Southeast Missouri State women's basketball bounces back with win over Eastern Kentucky

Southeast's Tesia Thompson (24) shoots during a game against Murray State at the Show Me Center on Jan. 12, 2019. Murray State won 64-59. Saturday, SEMO beat Eastern Kentucky 52-42 as Thompson finished with a double-double.

Tyler Graef ~ Southeast Missourian

Coming off a 28-point loss, a short-handed Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team picked up a bounce back victory Saturday.

Tesia Thompson notched her fifth double-double of the season, and the Redhawks held on for a 52-42 win over Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Kentucky.

The win comes two days after Southeast fell 82-54 to Morehead State, and the Redhawks did it without starter Dolapo Balogun and LaTrese Saine. Balogun missed the game with a sickness while Saine, who's averaging 10.2 minutes per game off the bench, was on crutches after suffering an injury against MSU.

Thompson finished with 17 points, 13 in the second half, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

"In the second half, it was a grind-it-out game," Southeast coach Rekha Patterson said. "I thought we were tough enough, even though we missed shots -- it would be easy to be defeated or deflated -- we went back on defense and defended and competed well."

With the win, Southeast improves to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Jocelyn Taylor was Southeast's second double-digit scorer, finishing with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Adrianna Murphy added six points and four assists with just one turnover.

With its leading scorer Abby Wright out, EKU (2-15, 0-6 OVC) lacked scoring punch and is still searching for its first win over a Division I opponent.

Southeast couldn't pull away early, though. The Redhawks took a 10-3 lead less than four minutes in, but by the end of the period that advantage was 15-13.

EKU took the lead in the second quarter before a 3-pointer from Carrie Shephard with 2:08 left in the half gave Southeast a 28-25 lead. The Redhawks, who were up 30-25 at halftime, led the rest of the way.

Both teams struggled offensively in the third quarter, missing layups around the basket and turning the ball over. The two teams played to a stalemate as Southeast took a 39-34 lead into the final quarter.

That five-point lead ended up being enough.

EKU got within one with 5:31 left on a Shay Solomon jumper, but despite multiple chances, never took take the lead. Solomon finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Catie Kaifes added 10 points.

Thompson sealed the win as Southeast ended the game on a 7-0 run. After a turnover on the offensive end, Thompson stole the ball back for a layup and a 47-42 lead with 1:13 left.

After missing two free throws with 41 seconds left, Iyanna McCurdy bailed Thompson out with an offensive rebound. After getting a hug from Patterson, Thompson sunk the next two free throws for a 49-42 lead.

Against an EKU team that shot 13 of 51 from the field, that late lead held up.

Southeast returns to the court at 5:15 p.m. Thursday when it hosts SIU Edwardsville. The Redhawks opened conference play with a 62-52 road win over SIUE.

SOUTHEAST (52) — Tesia Thompson 17, Jocelyn Taylor 11, Carrie Shephard 6, Adrianna Murphy 6, Losmie Lutaya 2, Kennedi Allen 6, Iyanna McCurdy 4. FG 21, FT 5-10, F 19 (3-pointers: Taylor, Shephard 2, Murphy 2. Fouled out: None)

E. KENTUCKY (42) — Shay Solomon 12, Catie Kaifes 10, Teri Goodlett 8, Mashayla Cecil 3, Bria Bass 2, Madison Pierce 5, Hailey McCoy 2. FG 13, FT 11-14, F 18 (3-pointers: Solomon, Kaifes 2, Goodlett, Cecil. Fouled out: Kaifes)