Tech gets healthy vs. Redhawks

~ The Eaglettes held onfor a 59-58 win in the meeting of last year'stop two OVC teams.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Whatever was ailing Tennessee Tech, the Eaglettes got rid of it Saturday against Southeast Missouri State.

In a rematch between the teams that tied for last year's Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title and met in the finals of the OVC tournament, the host Eaglettes captured round one 59-58.

Tech (2-6, 1-2), which has won the most OVC regular-season championships (16) and tournament titles (nine) in league history, ended a six-game losing streak that tied the longest skid in school history.

"We needed it," said Tech senior guard Kendall Cavin, who hit the game-winning shot with 23 seconds remaining.

Southeast (3-4, 1-1) will get another crack at the Eaglettes on Jan. 20 in Cape Girardeau. Last year the squads split their two regular-season meetings before the Redhawks romped 71-50 in the conference tournament final to advance to the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time.

"It's a tough loss, but we had our opportunities," Southeast acting head coach John Ishee said.

After trailing for the first 32-plus minutes of the game, the Redhawks finally took their first lead with a little more than 6 minutes remaining.

That set the stage for a tense finish as the lead changed hands four times and there was never more than a two-point separation between the teams.

Junior forward Missy Whitney made two free throws with 3:40 to play, putting Southeast ahead 58-57. It was just the Redhawks' third lead of the contest, but they never scored again.

The squads combined for five turnovers and two missed shots over the next 3 minutes before Cavin drove through several Southeast defenders for a layup with 23 seconds to go.

"I couldn't believe the lane was that wide open," Cavin said.

Ishee called a timeout with 16 seconds left to set up a play that he said featured several options.

But the Redhawks got bogged down, almost losing the ball several times, and junior guard Ashley Lovelady was forced to fire up a long, off-balance 3-point attempt just before the buzzer. It drew no iron and bounced off the backboard as time expired.

Asked what the problem with the final play was, Ishee said, "Being kids. We have a young, inexperienced team and we just have to learn from situations like this."

The Redhawks, who started their two-game OVC road swing Thursday by winning at Tennessee State, were hampered by having two of their key players at less than full strength.

Sophomore point guard Tarina Nixon, Southeast's lone returning starter from last year, was noticeably hobbled by a sprained ankle she suffered against Tennessee State. Nixon played just 17 minutes and scored only two points, well below her 9.3-point average entering the game.

Whitney, Southeast's leading scorer at 13.3 points per game prior to Saturday, was suffering from flu-like symptoms. She did not score in the first half and finished with only six points while attempting just three field goals.

"Missy's been throwing up since [Friday] night and you could see Tarina having trouble with the ankle," Ishee said. "It hurt to have them kind of gimpy."

Lovelady led the Redhawks with 18 points.

Senior center Lachelle Lyles, who grabbed an OVC-record 32 rebounds against Tennessee State, added 15 more Saturday. She scored nine points to just miss a second straight double-double. Lyles leads the league with an average of 14.4 rebounds in OVC play.

Southeast got a lift off the bench from little-used freshman guard Mathilde Dufour, who hit two of three 3-pointers and scored eight points. She had scored only 10 points all season prior to Saturday.

Tech was aided by a sizable advantage from the foul line. The OVC's top free-throw shooting team (78.2 percent) made 18 of 21 (85.7 percent), while Southeast was nine of 11.

"The game was won on the free-throw line because we didn't do a good enough job containing the ball," Ishee said.

Poor shooting also hampered the Redhawks as they hit just 21 of 53, including seven of 25 3-pointers.

Although the Redhawks never trailed by more than nine points and were behind just 32-29 at halftime, they battled from behind virtually the entire night.

Southeast returns to action Friday night at home against East Tennessee State.