The Southeast women’s basketball team played its final non-conference game on Saturday, Dec. 29, an 80-65 win over Harris Stowe at the Show Me Center.
Harris Stowe is in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), an entity separate from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, but comparable to the Division II competition level of the NCAA.
The Hornets (5-6) struggled on the road once again, losing their fourth road game in five trips. The team’s biggest struggle was taking care of the ball, as Harris Stowe finished with 26 turnovers.
“We like to play fast. When we can get turnovers from our defense and we can score in transition and that puts in a position to be successful,” Southeast coach Rekha Patterson said. “I feel like our defense has to jumpstart us with everything we do.”
The Redhawks started the second quarter hot, finding the basket in the first minute. Southeast stayed hot through the quarter and played lockdown defense, only allowing 10 points in the second period to take a 51-24 advantage into halftime.
“I think they finished with 19 turnovers in the first half, so that allowed us to score and go on that run,” Patterson said.
The Hornets responded out of the gate, shooting 58.8 percent from the field in the third quarter and outscored the Redhawks 24-15 in the period.
“We started the second half with two turnovers back-to-back and they scored quickly, so that wasn’t a great start to the second half,” Patterson said. “You have to give credit to the opponents, because they did a really great job of coming out and playing hard.”
Harris Stowe’s hot shooting in the second half was not enough to trim its deficit from the first half, as turnovers doomed them from the beginning. The Hornets committed 19 of its 26 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
A lot of those turnovers were caused by the Redhawks being active on defense and finding the passing lanes. Southeast finished with 18 steals, 14 of which were in the first half.
“I think the biggest thing we’re trying to focus on is our defense going into conference play,” senior point guard Adrianna Murphy said. “Just being aggressive and being disruptive to our opponent. Being up, pressuring the ball and getting in those passing lanes can help us on the offensive end.”
Murphy netted 11 points in the win and came out with six steal on the day as well. Sophomore guard Tesia Thompson led the Redhawks with 13 points, but committed five turnovers.
Redshirt-senior guard Carrie Shephard went perfect from the 3-point line, hitting three triples on her way to 11 points. Junior forward Jocelyn Taylor came alive for Southeast, contributing 12 points and leading the team with four rebounds.
Sophomore forward Takesia Barnes led all scorers with 15 points, but did so on an inefficient 6-of-16 from the field. She still pulled down six rebounds and swatted three shots for the Hornets.
“We wanted to make sure she didn’t get any easy looks,” Patterson said. “[Defensively], whenever she came over to help to block shots, we didn’t do a good job of making the extra pass and making them pay for that. I think she provided confidence for her team defensively.”
Barnes led four double-digit scorers for the Hornets.
Sophomore guard Kambri Davison chipped in 14 points, sophomore guard Tarsheia Page netted 12 points and senior guard Jay’la Davis sank 13 points. The trio shot a combined 16-of-27 from the field, just under 60 percent.
The Redhawks (5-6) will hit the road on Jan. 3 to face Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville for the start of conference play.
