Western Michigan rolls past Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team 67-34

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team appeared to have a solid shot at notching its first road win of the season Saturday.

Southeast instead was crushed 67-34 by a Western Michigan squad that had collected just one victory entering the game.

The Redhawks fell to 2-8 after they scored their second-fewest points of the season and suffered their second-most lopsided loss, surpassed only by the 66-29 season-opening setback at North Carolina State.

WMU, which won just nine games last year and recently lost its top player to a season-ending knee injury, improved to 2-6.

Southeast had won two of its previous three games, both at home, and was making steady improvement until Saturday's game in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Broncos broke away from a 12-12 first-half tie by scoring 13 consecutive points to avenge last year's loss in Cape Girardeau.

Southeast went scoreless for more than seven minutes to fall behind 25-12 with 4 minutes, 52 seconds left in the opening period.

Things weren't close again. WMU's lead never dipped under 11 points.

It was 36-18 at halftime, and the Broncos' never led by less than 18 points. Their biggest advantage was 35 points.

Southeast, which was plagued by poor shooting for much of the season before improving during recent outings, hit just 22.2 percent from the field (12 of 54).

The Redhawks made only 2 of 15 3-pointers (13.3 percent). They also committed 21 turnovers, including 13 in the decisive first half.

WMU shot 36.8 percent (25 of 68) but hit just 4 of 19 from beyond the arc (21.1 percent). The Broncos had 13 turnovers and out-rebounded Southeast 50-33.

Senior guard Karley Evans was Southeast's lone double-figure scorer with 10 points, her third double-figure scoring performance in the last four games.

Evans also dished out a team-high three assists. Senior guard Bianca Beck and junior forward Bailie Roberts led the Redhawks with six rebounds apiece.

The Broncos were paced by Corie Buchanan with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Southeast returns to action Dec. 18 against Central Michigan in the three-day Wright State tournament.