Redhawks' resilience tested as Lindenwood dominates in final Cape Girardeau showdown

The SEMO Redhawks (5-22, 3-15 OVC) Women’s basketball team fell to the Lindenwood Lions (20-7, 16-2 OVC)70-47 on Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Freshman Zoe Best and senior Lexi McCully led the Redhawks on offense with 13 points each.

SEMO struck first with a McCully three-pointer before a 10-2 run by the Lions gave them a 10-5 lead. Lindenwood turned seven SEMO turnovers into easy transition buckets to lead 19-10 after the first.

The Redhawks cleaned up the turnovers in the second quarter but still had trouble stopping Lindenwood. Foul trouble for SEMO caused much of the Lions’ points to be scored from the free-throw line. The Redhawks closed the gap to 28-21 but a four and half minute scoring drought by SEMO had them trailing 37-21 at the half.

SEMO head coach Briley Palmer said her team needs to control the things they can control if they want to close out the season strong.

“It’s just the little things we're talking about, do we want to be in the games? Do we want to have a chance to win games? If we do, we will take care of the ball, we'll value those possessions, and we will stick to the game plan,” Palmer said. “That's just something that we've struggled with all year. Things will be going right, we'll kind of do our gameplan. Then when it gets tough, we kind of become undisciplined, and those are the times you've got to do the things that discipline takes.”

The third quarter began with a 5-0 run by SEMO to close the gap to ten but the teams traded baskets to keep the lead at around 11. Another scoring drought by the Redhawks kept them from keeping the lead small as Lindenwood extended their lead to 55-35 after three.

McCully created a solo 8-0 in the fourth but the gap was too large to overcome as the Lions cruised to the big win. Palmer said it was tough for her seniors to lose their final game in Cape Girardeau because they have meant a lot for her first year as head coach.

“They’re just a group of loyal kids that have stuck it out and have done all they could. We started late in the game for putting a team together but they trusted in me and my vision, and I just really appreciate that,” Palmer said.

SEMO finishes the season with a road trip to SIUE and Eastern Illinois with a chance to still make the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Redhawks square off with the Cougars on Thursday at 5 p.m.