Feb. 12, 2005

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Saturday, February 12, 2005) For the third consecutive game the Redhawks women's basketball team struggled in the first half and for the third consecutive game they used timely shooting and smothering defense to pull away in the second-half.

The Redhawks (17-6, 11-1) shot 59-percent in the second half as they cruised to a 74-54 victory over the visiting Tennessee State Lady Tigers (7-16, 4-8) in Ohio Valley Conference action in the Show Me Center.

The win extended the Redhawks current winning streak to 10 games and also extended their home winning-streak over OVC opponents to 14 games.

The game featured eight lead changes and seven ties as Southeast struggled in the first half with a team with as much athleticsm as themselves.

The Lady Tigers jumped-out to a quick 7-4 lead over the Redhawks. Both teams would exchange baskets throughout the first half as neither team could build comfortable leads.

Southeast grabbed the biggest lead of the game when Brandi Russia

(Cincinnati, OH/Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) made three at the 2:35 mark to give the Redhawks a five-point advantage 34-29.

The Lady Tigers made the final field goal of the half making it 34-31.

Southeast shot 47-percent in the half and held the Lady Tigers to 40-percent.

The Lady Tigers dominated the paint outscoring the Redhawks, 18-6. Southeast countered by making 6-10 from behind the three-point arc.

Southeast used a 23-8 run early in the second half to distance themselves from the Lady Tigers as they built a 20-point lead and held it to the final buzzer.

The Lady Tigers lost despite holding the OVC's leading scorer Tatiana Conceicao (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Western Nebraska CC) to only four points. It is only the second time this season that Conceicao has been held under double-digits in scoring.

Two seniors made up for her lost production as Russia and Chandra Brown (Louisville, KY/Southeastern Illinois CC) combined for 41 points.

Russia set a new career-high with a game-high 21 points. She was near-perfect from the field as she made 6-7 of her shots including 5-6 from behind the arc. She also recorded a game-high four steals.

Brown scored a season-high 20 points on 7-11 shooting. She also recorded a team-high eight rebounds.

Brown passed Jamie Koester for seventh on the school's all-time career blocked shots list with her four block performance against the Lady Tigers. She now has 66 career blocks.

As a team Southeast shot 53-percent in the game including 59-percent in the second half.

The Lady Tigers went cold in the second half shooting only 28-percent.

The Lady Tigers were led by Quanecia Fletcher with 16 points.

The victory was the Redhawks six-straight victory over the Lady Tigers.

Next for Southeast is a crucial road-trip next week when they travel to face OVC co-leader Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Kentucky on Thursday, February 17. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m.

NOTES FROM THE HARDCOURT: The B.J. Smith Coaches Show has been moved to Monday's at 6:00 p.m. at Buffalo Wild Wings in Cape Girardeau. All fans are encouraged to join Coach Smith at Buffalo Wild Wings...Southeast has made at least one three-point basket in 206-straight games