Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team visits Western Illinois today

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball will have to weather a barrage of 3-pointers today.

The Redhawks face one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country in Western Illinois. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. from Western Hall in Macomb, Illinois.

WIU averages 13.5 made 3s per game, which is tied for second nationally. The Leathernecks average 34.5 attempts from beyond the arc per game, knocking down 39.1 percent.

"We've got to be tough enough to see them make some 3s," Southeast coach Rekha Patterson said. "A team that shoots almost 40, they're not going to all of a sudden just stop shooting them, so we've got to be tough enough to see them hit some, but just understand what the game plan is."

Southeast's 3-1 start to Patterson's first season is the program's best start since winning three of the first four games in the 2008-09 season.

The Redhawks take a three-game winning streak into today's contest. WIU also is 3-1 on the season with its lone loss to nationally-ranked Iowa in overtime.

It will be one of the tougher opponents Southeast has faced thus far. Patterson said her message to the team was improving another step this time out. She even mentioned the "brick by brick" motto that Southeast football coach Tom Matukewicz uses when talking about rebuilding his program.

"This is just getting ourselves prepared for what we're going to see in conference," Patterson said.

The Leathernecks defeated NAIA Central Methodist, where Southeast assistant James Arnold was head coach prior to joining Patterson's staff, 108-46. They also topped SIU Edwardsville, which was picked as the favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference in the preseason poll, 78-74, and beat Chicago State 88-50 on Saturday.

Iowa beat WIU 96-81 in overtime.

In their most recent game vs. Chicago State the Leathernecks hit a program record-tying 17 3s, a number they also notched vs. CMU.

Nearly half the shots WIU attempted this season, 48.4 percent, has been from beyond the arc.

"They will push the tempo, looking to 3s first, but then they'll also just, within their offense, look to dribble-drive, look to dribble handoff, dribble pitch," Patterson said. "Very rarely does the shot clock get below 10, so they're going to look to score pretty early."

True freshman guard Taylor Higginbotham leads the Leathernecks with 19.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. She's averaging 25.8 minutes off the bench.

The 5-foot-10 guard has hit 15 of 22 3-pointers and is shooting 57.4 percent from the field.

Senior guard Michelle Maher, who scored 10 vs. Southeast last year, averages 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

Sophomore guard Michelle Farrow had 11 points vs. the Redhawks a year ago, and has knocked down 13 3s and averages 12.8 points this season. Forward Sophie Reichelt, who is 6-2, averages 11.3 points and 7.0 rebounds.

"I think transition defense is going to be huge," Patterson said. "We're definitely going to have to get back and pick up and talk, and pick up at the 3-point line and communicate. I think we have to limit them to one shot and then contest their 3s -- understand what they're looking for. If they're going to hit 3s make them be contested. Limiting them to one shot is going to be huge."

Keeping their opponent from getting offensive rebounds was a challenge for the Redhawks in their latest win vs. Missouri-Kansas City. The Kangaroos finished with 18 offensive boards and 15 second-chance points in Southeast's 78-65 win.

Patterson pointed to Iowa's ability to go inside early on in their win vs. WIU as a tactic that would likely work for the Redhawks as well.

"Just watching a couple of their games, I thought against Iowa -- and we're not Iowa -- but against Iowa [the Hawkeyes] went inside early, and I think we can do that as well," Patterson said. "Against SIUE there were some driving lanes that were open so we're going to look to get it into the post, get paint points and post touches early and often. And then again, we like to push it as well. We've just got to understand that they're going to push back."

Southeast will be without starting point guard Bri Mitchell, who did not make the trip due to a mild foot sprain. Mitchell, a 5-6 junior, is second on the team in scoring with 13.3 points and leads the team with 3.5 assists per game.

Mitchell was one of three players to score in double figures in last season's 79-62 loss to WIU. She had 10 points.

Freshman Adriana Murphy, who's averaged 17.0 minutes in four games off the bench, will make her first career start in place of Mitchell. The 5-3 guard averages 3.5 points and 3.5 assists.