Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team plenty puts 4-game winning streak to the test

Coach Rekha Patterson and the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team had plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Patterson's fulfilling her dream of being a head coach, and the Redhawks have won four in a row for their best start since 2008-09.

Southeast celebrated the holiday with a trip to El Paso, Texas, where the Redhawks will compete in the University of Texas-El Paso's fifth annual Thanksgiving Classic today and Saturday.

"I told them, 'We're going to enjoy this. This is a Thanksgiving holiday, and we have so much to be thankful for. We get to spend it with each other,'" Patterson said.

Patterson was excited to share new experiences with some of her players, one of whom had never flown on a plane and others that hadn't visited Texas before.

The Southeast coaching staff planned a few activities away from the court and outside the confines of the hotel for the team -- a Thanksgiving meal at Cracker Barrel, a trip to the movies and a visit to a museum on the Texas Western 1966 NCAA men's basketball championship team that the movie "Glory Road" is based on -- because Patterson wants "the ladies to at least have an understanding of where we're going and the history behind it."

Southeast opens the tournament with a 5:30 p.m. game vs. Idaho State in the Don Haskins Center.

The Bengals are 1-3 on the season. They opened their slate with an 82-56 victory vs. Colorado Christian at home and have lost three straight on the road to Northwestern (72-36), Michigan State (79-60) and Texas Tech (79-64).

"Their record is not an indicator of their talent," Patterson said. "They played two Big 10 teams on the road and ... Texas Tech, so they're going to be battle tested. They're bigger than we are. We're going to have to be tough and rebound the ball. But you can't judge someone's heart."

Anna Policicchio leads Idaho State, averaging 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. She's hit a team-high 5 of 7 3-pointers.

Apiphany Woods averages 11.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Brooke Blair averages 10.8 points, 4.8 revbounds and 2.8 assists.

Southeast is coming off an 89-84 victory against Western Illinois. The Redhawks defeated the Leathernecks in Macomb for the first time ever on Tuesday.

Southeast shot 42.9 percent in the game and knocked down 12 of 23 3s in the win. Five Redhawks scored in double figures: Olivia Hackmann (26), Deja Jones (13), Adrianna Murphy (13), Hannah Noe (11) and Erin Bollmann (10).

The Redhawks outrebounded WIU 55-39 and held them to 36.3 percent shooting. The Leathernecks, who entered the contest ranked second nationally with 13.5 made 3-pointers per game, knocked down 12 of 48 attempts from beyond the arc.

"You can always get better at your defense, rebounding and taking care of the ball. Those are three things that you have to be better at every day, and when you go on the road, you've got to be able to do that," Patterson said of what the team's focuses are heading into the tournament. "You know, being able to finish some shots. I think we got some shots around the paint that we did not finish, and we've got to get to the free-throw line a little bit more, so we've got to be in attack mode. You know, we're shooting free throws at the end of the game and we're making them and I'm happy about that, but earlier in the game we need to get to the free-throw line."

Southeast will face either the host Miners or UC Riverside on Saturday. UTEP and UC Riverside are slated to play at 8:05 p.m. today.

UC Riverside is 2-2 on the season. The Highlanders defeated Fresno State and San Diego State and have lost their last two to California and Oregon State.

UTEP, which played for the WNIT title and lost by two to Rutgers in 2014, is off to a 3-0 start. The Miners have home wins vs. Houston Baptist, Northern Arizona and Hampton.

"Great program, great fans, so I think it's going to be a great experience for us," Patterson said. "We've just got to continue to believe in ourselves, give great energy, effort, great attitude, compete and be there for each other."

Men's home opener

The Southeast men's basketball team racked up the mileage in its first two weeks of the season, traveling to Ohio, Indiana, Alabama and Texas for its first four games.

The Redhawks (0-4) return to the Show Me Center for their home opener at 2 p.m. Saturday vs. Loyola Marymount.

The Lions defeated Southeast in their season opener 76-66 last year. They return four players, including two starters, who played in last year's meeting.

Marin Mornar, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward, and David Humphries, a 6-4, 210-pound guard, both started vs. the Redhawks last year. Mornar is averaging 7.3 points and 4.5 rebounds through four games this year. Humphries is averaging 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds so far.

Antonius Cleveland scored 16 on 50-percent shooting for the Redhawks last year while Isiah Jones had 11 and knocked down three 3s.

The Mike Dunlap-led Lions are 3-2 and are coming off an 82-80 overtime win vs. Cal State Northride on Wednesday night.

They've also defeated Cal State Fullerton and Antelope Valley. LMU's losses were to UC Irvine and Colorado State.

Junior transfer guard Brandon Brown, who's 5-11, leads the team in scoring with 15.4 ppg.

Junior transfer Adom Jacko, a 6-8, 225-pound forward, averages 13.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Sophomore guard Joshua Spiers is coming off a career-high 24-point performance vs. Cal State Northridge and averages 10.0 ppg. He leads the team with 10 made 3s and is shooting 45.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Central Florida transfer Steven Haney, a 6-6 G/F, averages 8.2 ppg. He made eight 3-pointers, but he's only averaging 25 percent from beyond the arc.