Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team to begin practice today

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach Ty Margenthaler is confident good things are in store for his third Redhawks team.

The Redhawks, who begin practice today, have made steady progress during Margenthaler's first two seasons, and he expects a more significant jump during the 2013-14 campaign.

"I'm very excited about where we are. We have a nice group coming back that knows our system and I think we've added some talented players who are going to help us," Margenthaler said. "We really feel like we should be able to make a nice jump this year. Year three is big."

Although Southeast failed to make the Ohio Valley Conference tournament for the fourth straight year last season, the Redhawks posted the program's most overall and conference wins since the 2008-09 campaign.

Southeast went 11-18 overall and 5-11 in OVC play, which tied the Redhawks for ninth place among 12 teams, their highest finish since 2008-09. Only the top eight finishers qualify for the OVC tournament.

"I thought we did a lot of positive things last year. I thought we made progress," said Margenthaler. "We did some things that hadn't been done in several years. We broke some barriers."

The Redhawks' improved on Margenthaler's first Southeast squad, which went 7-22 overall and a 10th-place 4-12 in what was then an 11-team league

"We'll be very disappointed if we don't make the tournament this year," Margenthaler said.

Southeast had just three seniors last year, all key players in guard Bailie Roberts, forward Brittany Harriel and forward Courtney Shiffer. Roberts led the Redhawks in scoring, Harriel was the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder and Shiffer led in blocked shots.

Southeast -- which is still young with just two seniors -- returns seven players, five of whom started at one point last year, with four making at least 10 starts. Two of Southeast's top returning players were first-year squad members last season.

Senior point guard Jordan Hunter was Southeast's No. 3 scorer (9.1 ppg) and led in assists (115) and steals (34) after transferring from junior college. She also was second with 31 3-pointers.

Sophomore guard Kara Wright moved into the starting lineup just under halfway through the season as a true freshman and ended up on the OVC's all-newcomer team.

Wright, the first Southeast player to earn some form of all-OVC recognition since 2008-09, finished as the Redhawks' No. 4 scorer (8.5 ppg), was second in assists (56) and second in blocks (15).

Wright especially stood out during conference play, her 10.6 scoring average ranking only behind Roberts' 12.6 mark.

Junior guard Allyson Bradshaw, a Notre Dame Regional High School graduate, was Southeast's top 3-point shooter while averaging 8.2 points. She hit 48 of 144 from beyond the arc (33.3 percent). Her 82 career 3-pointers are tied for eighth in program history.

Senior forward Patricia Mack averaged 5.7 points and was Southeast's top rebounder, her 9.3 mark ranking fourth in the OVC. She was also second on the team in steals (29) and third in blocks (11).

Mack, the OVC's top returning rebounder, recorded the seventh-most rebounds in program history last year and the third-highest figure since Southeast moved up to Division I in 1991-92.

Sophomore guard Olivia Hackmann was Southeast's second-most productive freshman, averaging 4.4 points.

Sophomore forward Connor King (1.3 ppg), a Jackson High School graduate, had her moments in limited action.

Junior guard Yelena Rosado saw very little action, scoring one point in 27 minutes spanning eight games.

While Margenthaler likes what he has coming back, he also is excited about his seven newcomers -- five freshmen and two junior college transfers.

Freshmen are forward Bailey Geiman, forward Brittany Harris, combo guard Jade Holly, guard Ashton Luttrull and point guard Brianna Mitchell. Harris is a Dexter High School graduate.

Juco transfers are 6-foot-3 center Kenyada Brown and 6-1 forward Hillary Lively. Brown is Southeast's tallest player.

"We feel like we have a little more depth overall and we feel like we took care of some areas inside that we needed," Margenthaler said. "We're ready to get going, to try to put it all together."

Southeast plays its only exhibition game Nov. 4, hosting Maryville. The season opener is Nov. 8 at Alabama A&M.