Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team tracks down first road win

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team finally won a road game.

One more road victory, in Saturday's' regular-season finale at Austin Peay, will give the Redhawks their first Ohio Valley Conference tournament berth in three years.

Southeast ended its run of road futility that dated back to last season by holding off Jacksonville (Ala.) State 54-47 on Thursday night.

The Redhawks had been 0-13 in true road games this year and had lost 17 straight road contests.

"For a team that doesn't have experience winning on the road in this league, this is a real confidence builder," first-year Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said.

Southeast (7-21, 4-11) moved into a ninth-place tie with Austin Peay. The squads are tied for eighth in the 11-team league for OVC tournament purposes because third-place SIU Edwardsville is ineligible for the event this season.

The top eight finishers make the tournament. The only way Southeast can qualify is by beating Austin Peay (7-21, 4-11) in Saturday's 5:15 p.m. tipoff in Clarksville, Tenn. The Redhawks defeated the Governors 69-60 on Jan. 30 at the Show Me Center.

If the Redhawks win, they would be the No. 7 tournament seed because they own the tie-breaker over Tennessee State (9-19, 5-11), which is a game ahead of Southeast and has finished its league schedule.

"It's in our hands, which is all you can ask for," said Margenthaler, whose squad would have been able to make the tournament by winning Saturday even if it would have lost Thursday because of Austin Peay's loss at Tennessee-Martin. "We're going to go into the game confident. We beat them at home. We know we can do it again."

Southeast notched its second victory over last-place JSU (4-24, 1-14), which already had been eliminated from tournament contention and suffered its ninth consecutive loss.

The Redhawks, who led for all but about a minute, were up 32-21 at halftime and by 15 points early in the second half. JSU cut the deficit to five points several times, but Southeast held on.

"We just did enough to win the basketball game," Margenthaler said. "We came out well in the first half by hitting some shots. We got a little stagnant when they changed up their defense in the second half and they went on a little run, but we were able to get our composure back late in the game."

Junior forward Brittany Harrielled Southeast with 17 points and grabbed six rebounds despite spraining an ankle in practice during the week. She scored 14 points in the first half.

Junior forward Bailie Roberts had 10 points, five rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard Allyson Bradshaw from Notre Dame Regional High School added eight points.

Senior point guard Bianca Beck contributed six points, six rebounds and six assists while playing 37 minutes.

Roberts scored eight consecutive points during a first-half burst that saw Southeast stretch a 20-19 advantage to 28-19. The Redhawks ended the period on a 12-2 run that accounted for their 32-21 advantage at the break.

Southeast shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, its second-best percentage for a half all season. The Redhawks struggled in the second half and finished at 37.5 percent.

JSU, which lost at Southeast 66-48 on Jan. 2, shot 36.4 percent.