Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team suffers 8th conference loss

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team and coach Ty Margenthaler were obviously frustrated following their game against Austin Peay.

Part of the frustration stemmed from losing their eighth Ohio Valley Conference game, but more frustrating was how the Redhawks lost.

Southeast got off to a rocky start and was never able to complete a comeback as it was defeated 70-62 by the Governors at the Dunn Center on Saturday night.

"Frustrated because we had all week to prepare, and that's how we come out," Margenthaler said. "We knew everything. [Assistant coach] Heather Ezell put in about 50 hours on the scout. We knew everything, but again, that's our mental focus, and that is right now the lack of being ready, which is ridiculous. I'll take ownership of it, but it's accountability on everybody. We weren't ready. We're down 10-0, and now we've got to climb the whole way back. Right now we're beating ourselves by little things, and it's just an ongoing situation."

The Govs opened up the game on a 10-0 run over the first 4 minutes, 39 seconds. Southeast scored its first points with a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Brianna Mitchell with 14:26 to play in the first half, and its first field goal came when junior forward Erin Bollmann completed a 3-point play 24 seconds later that made it 15-5.

APSU extended its lead to as many as 14 with 12:22 to go before halftime.

"I guess we just didn't come ready," junior guard Olivia Hackmann said. "We knew what the they were going to do. The scout was great. We just need to focus in a little bit more. I think we got a little too focused on trying to play the play than focusing on just playing basketball."

The Redhawks trailed 25-12 with 9:20 left before rattling off seven unanswered points that were capped with a 3-pointer by senior guard Yelena Rosado and forced the Govs to take a timeout.

Southeast Missouri State's Erin Bollmann drives against Austin Peay's Beth Rates during the second half Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 in Clarksville, Tennessee. (Fred Lynch)

A 6-1 Southeast run pulled the Redhawks within one point at 26-25 with 4:13 left in the half, but they never got any closer. The Govs closed out the half on a 12-2 run, featuring a pair of 3-pointers by senior guard Kristen Stainback, to hold a 38-27 advantage at the break.

"No communication, for one. Communication was awful," Margenthaler said. "That's very frustrating because that's what I talk about every day in practice. That, and then also we were doubling the post. And we were late on doubling the post a few times, so they got some easy baskets. We know that [Stainback] is a great shooter. She scored 14. We didn't chase her on staggers. I mean, those are three major things in the first half that really hurt us, and then from there on, it's catch up. Yeah, we got a couple shots, whoopee. Yeah, we made some layups finally, but again, it's just catch up."

The Redhawks pulled within six points four times in the second half, the latest being with 10:15 left on a layup by junior forward Connor King. The Govs answered with a 3-point play, and Southeast continued to play from behind.

"[Margenthaler] just flat-out said it, 'We've got to focus more. We've got to know what we're doing on the offensive and defensive end, when we're doubling and stuff like that,'" Hackmann said.

Margenthaler said the team's communication in practices was "terrible" leading up to Saturday's contest and that he's "the biggest cheerleader" during practice.

"I'm done cheering. I'm going to coach," Margenthaler said. "If they don't talk we'll just dismiss them. We just won't practice. That's the bottom line because I want to teach them something. If we don't win a game from here on out, I want to teach them something in life besides basketball. That's more important to me right now."

Southeast shot 38.7 percent from the field and was 8 of 15 from the free-throw line.

Bollmann and senior guard Jasmine Robinson each finished with 13 points, while Rosado added 10.

"That was good, and that was encouraging. But we weren't doing the little things on offense," Margenthaler said. "We would run a set, and then we'd screw it up. Not everyone was on the same page. We were trying everything, and that's very frustrating. We review it and review it and review it every day, and then they don't execute in the game. That's tough."

Forward Jennifer Nwokocha scored 15 to pace the Govs. Center Brianne Alexander had 15, forward Beth Rates had 12 and Stainback finished with 14.

The Redhawks (8-14, 1-8 OVC) travel to Murray State on Thursday.

"I like the fact that we didn't quit. We didn't stop playing, and that's expected," Margenthaler said. "They should never [quit]. That's our team. They should fight until the end. I thought we did. I thought we gave ourself a chance in the second half, but to be down that many in the first half, it's a grind. And it's mentally taxing."