Southeast women set to host Southern Illinois

~ The Redhawks have lost five consecutive games, including four on the road

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team returns from four consecutive games on the road to battle regional rival SIU Carbondale at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks and Salukis face off at 6:30 p.m. today.

"We know it's a big game for us, still non-conference, but we know where we're at at this point, and this team needs a win and we're glad to be back home and playing in the Show Me Center," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "We're looking for a really good performance."

The Salukis (1-5) picked up their first win of the season and first win under first-year coach Cindy Stein with a 39-37 defeat of Central Arkansas on Monday.

Southeast (2-6) looks to snap its five-game winless streak and avenge a one-point loss to the Salukis last year.

The Redhawks lost 58-57 to the Salukis last season in Carbondale, Ill.

"Honestly, it's going to come down to who wants it more," Margenthaler said. "They just came off a win … so they're going to feel a little bit better. But this game, honestly, between both teams is going to come down to who really wants it more, and both teams really need a win. It's just going to be who's going to execute longer at a harder pace."

The Salukis are led by sophomore forward/center Dyana Pierre, who averages 12.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.

Junior guard Cartaesha Macklin is the only other Saluki to average double-digit scoring with 10.8 points per game.

Kara Wright is averaging 12.3 points per game to lead the Redhawks followed by Olivia Hackmann with 10.6 points per game.

Margenthaler is hopeful that Allyson Bradshaw and Yelena Rosado, who have been limited by injury during the team's losing streak, will be able to play valuable minutes against SIU. Both completed a full practice on Monday and Margenthaler expected them to make it through practice Tuesday as well.

"[Bradshaw] was shooting the basketball extremely well from 3-point range, which is exciting," Margenthaler said. "She hasn't done that for probably a week and a half, two weeks. If we get her through a full practice [Tuesday] she should be full go."

The Redhawks had what Margenthaler considers one of their best practices of the season on Monday and the coach was excited at the way his players responded after losing both games in the New Mexico tournament over the weekend.

"I challenged them from the start to the end. It was a very challenging practice," Margenthaler said. "We went back to really some basic drills that we need to sure up a little bit, that we weren't doing very, very well on the previous games with shot selection and taking care of the ball. We really emphasized on those two things."

Southeast has lost its last three games by margins of 18 to Wichita State and New Mexico and 51 points to Arkansas.

"Playing individually I think what happened a little bit in this little stretch we've gone through. I think they're a little frustrated and trying to do a little bit more than they can possibly do," Margenthaler said. "Our staff and I, what we've been talking about in practice is just getting it back to playing together -- screening, helping each other and putting each other in a better position to score. They're not being really selfish. It's just more them trying to do more individually instead of being a team, so we're trying to get back to that team concept."