Southeast women grab share of first in OVC

MURRAY, Ky. -- Murray State entered Monday's Ohio Valley Conference showdown boasting by far the top offensive statistics in the league, and some of the best in the nation.

But the Racers' offense finally hit a speed bump against a Southeast Missouri State defense that has been stifling most of the season.

The Redhawks shut down the explosive Racers and used an offensive outburst of their own in the second half to post a 67-61 road win.

Southeast's eighth consecutive victory -- MSU had a seven-game winning streak snapped -- moved the defending OVC champion Redhawks (11-4) into a first-place tie with the Racers (9-4). Both squads are 6-1 in conference play.

"We are extremely fired up to win this game," Southeast sophomore point guard Tarina Nixon said.

Said Southeast junior guard Ashley Lovelady: "It kind of felt like a championship game. Both teams wanted it. We wanted it more."

The Redhawks knew they would have to put the clamps on MSU's offense in order to hand the Racers their first OVC loss.

MSU came into the contest 26th nationally in scoring with an average of 78.1 points per game, 18th nationally in field-goal percentage at 48.3, and fifth nationally in 3-point field-goal percentage at 40.8. All those figures lead the OVC.

In conference play, the Racers had been even more potent, averaging 86.3 points per game while shooting 55.5 percent from the field and 44.2 percent from 3-point range.

But Southeast's defense had been potent in its own right, allowing opponents just 37.2-percent field-goal shooting to top the conference.

"We have to hang our hat on team defense," Southeast acting head coach John Ishee said.

Consider the hat hung.

The Redhawks held MSU to 36.7 percent from the field (22 of 60), including 21.1 percent on 3-pointers (4 of 19).

Until a late flurry by the Racers after Southeast opened up a 12-point lead, the Redhawks threatened to hold MSU under 50 points.

"Defense has been our focus all year," Southeast senior center Lachelle Lyles said. "We knew we had to keep playing good defense tonight."

Sophomore guard Sonya Daugherty, coming off a career-high 23-point performance during Thursday's win over Eastern Illinois, continued her strong play off the bench with 19 points.

Daugherty, who hit seven of nine shots from the field, scored 15 second-half points to lead a charge as the Redhawks erased a 25-21 deficit.

"Sonya really got aggressive in the second half," Ishee said.

Nixon scored 14 points, Lovelady added 12 and Lyles -- the nation's leading rebounder at 16.5 per game -- delivered a double-double with 10 points and 18 rebounds as Southeast, among the nation's top rebounding teams, controlled the boards 41-27.

Senior forward Joi Scott, the OVC's preseason player of the year who leads the league in scoring at 20.6 points per game -- including 24.5 in conference play -- led the Racers with 19 points.

Scott hit 6 of 13 from the floor, after she had been shooting 79 percent in OVC games.

"I thought Lachelle did a very good job on her," Ishee said. "Scott is a good player but we made her work for what she got."

A tight first half ended with Southeast behind 25-21, and the score remained close for the first 13 minutes of the second half.

Trailing 37-35 with 11 minutes left, the Redhawks hit the Racers with a 16-2 run that was fueled by defense and Southeast's guards penetrating for easy baskets.

Lovelady's short jumper with 9 minutes and 36 seconds remaining put Southeast ahead to stay at 39-37.

Leading 41-39, the Redhawks scored 10 straight points to grab control.

Nixon's basket from in close with 5:34 left gave Southeast its first double-digit advantage, 49-39, and junior forward Missy Whitney's layup at the 4:47 mark made it 51-39.

Southeast led 55-43 with under three minutes left when MSU finally began to get its offense untracked a bit as the Racers hit all four of their 3-pointers during that period.

But the Redhawks closed out the win from the free-throw line, making 12 of 14 in the final 1:06, including seven of eight by Nixon.

The Redhawks shot 62.5 percent in the final period (15 of 24), mainly because guard penetration led to shots from in close.

"We had a quickness advantage with our guards, and we had to use it in the second half," Lovelady said.

Southeast also posted its second straight victory without a major offensive contribution from Whitney, who averages more than 13 points per game.

Largely because of foul problems, Whitney has scored just six points in each of the past two games.

"Everybody gets in slumps," Lovelady said. "We know we need her, but we've got other people to pick up the slack."

Noteworthy

• Lovelady, a junior college transfer, was on Monday named the OVC newcomer of the week for the second straight week.

Lovelady scored 26 points in a pair of Southeast wins last week. She also had seven assists and four rebounds.