Southeast women survive scare from Henderson State

~ The Division II school nearly pulled off a giant upset against the defending OVC champions.

Southeast Missouri State's players weren't sure whether they took Division II Henderson State lightly.

But Redhawks women's basketball coach John Ishee certainly was.

"I knew the first possession," Ishee said. "You better come ready to play mentally and physically, and we weren't. That's my responsibility."

Ishee was able to at least speak without being in a state of total depression Tuesday night because the Redhawks avoided a major upset by slipping past the Reddies 59-58.

That, however, was about all Ishee found pleasant about the game at the Show Me Center.

"We won on the scoreboard," said Ishee, whose squad improved to 2-0. "But we were very, very fortunate to escape."

The Reddies, who had lost at Oklahoma 110-40 and at Middle Tennessee State 108-49 in exhibition play, took the fight to Southeast from the start.

Henderson State, located in Arkadelphia, Ark., led most of the way and was ahead 58-56 in the closing minutes before Southeast finally pulled ahead.

"I think we were mentally prepared, but we didn't get off to a good start and it went from there," senior center Missy Whitney said. "It's a big wake-up call because we played horrible tonight."

That held true for many of the Redhawks, save for a few players -- most notably junior guard/forward Sonya Daugherty.

Daugherty, who led Southeast in scoring last year and was the MVP of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, was the Redhawks' only real offensive threat Tuesday.

Daugherty scored 25 of Southeast's 59 points, including 15 of the Redhawks' 29 second-half points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds.

"Sonya was a big help. She stepped it up," Whitney said.

Daugherty hit 8-of-17 from the field, with most of the baskets coming on her signature drives to the hoop. She also went 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.

"We were settling for too many perimeter shots. I felt like we had to get to the basket," Daugherty said. "I think we played to the level of our competition."

The Redhawks, whose biggest deficit was seven points early in the second half, forged a 56-56 tie on Daugherty's 3-pointer with 1:51 remaining.

Henderson State, which went 19-10 a year ago, regained a 58-56 lead.

Daugherty's driving basket with 1 minute left again knotted the contest.

After a turnover by the Reddies, Whitney was fouled on a shot inside with 20 seconds left. She made one of two free throws to put Southeast ahead 59-58.

The Reddies ran the clock down and Jazmine Ellis drove the lane, but was stripped by Southeast junior guard Szandra Pal. The Redhawks recovered the ball and ran out the clock.

"We were very fortunate," Ishee said.

While it was a frustrating night for the Redhawks, nobody was more frustrated than Whitney, the OVC preseason player of the year who scored 28 points during Saturday's 67-45 win over Tulsa in the opener. Whitney picked up two early first-half fouls and played just eight minutes.

She again got two quick second-half fouls and sat on the bench for most of the first 15 minutes of the period before staying on the court for the final five minutes.

Whitney scored nine points, which was second-highest on the squad, in 14 total minutes.

"It was frustrating because I couldn't get into the game offensively or defensively," Whitney said. "I had to step it up for the last five minutes."

Southeast got a boost from junior college transfer forward Crysta Glenn, who helped make up for Whitney's absence by grabbing 10 rebounds off the bench.

"That's my forte," Glenn said of her board work.

Pal, a reserve guard, also came up big by hitting all four of her free-throw attempts in the second half for her only points. Last year, Paul went 6-of-20 from the charity stripe.

"Those were huge free throws. She gave us a big lift," Ishee said. "And Crysta battled hard on the boards."

The small, quick Reddies repeatedly burned Southeast with dribble penetration, either getting to the basket for layups or kicking the ball out for 3-pointers.

Henderson State, which shot 8-of-20 from beyond the arc, was led by 5-foot-4 guard Katie Williams with 20 points.

Southeast survived despite shooting 17-of-59 (28.8 percent) and committing 20 turnovers.

The Redhawks made 23-of-31 free throws, which probably saved them.

"It was an ugly one, but it was a win," Whitney said.

Southeast plays at Central Arkansas on Saturday.