Southeast women miss mark vs. MSU

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team had an opportunity to all but lock down an Ohio Valley Conference tournament berth.

It didn't happen, courtesy of Thursday night's 54-34 loss to visiting Murray State, and now the Redhawks find themselves in a real dogfight.

Southeast (8-17, 4-11) fell into a seventh-place tie with MSU (8-18, 4-11). Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky are a game back.

The top eight finishers in the 10-team league make the tournament. All four squads have three games left, with Southeast visiting Tennessee State next week.

"A win would have put us in good shape," Southeast coach John Ishee said. "Now we'll probably have to beat Tennessee State to get in."

Southeast already has defeated Tennessee State once and swept the season series from Eastern Kentucky.

The Redhawks also could have swept the season series from MSU -- they won 48-44 last month in Murray, Ky. -- but a futile offensive performance and a big second half by the Racers prevented that.

Southeast, the OVC's lowest scoring team with an average of 52 points per game, set a program record for fewest points in an OVC contest. MSU allowed its fewest points in a game since the 1976-77 season.

The Redhawks made just 13 of 57 field-goal attempts (22.8 percent) and hit only 1 of 21 3-pointers (4.8 percent).

"We got some good looks but we couldn't finish," sophomore center Courtney Shiffer said. "It was just a rough offensive night."

It doesn't help the Redhawks that they keep losing key players, including some of their top offensive threats.

The latest casualty is sophomore forward Bailie Roberts, who did not play Thursday after being diagnosed with mononucleosis. Ishee said Roberts likely won't return this season.

Junior guard Karley Evans has missed the last six contests with mono and her return for the remainder of the season is questionable.

Sophomore forward Patricia Mack suffered a season-ending knee injury after playing in just two games and freshman forward Brooke Taylor -- Southeast's top recruit -- has missed the entire year with a blood disorder.

"It's tough not having those players," Ishee said.

Southeast did regain the services of sophomore guard Monica Miller after she missed the previous 14 games with an injury, although she played just seven minutes.

Sophomore guard Jasmine Davis also was hobbled Thursday with an ankle injury suffered during Saturday's loss at Morehead State. She played just 20 minutes and Ishee said he might sit her the next couple of games.

Despite all that, the Redhawks weren't in bad shape at halftime, down just 19-15.

"You hold them to 19 points in the first half ... but we settled for so many perimeter shots," Ishee said. "The second half we started getting stuff going to the rim. We just couldn't hit any shots."

Two extended offensive droughts doomed the Redhawks.

Southeast went scoreless for nearly seven minutes to end the first half MSU finished with an 8-0 run for its 19-15 halftime lead.

The Redhawks then went scoreless for more than five minutes in the second half MSU used a 16-0 burst to break things open.

"We couldn't hit anything," junior guard Bianca Beck said.

Southeast trailed 23-21 after a basket with about 14 minutes left. By the time the Redhawks scored again they were down 39-21 with less than nine minutes to go. Southeast got no closer than 13 points.

MSU junior forward Kayla Lowe did the most damage during that run. She buried three 3-pointers during th run.

Lowe, who entered the night shooting 27.3 percent from 3-point range, made 5 of 7 from beyond the arc for a game-high 15 points. She was 4 of 5 in the second half.

The Racers shot just 33.3 percent for the game but hit 50 percent in the second half, when they outscored Southeast 35-19.

MSU was 7 of 11 from 3-point range in the final period after going 3 of 14 in the opening half.

"They started hitting and we couldn't score back," said Beck, who led the Redhawks with eight points.

Southeast plays its final home game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against Tennessee-Martin. The Skyhawks (16-10, 11-4), tied for second in the OVC, routed the Redhawks 92-62 on Jan. 19 in Martin, Tenn.