Southeast Missouri State’s women’s basketball team’s depth has been tested this season as the team deals with a slew of injuries, especially in the frontcourt.

That depth was on display during the Redhawks’ 79-70 victory against Murray State on Wednesday. Coach Rekha Patterson used several players at positions they are not accustomed to, such as junior guard/forward Kaley Leyhue and freshman guard/forward Jessie Harshberger playing primarily in the post at times. With the added flexibility, Southeast was able to play a faster pace and wear down the Racers, who rely heavily on their starters.

“I thought that the fact that we pushed the ball, even if we didn’t have anything in transition, we pushed and forced them to have to sprint back on defense,” Patterson said. “I thought that may have worn them out just a bit, because they’re not deep, and the five that start are really good, but if you can maybe tire them out then maybe that can help you offensively and hurt them offensively at the end of the game.”

Having several players ready to come off of the bench has been important for Southeast lately, as the team is dealing with injuries to the starting lineup.

Junior guard Hannah Noe missed Southeast’s game on Saturday, a 84-74 loss against Austin Peay, with a knee injury but is expected to play tonight against Jacksonville State.

Junior forward Deja Jones and the Redhawks’ leading scorer redshirt senior guard/forward Olivia Hackmann have both missed the team’s past three games. Jones returned from her back injury against Austin Peay, while Hackmann suffered a broken right foot for the second consecutive season and has been ruled out indefinitely.

Last season Hackmann only played in nine games but was the team’s leading scorer at 16.4 points per game over that time. She was leading the team again, and was sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference, at 15.8 points per game this season before reinjuring her foot. The injury came about after the Redhawks’ 82-79 victory against UT Martin.

“I had kind of felt something a little bit, but wasn’t really too worried about it. I had just been putting a lot of pressure on it the past few weeks so I wasn’t too worried about it,” Hackmann said. “Obviously with fractures it’s kind of hard to see on X-rays and stuff like that. I did have an X-ray about a week before I broke it, and he told me he didn’t see anything, told me it was OK, we’d just keep an eye on it, and it was just kinda a freak thing that just happens. You push off of it wrong one time and it’ll just kinda break.”

She’s hoping to make a return this season, especially if Southeast can make the OVC Tournament.

“We’re just seeing how it heals, and hopefully I’ll be good to go towards the end,” Hackmann said. “That’s my plan.”

Patterson expects a team effort to replace Hackmann, but not just by scoring. She wants to see more of the plays that don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheets.

“No one’s gonna replace Olivia, not one player on our team is gonna do that because Olivia is that good,” Patterson said. “But, as a team, everyone can just give a little bit more. And a little bit more doesn’t always come in points, right, a little bit more can come in playing great defense. Maybe if you averaged one rebound, maybe you can get up to three rebounds, maybe you can have one extra assist or help out defensively by blocking out, or if there’s a loose ball you can help that way. So everyone just has to do a little bit more.”

Senior guard Bri Mitchell has been among those players to do more since Hackmann got hurt. Mitchell stepped up last season when Hackmann was injured, and is doing so once again. Mitchell has averaged 16.5 points per game during the team’s last four games, and has taken back the role of the team’s primary scoring option.

In 2015-16, Mitchell was the Redhawks’ leading scorer in conference games at 14.9 points per game while earning Second-Team All-OVC honors.

So far this season, Mitchell is fifth in the OVC in scoring since conference play began, at 17.3 points per game.

“The feeling’s the same as I had last year,” Mitchell said. “With [Hackmann] being down, I just gotta do whatever I gotta do to help the team out and get the team playing together as a team and playing hard, so we can win these games for [Hackmann].”

Along with Mitchell’s uptick in scoring, the Redhawks have needed production from 3-point shooting, which has come from a trio of junior guards, Ashton Luttrull, Hannah Noe and Lakyn Gulley.

Luttrull scored 13 points off of the bench against both Austin Peay and Murray State, while Noe had 14 points, including three 3-pointers, against Murray State. Gulley has had a pair of good shooting games recently, with 15 points against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and 16 points against Eastern Illinois. She moved into the starting lineup on Saturday with Noe out and had 9 points, all off 3-pointers.

“Without us having Olivia, that’s 20 points that we don’t have,” Patterson said. “I thought Bri has been Bri, she’s doing what she’s shown us she can do. [Against Murray State] Laykin I’m sure was at the front of their scouting report because she’s scored in double figures in the last two games, and so they played her really, really physical, but that also allowed Hannah and Ashton maybe a little extra space, and they weren’t as focused and attentive at them as they should have been, maybe, and they were able to knock down shots we know they can hit.”

The Redhawks’ depth will continue to be tested down the stretch. With eight games remaining in the season, Southeast is 3-6 in the OVC, tied with Tennessee State, Jacksonville State, UT Martin and Eastern Illinois for eighth place in the standings. The Redhawks will play Jacksonville State tonight in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Southeast plays again at 2 p.m. on Feb. 4 at the Show Me Center against Morehead State.