~ Samford handed Southeast its second straight conference loss, winning 91-76

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team suffered only two Ohio Valley Conference losses during last year's 16-game regular season league schedule.

But after being upset 91-76 at Samford Sunday afternoon, the Redhawks already have two defeats in their first three OVC games this season.

Samford (6-1, 2-0 OVC) used a big second half and a big advantage from the free-throw line to stun Southeast (4-5, 1-2), which is expected to be among the top contenders for the conference title.

"We've dug ourselves a hole now," said Southeast coach B.J. Smith, whose squad dropped its second straight game, after falling in overtime at home to OVC preseason favorite Tennessee Tech on Dec. 10. "We won't get out of it in one game. Every game now until the end is really important."

After trailing by nine points early, Southeast appeared to take control by opening up a 38-26 lead late in the first half, but the Redhawks had to settle for a 48-45 halftime advantage.

"The first half we played pretty well offensively, but we didn't do a good job of taking away what they wanted to do," Smith said.

Southeast led 52-45 early in the second half, but the Redhawks began to sputter offensively as the Bulldogs gradually gained control.

Samford went ahead for good with 8:38 remaining as junior guard Chelsee Insell made two free throws for a 64-63 lead.

Before Southeast scored again, the Bulldogs had opened up a 73-63 advantage with just under five minutes remaining. The Redhawks got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

"I sure was disappointed in the second half. We played really bad offensively," said Smith, whose squad was outscored 46-28 in the final period. "And 91 points is way too many to give up."

Senior center Tatiana Conceicao led the Redhawks with 18 points, but she had just two points in the second half. After not committing a foul in the first half, Conceicao fouled out in the second half after playing just 12 minutes in the period.

Freshman guard Tarina Nixon scored a season-high 17 points as she hit three of four 3-pointers. Senior guard Tiffanne Ryan added 11 points off the bench.

Sophomore forward Alex Munday, the OVC freshman of the year in 2003-2004 who missed all of last season with an injury, poured in 31 points for the Bulldogs, who have won six straight games for the first time in the program's eight-year history.

Samford hit 40 of 46 free throws, compared to 14 of 18 for Southeast. But the Bulldogs were sent to the line 16 times in the final two minutes as Southeast was forced to foul. Samford made 15 of those last 16 attempts.

The Bulldogs also outshot the Redhawks from the field (48.8 percent to 46.4 percent) and from 3-point range (60 percent to 40 percent). Samford had 14 turnovers compared to 21 for Southeast, and the Bulldogs held a 28-26 rebounding edge.

Southeast remains on the road to face Jacksonville (Ala.) State at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"That's one we have to get," Smith said.