession on a tie-up and the Braves were forced to foul.

"A pretty touchy call, but they called it a three-point shot situation," Margenthaler said about the play involving Reed. "But I think the tight games that we've been through over the year helped us in this game. And again, we haven't had a ton of success on the road, and to get an early road win against a Missouri Valley program is really big for our program and to move forward."

Robinson and junior guard Olivia Hackman provided free throws down the stretch to secure the five-point win.

Bollman, a Meadow Heights graduate, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for her second double-double of the season.

"She's really gives us that spark I like off the bench," Margenthaler said. "Connor King has been really, really steady with her rebounding and chipped in a couple points, but the one girl that over the weekend that has taken her game to another level is Yelena Rosado."

Rosado was 5 of 7 from the field -- she sank both her 3-point attempts -- hit on 7 of 8 free throws and added two assists.

"She's had two phenomenal back-to-back games scoring-wise, running the team," Margenthaler said. "I'm really happy for her, being a senior and hasn't had a lot of playing time, and she's really done a good job."

As a team, Southeast connected on 23 of 52 shots (55 percent) from the field.

"That's one of the better shooting percentages we've had in a long time, maybe the highest since I've been here," Margenthaler said. "It's always been a little bit of a struggle scoring-wise, and they're really starting to get the offense and really starting to attack.

"And the one thing you can tell when the offense is really working well is we got to the line 28 times. I wish we could have shot the free throws a little bit better -- we were 19 for 28 -- but I like getting there 28 times. That means we're definitely being the aggressor, and that's what this offense allows us to do."

The Redhawks also had a 29-17 edge in rebounding, limiting the Braves to four second-chance points.

Lerma led Bradley with 21 points.

Margenthaler said the end of the four-game losing streak made for a happy locker room.

"It's rewarding and fun, but again we know it's only one game and we know we've got a lot of work," Margenthaler said. "We're going to enjoy it on the way home, and then tomorrow we've got to get up and get ready for a really good Western Illinois team that took care of us pretty good at their place last year."

Southeast will face Western Illinois in its annual Classroom on the Court contest at 11 a.m. Wednesday. More than 1,500 grade school students from the region are scheduled to attend.

"We're excited," Margenthaler said. " We're really excited about getting a lot of kids in the stands. and having a great atmosphere."