College Sports

It all started when she was just a little girl, but Poplar Bluff’s Alonna Haley was all about rodeo and so began a romance with the arena. Haley ultimately advanced from mutton busting as a little bit to slowly evolving her interest in rodeo as she matured and before you knew it, was rodeoing to represent her hometown...

After taking two losses out of three games during the past weekend’s Bank of Grandin Thanksgiving Tournament at Three Rivers, the host Raiders and head coach Brian Bess will go back to work in preparation against more tough competition and the looming Region 16 slate...

Despite having not 10 days off since a historic loss that ended an even more profound, 56-game regular season win streak, the Three Rivers Lady Raiders basketball team really only had three practices to get ready for the return to the hardwood. A holiday and illness kept them a part in some measure and when it came down to hosting Vincennes University Tuesday night, things got a little dicey for the Lady Raiders...

The Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball squad did a valiant job on Sunday of continually climbing a mountain in the form of UC Davis in the second game of the Cream City Classic at Milwaukee. However, in many ways, it was the Redhawks, who continually put themselves in the position of having to climb that mountain because of inept offensive execution.

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball squad dropped a pair of games in the UCF Thanksgiving Classic in Orlando over the weekend. The Redhawks (2-4) opened play with a 66-49 loss to Rhode Island on Saturday, before falling to the host Knights 67-41 on Sunday...

The disappointing 34-24 loss on Saturday by Southeast Missouri State football at Montana in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs wasn’t even 30 minutes old when Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz acknowledged the reality facing him. “What makes the loss so sad,” Matukewicz said, “is that 2022 is over, and there are such unbelievable men (in that locker room), who I won’t get to coach anymore.”

After consecutive non-winning seasons in 2020 and 2021, the followers of Southeast Missouri State football were more than likely surprised at how magnificent the 2022 season, in which the Redhawks won a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship, unfolded.

The Bank of Grandin Thanksgiving Tournament started off well for the Three Rivers College Raiders basketball team with a win on opening night in Poplar Bluff. However, that thanksgiving win over Motlow State CC was followed up by two hard-fought losses to two legitimate programs and it happened again Saturday night as the tourney wrapped with the Raiders (5-6) dropping an 89-79 decision to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M...

It’s one thing for a basketball team to play sharp and competitively for a game or two, any team can have its moments. But when a team strings together six solid to very good outings, then that becomes who a team is.

The magnitude of today’s FCS Playoff football game for Southeast Missouri State is not lost on ninth-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz.

It has been quite the ride for Three Rivers College women’s basketball player Mariah Smith just to be where she is today. The redshirt sophomore’s tale began almost three years ago coming out of high school in Tulsa when Smith was trying to decide where to continue her playing career...

Over the last two weeks, ninth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has referred to the availability of injured sophomore quarterback Paxton DeLaurent as a “game-time decision.”

Third-year Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach may be perplexed by his emotions as he evaluates how this season has transpired through a few weeks. On one hand, the Redhawks are 4-1 and have road wins against teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Missouri Valley.

A determined effort by a scrappy and physical Mineral Area College Lady Cardinals women’s basketball team brought the 23rd-ranked Three Rivers Lady Raiders’ historic and school-best 57-game regular season win streak to a halt on Saturday in Neosho. As part of the Region XVI Challenge, the Lady Raiders could not match Mineral Area runs with the same effectiveness, and the Lady Cardinals would use that to increase its edge little by little in small increments and suddenly found themselves 75-63 winners over the defending region champions from Poplar Bluff.. ...

NATCHITOCHES – Two game-clinching performances led DeMarcus Sharp to the first individual honor of his Northwestern State career. Sharp was named Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday afternoon after leading the Demons to a pair of road wins, including the first true road victory against an Associated Press Top 25 team in program history...

Former Sikeston standouts Parker and Owen Long each had big games for their respective teams in wins this past weekend. Parker led the Missouri Southern State Lions (2-2) to a pair of wins in the Pittsburg State Classic. Parker led the team with 23 points on 9-of-12 field goals in an 89-80 win over Illinois-Springfield (4-1) on Friday, Nov. ...

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz is among 16 finalists for the 2022 Eddie Robinson Award, which is presented to the national coach of the year in college football's Division I subdivision.

Three Southeast Missouri State volleyball players finished in double-digits attacking as the No. 5-seed Redhawks fell to No. 6-seed Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship match on Saturday. The Redhawks (17-16) lost 21-25, 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 10-15.

There is no love lost between rivals Murray State and Southeast Missouri State. On the football field, the Racers had beaten the Redhawks three consecutive times, and on Saturday at Houck Field, they had hopes of doing two things: * Making something of their dismal two-win season with a closing win over a rival, and * Ruining SEMO’s hopes of winning an Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship The Redhawks had other ideas.

Of the 13 scholarship players on the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball squad this season, five have missed time with injury (Dylan Branson, Israel Barnes, Gavyn Elkamil), illness (Josh Mitchell), or NCAA eligibility issues (freshman center David Idada).

The Southeast Missouri State football program has already achieved one of its “missions” this season.

As the rest of American society enters this weekend looking toward a holiday week of family, fun, and food, the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program is focused on nothing but work.

When a football program has been as great as Southeast Missouri State has been this season, no one wants to see it conclude, but that is the case as far as the regular season is concerned for the Redhawks today.

PARK HILLS — The Imo’s Bob Sechrest Classic was just the place for the Three Rivers Raiders to end a four-game losing streak even if it game at the expense of anyone with a weak heart or anxiety issues. The Raiders broke open a close game and took a 17-point lead midway through the early stages of the second half, but watched Illinois Central College peck away until pulling within three points in the closing seconds...

NEOSHO, Mo. — The first day of the Region XVI challenge definitely lived up to its name at Crowder College Friday afternoon. That’s because the 23rd-ranked Three Rivers women’s basketball team faced off with a State Fair squad in the opener of region play that was more than ready for this contest and pushed the Lady Raiders to the limit for the first time this season...

NATCHITOCHES, La. — Led by a trio of Southeast Missouri natives, the Northwestern State men’s basketball picked up a monumental win at 15th-ranked TCU on Monday, Nov. 14. The Demons (3-2) erased a 12-point second-half deficit to win 64-63 over the Horned Frogs (2-1) after former Charleston standout Demarcus Sharp nailed a clutch go-ahead jumper in the lane with one minute and 14 seconds left in the game...

Southeast Missouri State junior midfielder Faith Liljegren was recently named to the 2022 Academic All-District Women's Soccer Team. The Collinsville, Illinois native was selected to the 2022 Academic All-District First Team. She currently has a 3.955 GPA at SEMO and is pursuing her Bachelor's in Entrepreneurship and Finance...

You couldn’t blame Southeast Missouri State freshman Patrick Heitert if he – at times – drifted off with his concentration level throughout this football season.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yuri Collins’ 22 points helped Saint Louis defeat Memphis 90-84 on Tuesday. Collins scored the Billikins final field goal when he hit a 3-pointer with 7:36 left, then hit eight straight free throws to help hold off the Tigers. Gibson Jimerson scored 18 points, shooting 6 for 12 (4-for-w7 from 3-point range) and 2 of 3 from the free throw line. Javon Pickett finished 6-of-8 from the field to finish with 14 points...

There was no lack of emotion exhibited by the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball squad on Wednesday in its game at Missouri Valley Conference team Evansville.

A walk-on on a college basketball squad has one purpose, which is to help the team be successful in any way possible.

The future at the quarterback position for Southeast Missouri State is without question in the hands (and arm) of sophomore Paxton DeLaurent. However, in Saturday’s 31-7 win at Eastern Illinois, freshman Patrick Heitert had an impressive enough collegiate debut that the immediate future may be pretty good in HIS hands.

The Missouri-Iowa JUCO men’s basketball challenge gave fans a chance to check out some top competition and for the host Three Rivers College Raiders to find out more about themselves during the embryonic stage of the season. Southeastern CC out of Burlington, Iowa met up with the host Raiders to wrap the eight-game over two days event Saturday night at the Libla Family Sports Complex, got an early lead, and fended off about a half-dozen rallies by the host in a 72-63 win...

After four straight, easy wins to open the season, the Three Rivers College women’s basketball team had to answer its first challenge of the campaign. The Lady Raiders wrapped up a 2-game swing to Vincennes College (Indiana) and using a strong second half, pulled away from their hosts 70-53...

Southeast Missouri State junior forward Josh Earley hasn’t spent much time actually playing on a basketball court in recent seasons, so when the Redhawks signed the 6-foot-7 athlete last spring, it was a legitimate question to wonder just how good the transfer from Tulsa University could be for SEMO. Early indications are pretty good.

Ninth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz would more than likely dispute that there is a downside to achieving success as a football program, however, if there are any negatives to winning a lot of games, one could be that it results in other programs stealing the Redhawk assistant coaches on an annual basis.

The Missouri-Iowa Challenge is an opportunity for regional junior college men’s basketball programs to get a chance at facing top-notch competition early on in the season to set a barometer for the campaign going forward. The Three Rivers College program has already put its feet to the fire multiple times this young campaign and Friday one could see the Raiders and head coach Brian Bess were all about leaping into the volcano...

Southeast Missouri State fell in women's basketball action on Thursday 83-57 at Ole Miss in Oxford.

When he visited Cape Girardeau, Chaminade College Preparatory School senior BJ Ward was pretty confident in his mind that he liked Southeast Missouri State enough that he wanted to commit to playing basketball for the Redhawks over the next four seasons. However, when his parents, Aunna and Brian Ward were sold on SEMO and the Redhawks’ coaching staff, then the decision became a “no-brainer” according to Ward.

A year ago, Southeast Missouri State quarterback CJ Ogbonna was THE man. He started 11 games in 2021, including a season-ending beating of then-No. 8-ranked UT Martin, a game in which he threw for over 200 yards and three touchdowns.

With 10 new players on his roster this season, third-year Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball coach Brad Korn is going to rely on WHAT he knows and WHO he knows, especially in the early games.

Big, early deficit too much for determined Raiders to climb After a busy weekend of big wins and double overtime disappointments it appears that the Three Rivers Community College men’s basketball team couldn’t get back off the deck quick enough for Tuesday night’s trip to Lincoln Trail College...

Four players finished in double-digits scoring as Southeast Missouri State opened its 2022-23 women's basketball season with a come-from-behind 60-48 win over NCAA Division III University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy on Monday at the Show Me Center.

The tale of the great Geno Hess added “another unbelievable chapter” on Saturday, as the Southeast Missouri State junior running back became the Redhawks’ all-time leader in rushing yards in a 42-0 beating of Ohio Valley Conference opponent Tennessee State at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

With an enormous number of young people in the stands at the Show Me Center for today’s 2022-23 season-opening game for the Southeast Missouri State women’s basketball squad, all of those young eyes will most assuredly be looking for long 3-pointers swishing the net and sweet passes that lead to Redhawk makes. What they probably won’t be focused on is whether or not SEMO “meets the standard.” That will be the job of eighth-year Redhawk coach Rekha Patterson. The Redhawks will host NCAA Division III University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy out of St. Louis today at 11 a.m. (ESPN+), and it is the annual “Classroom on the Court” game, where SEMO Athletics welcomes over 2,000 students from the Cape Girardeau area.

With sunshine beaming down and mild temperatures drifting throughout Southeast Missouri of late, it may be difficult to fathom, but college basketball season is here. As in today.

“The Music City Miracle” is known throughout Nashville as the famous kick-off return for a touchdown pulled off by the NFL’s Tennessee Titans to win an AFC playoff game in the final seconds 23 years ago. However, something of a “miracle” took part on Saturday in the same Nissan Stadium that former Titans Frank Wychek and Kevin Dyson made memorable.

With all due respect to the Southeast Missouri State football coaching staff, who have sung the praises of Redhawk Geno Hess all season, the junior running back drew adulation recently from a pretty impressive admirer.

When Kristian Wilkerson caught his 219th and final pass of his magnificent football career at Southeast Missouri State less than three years ago, common sense would have told everyone that Redhawk fans would probably never see a wide receiver of that caliber again.

Southeast Missouri State freshman Cayla Koerner and junior Faith Liljegren were both named 2022 All-Ohio Valley Conference Soccer players on Thursday. Koerner was named the 2022 OVC Forward and Freshman of the Year, while also being selected to the All-OVC First Team and All-Newcomer Team...