Southeast women win in two overtimes

With so little separating Southeast Missouri State and Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, perhaps it was fitting that the teams played overtime Saturday night.

Make that two overtimes.

But for Southeast, it was worth the trouble.

In a game that featured 11 ties, 18 lead changes and no advantage greater than eight points, the host Redhawks finally squeezed out a 66-63 win.

"It seemed liked it wouldn't end," Southeast sophomore guard Sonya Daugherty said.

Said Southeast acting head coach John Ishee: "It was a really good college basketball game. Murray showed why they've been in the lead most of the year."

Southeast (14-6, 9-3) moved into second place in the OVC, one-half game ahead of Murray (12-6, 8-3). The Redhawks trail league-leading Morehead State by one game.

"It's a huge win for us," said Ishee, whose squad also beat the Racers on Jan. 8 in Murray, Ky. "You can't give ground at this time of the year."

The Redhawks bounced back from Wednesday's loss at Morehead State as they still have not dropped consecutive games all season.

"It's big to bounce back, especially on our home court," Daugherty said.

Daugherty again played a major role for the Redhawks.

After getting off to a slow start this season, Daugherty entered Saturday ranked fourth in the OVC in scoring during conference play at 15.6 points per game.

Daugherty, who has scored at least 17 points in six of her last seven games, led the way with 23 points against Murray.

"I'm just playing with a lot more confidence," Daugherty said.

That attribute served Daugherty well Saturday, as she had enough confidence to keep firing even though her trademark driving shot from in close was off the mark much of the contest.

Daugherty hit just eight of 24 field-goal attempts, and she was one of six in the first overtime period.

But she went two of four in the second extra session, scoring five of Southeast's nine points, including a conventional three-point play with 2:40 left that put the Redhawks ahead to stay at 62-61.

"I had to keep driving. Even if I miss, we can get the rebound," Daugherty said. "I have to keep attacking."

Said Ishee: "We want Sonya to keep attacking."

Junior forward Missy Whitney had her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 15 rebounds. She also blocked three shots.

Junior guard Ashley Lovelady added 11 points for Southeast, which got a big lift from the return of senior center Lachelle Lyles.

Lyles, the nation's leading rebounder, missed Wednesday's loss at Morehead State to attend the funeral of an aunt. Without Lyles, the Redhawks were outrebounded by an OVC opponent for the first time this season.

That didn't happen Saturday as Lyles pulled down 21 rebounds -- 11 on the offensive end -- to help Southeast post a 56-44 edge on the boards, including 25-12 on the offensive glass.

Lyles, who entered with an average of 16.8 rebounds per game, added nine points and five assists.

"I hated to miss the game the other night, but I was excited coming into this game," Lyles said.

And the Redhawks were excited to have her back on the court.

"No question about that," Ishee said.

Southeast held the night's biggest lead, twice going ahead by eight points in the first half before settling for a 28-22 advantage at the break.

Murray caught up at 40-40 midway through the second half and the lead see-sawed back and forth the rest of regulation, with neither squad ahead by more than three points.

Lyles made one of two free throws with 32 seconds left to put Southeast ahead 54-53.

The Racers had a chance to win at the very end of regulation as 83-percent free throw shooter Amber Guffey was fouled on a drive to the basket with 5.8 seconds remaining.

Guffey made just one of two and Whitney's 10-footer rimmed out at the buzzer, sending the squads to overtime deadlocked at 54-54.

"It didn't look good for us when Guffey was at the line, then Missy almost won it. She got a great shot off," Ishee said.

There was just one field goal combined in the first 5-minute overtime, that by Daugherty, as Southeast went one of nine from the field.

Whitney, a 79-percent foul shooter, went to the line with 55 seconds left and Southeast trailing 57-56. She made one of two --- her only miss in eight attempts on the night -- for a 57-57 tie.

Both squads missed late shots and it was on to a second overtime.

The Redhawks trailed 61-59 when Daugherty's three-point play with 2:40 left finally put them over the hump, 62-61.

Southeast twice built three-point leads, the last time on Lovelady's layup with 18 seconds remaining that ended the scoring. The Redhawks' defense kept Murray from getting off a decent 3-point shot before the buzzer sounded.

"They're tough, better than the last time we played them, but we expected it," Lyles said.

Both teams shot under 35 percent, including less than 30 percent from 3-point range.

"But I thought it was a much better played game than when we beat them over there [67-61]," Ishee said. "We were fortunate. We just made one more play than they did."

Joi Scott, the OVC's leading scorer at just over 21 points per game, led the Racers with 19 points.