Southeast women pummel winless Tigers

~ The Redhawks won 78-35 for their third straight OVC victory.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Natalie Purcell was feeling it from the start -- and that pretty much wiped out any upset hopes Tennessee State might have had.

Purcell, Southeast Missouri State's senior forward, hit her first four 3-point attempts to help the visiting Redhawks build a big early lead on their way to a 78-35 romp Thursday night.

The Redhawks (9-7 overall, 6-3 Ohio Valley Conference) now have a three-game winning streak for the first time this season, while TSU (0-15, 0-8) remained without a victory.

"You always worry about these games, especially with Tech coming up," said Southeast coach B.J. Smith, referring to Saturday's contest at first-place Tennessee Tech. "But we really came out and took care of business. I was happy with the way we played."

While the Redhawks were suffocating TSU defensively -- they allowed the fewest points since Southeast moved to the Division I level in 1991-92 -- Purcell was blistering the Tigers offensively.

Purcell scored 15 of the Redhawks' first 19 points, missing just one shot. She had 17 first-half points and finished with a career-high 27, hitting 10 of 16 field-goal attempts, including 6 of 10 3-pointers.

Purcell tied the single-game school record for 3-pointers that had been held by her and two others. She also hit six 3-pointers against Samford last season.

"I haven't been shooting very well," said Purcell, who entered the contest averaging 10.2 points per game but hitting just 27.8 percent from 3-point range. "But I felt kind of good coming into the game, and I got into a rhythm."

Also scoring in double figures for the Redhawks were senior center Tatiana Conceicao and senior forward Simone Jackson, each of whom had 10 points.

Junior college transfer center Lachelle Lyles continued her strong play off the bench with 11 rebounds. She also had six points, two blocks and two steals.

Southeast, which never trailed or was tied, built a 23-8 lead midway through the first half and kept adding to it. The Redhawks led 40-18 at the intermission and their second-half advantage was never less than that.

"We made sure we didn't look past them," Purcell said. "We didn't even talk about Tennessee Tech."

The Redhawks shot 50.8 percent (32 of 63). Defensively, they forced 24 turnovers and limited TSU to 20.4 percent shooting (11 of 54).

"I thought we were really good defensively, and we kept it up the whole game," Smith said.

Now the Redhawks can focus on the final leg of their two-game road trip, Saturday's showdown at Tennessee Tech (12-4, 8-1).

The Eaglettes beat Southeast 81-77 in overtime on Dec. 10 at the Show Me Center, and the Redhawks need a win to realistically keep their OVC regular-season title hopes alive.

"It's a huge game, no question," Smith said.