Southeast women stumble down stretch, fall to UTM

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team could not quite overcome the loss of its top three scorers.

Tennessee-Martin, which last week broke a 29-game Ohio Valley Conference losing streak, rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the host Redhawks 49-46 on Thursday.

Southeast (6-11, 3-5) remained tied for fifth in the 10-team OVC. UTM (4-13, 2-6) is in the cellar but has won two of its last three games.

"We let that one slip away," sophomore point guard Bianca Beck said. "Our mentality was just that we had the game and we didn't. We just let them chip away."

The Redhawks were noticeably shorthanded against UTM.

Missing their fourth straight games were leading scorer Jasmine Davis and third-leading scorer Lauren Sharpe.

Davis, a freshman guard, is out for the season with a knee injury. Sharpe, a junior wing, also likely is out for the rest of the campaign with back problems.

Not playing for the first time this season was freshman forward Bailie Roberts -- Southeast's No. 2 scorer and top 3-point shooter -- who has a deep bone bruise in her foot that could sideline her for several more games.

"It's tough to lose three people period, whether they're your main scorers or not," senior center Lesley Adams said.

For the majority of the contest, it looked like the Redhawks would be able to survive without that trio as Southeast led 27-12 late in the first half and 27-15 at the intermission.

But Southeast scored just one point over the final 8 minutes, 5 seconds to leave the door open for UTM.

"You got to play with what you got," Southeast coach John Ishee said about missing his leading scorers. "We were good enough to be up 12 at the half.

"I thought we got what we deserved. We forgot to play with the same passion and intensity, the same sense of urgency and communication to start the second half that we had in the first half."

After scoring just 15 points in the opening 20 minutes, UTM put up 18 points over the first seven minutes of the second half. The Skyhawks' 18-4 run lifted them into a 33-31 lead.

Southeast was able to surge back ahead 40-35 midway through the period but couldn't hold on.

"It was probably us just thinking we had it in our hands," Adams said.

The Redhawks missed their last 13 field-goal attempts and did not score over the final 4:55. Southeast had a season-low 12 turnovers but several came in the late going.

UTM did not light up the scoreboard down the stretch but did record the game's final six points.

A 3-pointer by junior forward Alecia Weatherly with 3:02 left pulled UTM into a 46-46 tie.

The teams exchanged several missed shots and turnovers before a driving layup by freshman forward Paige Smith put UTM ahead 48-46.

Southeast still had plenty of chances as UTM made just 1 of 6 free throws in the final 27 seconds.

But the Redhawks couldn't capitalize. They committed two turnovers in the last 35 seconds and unwisely attempted a 2-point shot with 4 seconds remaining despite trailing 49-46.

The Redhawks had one last opportunity when UTM missed two free throws with 3 seconds left. Freshman forward Katie Norman's half-court heave at the buzzer bounced off the backboard.

"We had our chances. We just didn't get it done. That's my fault," said Ishee, whose squad had won seven straight OVC home games dating back to last season.

Southeast, which entered play as the OVC's second-best free-throw shooting team at 71.1 percent, made just 5 of 14 (35.7 percent). The Redhawks were 1 of 6 in the final seven minutes. Adams missed two with the score tied 46-46 and 1:05 left.

The Skyhawks hit 15 of 23 free throws (65.2 percent) and shot 35 percent from the field compared to 26.6 percent for Southeast.

"When you go 5 of 14 from the free-throw line and shoot 26 percent, you're not going to win," Ishee said.

Beck led Southeast with 10 points.

Adams had nine points and 12 rebounds. She entered play as the OVC's No. 8 rebounder with a 6.6 average.

Norman and freshman forward Brittany Harriel added eight points apiece.

Freshman guard Erika Lane tied her season high with seven points and survived a nasty first-half collision with a portion of the basket standard that briefly left her shaken up.

Freshman guard Cali Cupples paced UTM with a game-high 13 points.

"It was a tale of two halves," UTM coach Kevin McMillan said. "I thought Southeast Missouri took it to us the first half. But as bad as we played the first half, we played as good the second half."

Southeast closes out its two-game homestand Saturday against defending OVC regular-season champion Murray State (8-11, 3-5).