Fans and coaches got their first look at the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team on Thursday when they played its only exhibition game of the season against Missouri Valley and won 81-68.

The Redhawks started out fast and attacked the basket early and often, and within the first two minutes of the game Southeast made six straight free throws.

The score was close in the beginning of the game with Southeast leading 8-6, but then the Redhawks made a 23-4 run to balloon the lead to 31-10.

The run was made possible by the outside shooting from senior guard Allyson Bradshaw and redshirt freshman guard Ashton Luttrull.

Bradshaw was able to make two baskets from behind the arc in the first half and Luttrull ended up with four 3-pointers.

"Got to give a lot of credit to Ashton," interim/assistant coach Heather Ezell said. "She hasn't played a competitive game in two years. That has to feel good for her."

Luttrell gives credit to her teammates for the hot start from behind the arc in the first half.

"My teammates gave me the ball in the right place and in a good position," Luttrell said.

Midway through the first half, Missouri Valley deployed a full court press to slow down the Redhawks, but to no avail the Redhawks scored several baskets and the press was quickly scrapped by Missouri Valley.

At halftime, Southeast led Missouri Valley 53-31.

In the start of the second half, junior guard Olivia Hackman started the Redhawks off on the right foot with a 3-pointer and a steal.

But then things went bad for the Redhawks.

The team committed several turnovers and also had a few bad shot selections. This allowed Missouri Valley to climb back into the game.

A lead that was as high as 24 points was trimmed to 10 in large amount due to the momentum of a 12-2 run by Missouri Valley midway through the final half.

Ezell puts some of the blame on herself for the slow stretch in the second half.

"I thought since we were up by 20 that we could get some other people in," Ezell said. "At one point, I know we had four newcomers in there and that's tough. No wonder we got into a little bit of a lull."

The Redhawks made eight 3-pointers in the first half, but only one in the second. This also helped sustain the charge late in the game for Missouri Valley.

"We fell in love with the three," Ezell said. "Instead of driving and scoring in the paint, we wanted to dish every time. We just kind of settled for them."

With under four minutes to go in the game, a block by Luttrell and a defensive stand by the Redhawks resulted in a shot clock violation on Missouri Valley and stopped any push for the lead the team had.

The game was sealed by multiple free throws from Southeast with less than a minute to go for the victory.

Lutterell finished with a game-high 14 points for the Redhawks while senior guard Yelena Rosado followed with 13 and senior guard and Alabama transfer Jasmine Robinson had 11 points.

Jackson native and junior forward Connor King presented a defensive presence with two blocks and seven rebounds.

Robinson noted that it was just good to get out the practice environment and play another team.

"We have worked so hard," Robinson said. "It just feels good to get out and play someone else. We had fun doing it and we got the win."

The Redhawks first regular-season game will be on Nov. 14 against Alabama A&M in the Show Me Center at 6:30 p.m.