The Lipscomb women's basketball team gave first-year Southeast Missouri State coach Rekha Patterson her first real look at many of the teams in the conference she'll be coaching against this season.

Lipscomb, which the Redhawks play at 6:30 p.m. tonight in Nashville, has already played four members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

"I guess they are the 13th member of the OVC it looks like," Patterson said with a laugh.

The Bisons bring a three-game losing streak and a 3-6 record into the contest. They've gone 1-3 against the OVC with losses to Tennessee Tech, Belmont and Morehead State and a win vs. Murray State.

The Redhawks (5-4) could surpass their road win total from a year ago with a victory. They're 3-2 in true road games -- losses to Idaho State and UC Riverside were neutral games at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic -- and finished 3-13 on the road last season.

Tonight's contest will conclude six consecutive games away from Cape Girardeau for Southeast. The Redhawks are 2-3 on the road swing and are coming off a 66-62 overtime victory at Wichita State.

"You take wins when you can, and wins on the road are tough, and if you look at the games that we've played, we played some really good competition," Patterson said, "but I think what our team is starting to find out about themselves, no matter what the record shows, what they are learning about themselves, the way they are sticking together, the way they are giving their best effort [is important]. We haven't shot the ball really well, but we've found a way to be competitive in games with our rebounding, with our commitment to staying together through adversity and our fight.

"Yes, at the end of this I would love for us to have a great record, but again that would be more for people outside of our program. It's the baby steps that we're taking every day to learn how to win. We will hopefully be able to use these experiences now in January and February as we get in conference play."

Southeast begins conference play in a little more than three weeks at home against Belmont. The Bruins beat Lipscomb 90-68 on Wednesday, and Morehead State beat the Bison 92-77 on Saturday.

Lipscomb is led by 6-foot-1 redshirt senior forward Ashley Southern, who averages 21.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. She's led them in scoring all but one game and had 23 points and 19 rebounds vs. Morehead, including nine offensive boards.

"Their top player, Miss Southern, is a handful," Patterson said. "She's averaging a double-double. She's really confident. She can do it in a variety of ways."

Patterson said the Bisons' versatility on offense -- with post players that can shoot from the perimeter as well as score inside and guards that can attack the basket -- will challenge the Redhawks. Lipscomb is averaging 71.2 points per game. Alex Banks, a 5-11 redshirt junior forward, averages 10.1 points. Four others average 7.0 points or better.

"Even in their losses they're getting over 70, so we're going to have our hands full," Patterson said. "We're going to have to defend and rebound the ball. Ashley had nine offensive rebounds in their last game, so blocking out and rebounding will be an emphasis and defending dribble penetration will be an emphasis."

The Redhawks return their second-leading rebounder, senior forward Connor King, who missed Southeast's last game due to concussion-like symptoms. King was cleared to play Monday.

Senior guard and leading scorer Olivia Hackmann will be out indefinitely after suffering a Jones fracture in her foot. Hackmann, who averages 16.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, did not play during the five-minute overtime period Friday. She scored in double figures in every game so far this season.

Patterson's team got a much-needed day off Saturday before practicing Sunday and Monday.

"We had spent a lot of time together, so I thought it was good for us to get away so that we could miss each other so they had Saturday to themselves, and then we got back at it [Sunday] afternoon," Patterson said.

Patterson's found her team does better when practices are centered on them, so the focus is shifted to the opponent only the day before the game.

Patterson said the key to slowing down the high-scoring Bisons and Southern will be to get back in transition defense quickly and to limit poor decisions the Lipscomb defense will try to force on the other end.

"They've got a good point guard who will pass ahead, the bigs will run the floor, so if they can get something early, they will," Patterson said. "If they can post early and get post touches, they'll do that. Otherwise it is more of a motion where everybody can drive and kick, and again, when you've got post players who are not your traditional post that are going to stay on the block --they're constantly moving and screening and cutting and driving -- all five players have to be in tune to what's going on.

"Defensively they will play more of a matchup zone and then they will have a three-fourth to half-court trap that they run where they try to speed you up and they try to make you make bad decisions, so we're going to have to attack that and make sure we don't settle for outside shots but get paint touches, post points, and then play inside-out. You've got to have more than one side of the floor to attack their defense."