Southeast women reach OVC tournament semis

Regular season women's Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeast Missouri State never could get pesky No. 8 Austin Peay to go away Tuesday night in the opening round of the OVC Tournament, but the Redhawks found a way to hold on for a 58-54 win at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks will face Samford in the OVC semifinals at noon Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

Southeast and Austin Peay exchanged turnovers with about 15 seconds remaining, and Lachelle Lyles hit the first free throw of a one-and-one to give the Redhawks a 57-54 lead. Lyles missed the second attempt, but she was able to grab her own miss and put the game out of reach by hitting the first of a one-and-one with 11 seconds remaining.

Lyles, the OVC single-season rebounding record holder, finished with 19 rebounds and nine points.

"Nobody boxed me out; that's my strength [rebounding]," Lyles said. "I knew since I missed my shot I had to go and get it. I just attacked the ball."

Top-seeded Southeast built its biggest lead at 44-33 with 14:52 remaining in the second half when Austin Peay made its move. An 8-0 run by the Governors, which cut the lead to 44-41, started with a missed breakaway layup from Sonya Daugherty. Lyles got the offensive rebound, but her shot was blocked.

Four turnovers by the Redhawks aided the run. Southeast's lead once grew to seven points with five minutes remaining, but otherwise Austin Peay would remain within three points for much of the last 10 minutes.

"It [the momentum] definitely shifted their way," Southeast acting head coach John Ishee said. "I thought it shifted their way when they got it to three [at 54-51]. Then Ashley Lovelady hit a big shot."

Lovelady, a junior college transfer, was the Connect-Rite player of the game with a game-high 20 points on nine of 12 shooting.

"At this time of year, you're never going to blow anyone out because you're going to get their best effort," Lovelady said. "I respect Austin Peay for bringing it to us, but we had the bigger will to win."

Southeast may have had the bigger will to win, but a big edge on the boards did not hurt. Lyles, who averages more than 17 rebounds a game to lead the nation, just missed out on yet another 20-rebound performance. Over the first 12 minutes of the game Lyles had 11 rebounds, and the senior collected several pivotal rebounds in the final two minutes.

Despite shooting just over 57 percent from the free-throw line, Lyles was clutch when it counted. Overall, Lyles was 3-for-5 from the line.

"She's had a penchant for doing that much of the year," Ishee said.

The teams struggled from the field, each shooting 33 percent. Southeast trailed just once the entire game, 5-4 less than three minutes into the first half. The Redhawks got their lead up to 24-15 with less than five minutes remaining, but Austin Peay pulled to within 30-28 by halftime.

Daugherty keyed Southeast's first half, scoring 11 points -- all in the opening eight minutes of the half. Overall, Daugherty finished with 16 points on six-of-16 shooting.

After missing all seven 3-point attempts in the first half, Southeast hit back-to-back 3's in the opening minutes of the second half to spark an 8-1 run. Southeast started to rush on offense, though, allowing Austin Peay to claw back.

"We were trying to see if we could make smoke come off the ball," Ishee said. "We were up nine, I don't see why we were in such a hurry. But that's kind of typical for a tournament game."

Both teams picked up their play in the second half, each shooting better than 47 percent after the break. The Redhawks shot 50 percent from the field in the second half.

Austin Peay leading scorer Alicia Watson led the team with 15 points, nine in the second half. Amber Bacon added 12 points and Nicole Jamen had eight. Watson and Jamen were a handful inside for the Redhawks.

"They were hitting big shots down the stretch," Lyles said. "At the same time, we knew we couldn't let this slip away."

Now the Redhawks, picked fifth in the preseason poll after losing four starters, are just two games away from the program's second straight berth in the NCAA tournament. Southeast qualified for the first time last year.

"We still have to prove people wrong," Lovelady said. "People didn't think we'd do this because we lost six seniors. They did a lot, but we bring a lot this year."

Following the win, Southeast players and coaches cut down the nets to celebrate the program's first outright regular season OVC championship. Last year the Redhawks shared the regular-season crown.

"Our second goal was to get to the NCAA Tournament," Lyle said. "We'll take it one game at a time, but we're looking for the opportunity to win it."