Evansville downs SEMO women’s 70-55

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Zoe Best delivered again before SEMO women’s basketball tripped up again.

The promising true freshman's big night was not enough as the Redhawks fell to Evansville 70-55 at the Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Thursday.

It was SEMO’s second loss to the Purple Aces (2-1) in the previous three meetings.

On a night where the Redhawks (0-3) only shot 24-for-74 from the field and 2-for-21 from 3-point range, Best’s brilliance continued, as the point guard finished with 16 points, five rebounds and two assists. Transfer Lexi McCully also stepped up, sharing a team-high 16 points.

SEMO found itself in a hole early on as Palmer’s squad trailed 30-21 at the break.

The difference in the first half was Evansville’s ability to shoot efficiently from long range. The Purple Aces only shot 6-for-20 from the field, but made up for it by draining five 3s, including three from freshman guard Kaiden Kreinhagen. On the other hand, SEMO shot 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes of action. Redhawks not named Kennedy Claybrooks, who finished with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds, made just six of their 23 first-half shots.

SEMO looked more comfortable offensively in the second half. Best hit the first 3-pointer of the night for the Redhawks with 6:04 remaining in the third quarter. A key moment of the game for SEMO came in the second half when Best reentered the game and gave her team some breathing room after she laid one in off a fast break, drew a foul and completed the three-point play to trail 45-53 with 7:35 to go.

However, the Purple Aces refused to take their foot off the gas and did not trail once in the entire second half. Evansville out-rebounded SEMO 47 to 35, made 82% of its free throws and were consistent shooting beyond the arc all game long.

Big Picture

Early-season college basketball can be hard to make sense of, especially for a first-year head coach. Some, like SEMO’s tight loss to Dayton in the opener, are true barometers of where a program stands. Others, such as SEMO’s lopsided defeat to national-title contender Texas this past Sunday, feel more futile.

However, each matchup of the 29-game regular-season slate is meaningful in some way, and Palmer’s team is continuing to identify team strengths and weaknesses for a group that features 13 newcomers.

Strong outings from Best, McCully and Claybrooks leave a trail of optimism for a SEMO team that continues to gel. In the end, two 3s all night just aren’t nearly enough against a team as versatile as Evansville, but the Redhawks can earn their stripes with a bounce back performance this weekend.

What's next?

SEMO’s road slate continues this Sunday, Nov. 17 when the Redhawks travel to Richmond, Ky. for a date with Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+.