Even while the bad has outweighed the good for the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team this season, the support from family, friends, students and staff were present as it welcomed in Ohio Valley Conference opponent Austin Peay for the final game of the season.

With the Redhawks' OVC Tournament plans eliminated, the intensity and play from tip-off until the final buzzer displayed that their aspirations for the game carried more weight than wins and losses.

The Lady Governors (10-19, 7-9) pulled out second half conversions and stops to claim the seventh seed in the conference tournament with a 72-67 win.

"I am proud of this team and I told the seniors it's about them tonight and I thought our four seniors gave everything they had," coach Ty Margenthaler said. "I thought they were tremendous on the court and off the court. They should be very proud of themselves, they carry themselves very well and that's what it's about."

The four seniors that Margenthaler was referring to are guards Allyson Bradshaw, Yelena Rosado, Alabama transfer Jasmine Robinson and forward Hillary Lively.

Southeast led for the majority of the first half and went into halftime with a f 37-29 lead.

Junior forward Erin Bollmann led the team in scoring with eight points on perfect shooting from the field and from three-point range.

At intermission Southeast led a majority of categories that included field goal percentage (43.3), converting on 50 percent of the 3-pointers and out rebounded the Governors 26-17.

In addition to leading in those offensive categories, one team statistic that had a negative impact on the first half were the 10 turnovers by Southeast that resulted in six points for the Lady Governors.

The start of the second half for Southeast was the direct opposite of how the first half ended as it consisted of three straight turnovers and a scoring drought that elapsed a little over two and half minutes.

Margenthaler commented on the overall change of momentum and style of play from the first to second half by comparing the large increase of free throws attempted by Austin Peay by shooting 21 more and almost twice as much as Southeast as a team.

The Redhawks offensive struggles came to an end with 17:30 remaining in the second half following a layup by Robinson.

That score was preceded by a mid-range jumper by junior guard Olivia Hackman and another basket by Robinson providing a short lived six-point lead for the Redhawks.

While the offense for the Redhawks consisted of double-digit scoring by Bollmann with 15 points, Hackmann with 13 points and Robinson leading the team with 18.

An exchange of baskets allowed Southeast to maintain the lead for the first 10 minutes of the half.

But as closing games have been an season long problem for Southeast, the lead was recovered by Austin Peay due to continued contributions from Gray and key late game heroics from freshman forward/center Sydney Gooch who contributed five points late in the game.

In addition to Gooch's performance, Austin Peay also received a complete performance from junior guard Tiasha Gray as she initiated the 14-0 drive with two 3-pointers and a game-high of 36 points on 60 percent field goal shooting and converting on four 3-pointers.

"It was tough but we can't change the outcome," Robinson said. "What stuck out to me the most is that wins and losses doesn't define us, our character does. That's the main thing we can't lose focus and hang our hats on if we are winners are losers, that's not us it's our character and how we hold ourselves after the fact when we win or lose. That stuck out to me and I liked that alot."

Bollmann said that it would have been a pleasure to play in the OVC Tournament but since that option wasn't available, this game consisted of the same amount of fight and effort for all members of the team.

Southeast ended its season with a record of 10-19 overall and 3-13 in the OVC.

Margenthaler provided praise to his four seniors on their final year and the entire team for not giving up on the season even while it could have been very easy to do with this season consisting of more bad than good moments.

Margenthaler provided a sense of stability and positivity for next year by voicing his confidence in his returning players in addition the incoming recruits.