Southeast women sweep road trip

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball program continued its Ohio Valley Conference road dominance Monday night.

Southeast notched its 15th straight OVC road victory, routing Jacksonville State 82-60. The Redhawks' last conference road loss came during the 2006-07 season.

"I think it's just our experience," Southeast coach John Ishee said in trying to explain the Redhawks' OVC success away from home.

More importantly to this season's Redhawks is that they climbed back to .500 in conference play. Southeast, 6-8 overall, is 2-2 in the OVC.

"We just want to keep it going," senior point guard Tarina Nixon said.

The Redhawks were able to follow up Saturday's 56-41 win at Tennessee Tech with another strong performance.

This time, the Redhawks' normally sluggish offense finally caught up to their consistently strong defense, which allowed them to dominate JSU (3-10, 0-3).

Southeast shot a season-best 51.8 percent from the field, including 57.7 percent in a decisive first half that ended with the Redhawks ahead 42-24.

The Redhawks entered the game shooting 33.4 percent this season.

"We had a real good game," senior wing Sonya Daugherty said. "We passed the ball more, got the ball to the open man more.

"We're playing more as a team now."

Southeast also was hot from 3-point range, making 10 of 23 (43.5 percent). The Redhawks entered at 28.4 percent from beyond the arc.

"Most of our shots seemed to be falling," Nixon said.

The Redhawks scored their most points of the season, surpassing their previous high of 73. They were averaging 54.7 points.

Southeast also had its biggest margin of victory, topping two 19-point wins.

"I thought we played really well overall, especially for the second game of a road trip," Ishee said.

Southeast's current two-game winning streak has coincided with the return of Nixon, who missed the previous three contests with a finger injury that has hampered her most of the season.

Nixon scored a career-high 25 points and had another big performance at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Nixon made 5 of 9 3-pointers, marking her third career game of hitting five treys on JSU's court.

"In the locker room, they [her teammates] were saying this is my gym," said Nixon, who added four assists and three steals. "I try to make every gym my gym, but I have done well here."

Also scoring in double figures for Southeast were Daugherty (17 points), senior forward Crysta Glenn (13) and sophomore wing Lauren Sharpe (12).

Glenn led Southeast rebounders with eight, and also topped the Redhawks with four steals. Sharpe matched Nixon with four assists.

"A lot of people played well," Ishee said. "It was a good team win."

While Southeast splurged offensively, the Redhawks held JSU to 37.5 percent shooting.

It added up to a lopsided game virtually from start to finish as Southeast led all the way, the biggest margin being 28 points.

"We needed this one," Ishee said. "Now we're back to .500 [in the OVC], and it gives us a fighting chance."

The Redhawks play the first of three straight OVC home games Saturday against preseason favorite Eastern Illinois, which currently leads the league.

Southeast lost its first two conference games at the Show Me Center last month.

Noteworthy

• Two reserves -- sophomore guard Tore Fite and junior college transfer center Trevonna Cannon -- did not make the road trip.

Ishee said it was his decision based on "internal discipline issues."

Ishee said he hasn't decided if the pair will return for Saturday's game.