Redhawks WBB break 13-game losing streak with thrilling 51-49 win over Western Illinois

After two months of falling short, the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks women's squad finally soared to victory.

Lexi McCully scored 15 points and Zoe Best put up 14 to lead SEMO to a 51-49 win over Western Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 20, at the Show Me Center. The win snapped a 13-game losing streak.

“We needed that,” SEMO head coach Briley Palmer said. “Sometimes you just need to be rewarded and get those types of things.”

Free throws turned out to be the key difference in the Redhawks’ win. Their last four points in the final minutes were free throws from Best and McCully, who combined for 10 of 10 shooting from the charity stripe.

“I think it's one of the easiest ways to win a game,” McCully said. “The pressure, I don't want to say it's made up, I mean being a collegiate athlete, a senior at this level, I feel like I have put in a lot of hours, especially to something like a free throw. I would hope and pray that I can honestly put those in. That's preparation and confidence.”

While the Redhawks rarely find themselves on the charity stripe often, they had nine more free-throw attempts (10 of 12) than the Leathernecks (3 of 3).

“I thought we did a really good job with fouling,” Palmer said. “As far as the whole game goes, we only had five fouls at halftime and, as you know us, we tend to foul too much. So I think limiting the fouls and things like that was huge as well.”

The Redhawks started the game on a 24-2 run by burying the Leathernecks with six 3-pointers. Best scored 10 points in the first quarter to provide SEMO with a first-half cushion, as the Redhawks entered halftime leading 34-19.

“I think that we just took rhythm shots,” Palmer said. “I think that we took good shots. I think that we made them have to guard longer than we normally do because we're always trying to fight back and things like that. But I thought we were very patient, and so it gets you that lead, and then you got to build on that.”

That cushion was put to the test in the second half, as the Redhawks failed to find the basket throughout the third quarter. The Leathernecks clawed back to a single-digit deficit, trailing SEMO 36-31 entering the final period.

The Leathernecks outscored the Redhawks in each of the final three quarters, but SEMO never trailed.

“This group knows what to do,” Palmer said. “We didn't change. We kind of stuck to what we had as the plan, and didn't get much into the other offensive side of things, like we do switching things up. We kind of stayed true to what we had worked on the last couple of days, and I think that was huge.”

SEMO hosts in-state rival Lindenwood for the final home game of the 2024-25 season. The Lions are tied with Tennessee Tech for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a 15-2 conference record.

“I think it'd be like the perfect story if I'm being honest,” McCully said. “I mean for senior night, coming off this good win, ending off the season early, taking out No. 1, I think it would be beautiful.”