Versatile Hackmann highlights backcourt for Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team

With a pair of lightning quick point guards, a sharpshooter and an impactful combo guard, Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach Rekha Patterson has a backcourt she's excited about.

Add in a few more newcomers and a pair of workhorses and she's ecstatic about the prospects of the Redhawks' guard corps this season.

Point guard Bri Mitchell is one of two guards returning who played significant minutes last season. The 5-foot-6 junior, who Patterson described as "really, really quick," and someone who "throws some hot passes that you've got to be ready for," played in all 29 games last season, starting five.

She averaged 6.9 points and led the team with 2.5 assists per game.

"I think she brings a toughness to us, especially on the defensive end of the floor, that we're going to need to feed off of," Patterson said.

Freshman point guard Adrianna Murphy is quick like Mitchell. The 5-3 Murphy had nine assists in the Redhawks' first exhibition game vs. Division II Oakland City. She had three in the second exhibition along with three steals.

"I think she is a pass-first point guard, always looking to get her teammates involved, and then she can defend the ball as well," Patterson said. "Really good on-ball pressure."

Sophomore Hannah Noe primarily is a shooting guard but can also run the point.

The 5-9 Dexter graduate played in 26 games and made one start as a freshman, knocking down nine 3s.

She hit seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts in Southeast's Nov. 4 exhibition vs. NAIA Lindenwood-Belleville. She had five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to go along with her 21 points.

Equally as important to the team is her spirited communication with her teammates.

"I think she is pass-first as well, but she can shoot it a little bit better than the other two so she brings that weapon to the team," Patterson said. "Her passing is really good, especially up the floor, and then she's a smart defender. She knows where to be. And her energy, just the way she talks in practice, that gets us through a lot of things."

Olivia Hackmann returns for her senior season after starting 16 and playing in all 29 games last year. She averaged 8.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals, and was second on the team with 29 3s. She led the team with 23 blocks.

"They all have a chance to be really special, but O's talent is different. And I want to make sure we take advantage of that and continue to put her in positions to be her best," Patterson said. "I think she will score for us. She can score, and we will need her to do that. She can score in a variety of ways, whether it's off the bounce, shooting the 3, getting into the paint, coming off screens. She's good at that."

The 5-10 Hackmann led the Redhawks in scoring in both exhibition games. She had 18 points, six rebounds and three steals in the first, and 27 points on 12-of-22 shooting, nine rebounds, three steals and three assists in the second.

"Then just her ability to rise up and shoot over people, that's different," Patterson said of Hackmann's varying scoring ability.

Freshman Hilma Mededovic has a similar skillset, but lack's Hackmann's physicality. The 5-11 Mededovic knocked down a couple of mid-range jumpers in six minutes off the bench in Southeast's second exhibition.

"Hilda's mid-range is really good, and her ability to come off ball screens and read a ball screen is good," Patterson said. "Got to get a little bit stronger, got to bend her knees and be a little bit tougher, but she's got a skill set that will help us."

Patterson said that freshman Corneisha Henderson's skill set also will benefit Southeast this season.

The 5-7 guard had six points and three steals in Southeast's first exhibition.

"She's a downhill player, really good in transition," Patterson said. "Her ability to pass, sometimes they're not ready for it because they're not expecting it, I think she can help that way. She's got to sort of learn to be like [Kaley Leyhue] and give 100 percent all the time."

Five-foot-11 Kaley Leyhue returns for her sophomore season. Leyhue played in 20 games last year, scoring 21 points and grabbing 22 rebounds.

She started both exhibition games for the Redhawks, scoring 11 points in the first and two in the second.

"She's a tough kid, she's physical, and there's a lot that she can do, and it's going to look different than anybody else, but she's going to give me her best," Patterson said. "And even if her best she can only go two minutes, [it's] 'Coach, I'm going to give you my best for two minutes, and then when you put me back in I'm going to give my best again. I think she can shoot it, she can post up, she has a knack for creating things for herself that I think when you look at her you don't notice that she can do it."

Fellow sophomore Ashton Luttrull is back after missing the final 10 games last season with knee pain. She redshirted the previous season to rehab after knee surgery.

Patterson said she told Luttrull, who hit three 3s in the season opener last season and had seven assists against Missouri-Kansas City, that she doesn't need her to play big minutes early in the season because she wants to see how her knee holds up.

"I think she might be the toughest kid on our team that has the greatest heart on our team and what she is able to give us. She gives me everything she has," Patterson said. "Her ability to shoot the 3, she has a knack for being around the ball, her IQ, but you cannot measure her heart. She'll be the first one on the floor for a loose ball. *... She's going to make timely plays for us when she's in."