March 4, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Lachelle Lyles' layup with 6.5 seconds left lifted top-seeded Southeast Missouri to a 62-60 victory over Murray State on Saturday in the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball tournament.

The victory earned the Redhawks (24-7) an NCAA tournament berth for the second consecutive season. The Redhawks will learn where they will play on Monday, March 12, 7 p.m., when the brackets are announced on ESPN television.

Murray State (21-9) trailed by as many as 16 points and by double digits for most of the second half before rallying to take a 54-53 lead on a pair of free throws from Ashley Nicole Hayes with 3:59 left to play.

From that point on, the margin was never greater than three points for either team.

Murray State tied the game at 60 on a 3-point shot from Erica Gordian, her only basket of the game, with 16.7 seconds to play.

The Redhawks brought the ball into the frontcourt, and tournament most valuable player Sonya Daughterty tossed a bounce pass from the right corner in to Lyles for the game-winning layup.

Murray State had a final chance to tie the game, but Amber Guffey's spinning left-handed layup hit off the rim as time expired, giving the Redhawks the second NCAA tournament berth in school history.

Daugherty led Southeast Missouri with 18 points, while Missy Whitney had 12. Ashley Lovelady and Tarina Nixon added 10 points each.

Hayes had 23 points for the Lady Racers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Guffey finished with 19 points.

O'Reilly OVC Championship All-Tournament Team

Amber Guffey, G - Murray State University

Ashley N. Hayes, G - Murray State University

Lachelle Lyles, C - Southeast Missouri

Sonya Daugherty, G - Southeast Missouri

Alex Munday, F - Samford

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Sonya Daugherty, G - Southeast Missouri