Sophomore Guards Help Redhawks Beat Eastern Illinois, 77-60 :: Daugherty and Nixon each record career scoring highs as Southeast win seventh straight game

Daugherty and Nixon each record career scoring highs as Southeast win seventh straight game

Jan. 4, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Sophomore guards Sonya Daugherty (St. Louis, Mo./Hancock) and Tarina Nixon (Gilbert, Ariz/Highland) each tallied career highs tonight as Southeast Missouri State claimed a 77-60 win over Eastern Illinois in Ohio Valley Conference play at the Show Me Center. Daugherty posted 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added three assists. Nixon finished with 22 points on 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-6 from downtown, and contributed six assists. The Redhawks, winners of seven straight games, improve to 10-4 (5-1 OVC), while the Panthers drop to 5-10 (2-4) on the year.

The Redhawks took an early 10-5 lead in the game's opening minutes behind five points from senior center Lachelle Lyles (Chicago, Ill./Shelton State CC) and junior guard Ashley Lovelady (Elkhart, Ind./Moberly Area CC). EIU came back by scoring 12 of the next 20 points to close within a single point (18-17) after freshman Jessica Huffman connected on a pair of free throws at the 11:10 mark. Daugherty highlighted 18-9 scoring run with seven of her 12 first-half points to give the home team a 36-26 leading margin with 3:58 left in the half. Huffman scored all of the Panthers' seven points during a 7-3 run over the final two minutes that sliced the visitor's deficit at 39-33 heading into the break.

Six points from sophomore Rachel Galligan helped EIU start the second half with a 6-2 run to close within 41-39 at the 17:29 mark, but Nixon connected on three treys during a key 21-3 run that hiked Southeast's lead to 62-21 with 8:20 left in the contest. The Panthers pulled within 65-51 on a pair of Galligan jumpers, but that was as close as they got as Southeast closed the game by scoring 12 of the final 21 points for the final margin.

In addition to Daugherty and Nixon, Lyles finished with a game-high 19 rebounds and Lovelady added 10 points for the Redhawks.

Galligan and Huffman each scored 19 points to lead EIU, while Maggie Eck added nine points.

Southeast opens a two-game road trip with a return to Kentucky on Monday, Jan. 8 with an OVC showdown at conference-leading Murray State with a start time of 5:15 p.m.