Redhawks edge Central Arkansas 64-60 in home debut

~ Southeast added a little stability by evening its record at 1-1 under acting head coach John Ishee.

Tuesday night's home opener for the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team was anything but smooth.

But in the end, all the Redhawks were concerned with was the final result -- a victory.

The Redhawks sputtered much of the night -- and trailed most of the game -- before slipping past Central Arkansas 64-60 at the Show Me Center.

"I think maybe we were a little bit nervous and we started out a little slow," sophomore guard Tarina Nixon said. "We didn't put it together completely, but it feels great to get that first win."

Southeast (1-1) had lost Saturday's opener at Tulsa 67-54.

"It feels good to win," said junior forward Missy Whitney, a transfer from Three Rivers Community College and a former Charleston High School star. "We didn't play that good, but I think it being our first home game had something to do with it."

The Redhawks prevailed in John Ishee's second game as their acting head coach. Ishee is running the squad after B.J. Smith was placed on administrative leave by the university on Thursday.

"It was a very tough game," Ishee said. "We didn't execute very well, but I could have done a lot better job.

"We won because of the will to win by these ladies."

Southeast Missouri State University acting women's head coach John Ishee talked with his players during a timeout in the first half of Tuesday's game with Central Arkansas at the Show Me Center.

Ishee was asked if playing their first home game without Smith might have affected the Redhawks' performance.

"Definitely," Ishee said. "But adversity makes you stronger or it breaks you. I'm going to demand on it making us stronger."

The Redhawks were certainly stronger in the second half Tuesday than during the first half, which ended with them behind 30-24 as they held just one lead over the opening 20 minutes.

UCA (1-1) stayed ahead for much of the second half before Southeast finally went ahead for good at 52-51 on a follow shot by senior center Lachelle Lyles with 4 minutes, 53 seconds remaining.

Southeast built a 55-51 advantage but never could shake the Bears, who are in their first season on the Division I level.

Four times, the Bears (0-2) cut their deficit to a single point, but the Redhawks made several big plays down the stretch.

Southeast hit five of six free throws in the final 38 seconds to hold off the Bears, three by Nixon and two by Whitney.

Whitney put the final clamps on UCA when, with Southeast leading 62-60, she blocked a 3-point attempt by Allyson Sample with 6 seconds left.

Whitney also grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled by Sample. Whitney hit both free throws to seal the win.

"We made a lot of big plays toward the end," Ishee said. "And we hit our free throws."

Junior guard Ashley Lovelady, a transfer from Moberly Area College, sparked Southeast's comeback by scoring 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half.

Lovelady hit seven of 11 shots in the final period, including both of her 3-point attempts. She finished 9-for-17 from the field, scoring on a variety of drives to the basket and outside jumpers.

"I was missing in warmups, but I just kept with it and finally starting hitting," Lovelady said.

Nixon, the Redhawks' lone returning starter from last year's NCAA tournament team, scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half.

Nixon shot just 4-of-15 from the field but made seven of eight free throws, all in the final period. She added four assists and two steals.

Whitney, who led the Redhawks in scoring at Tulsa with 16 points, had the first double-double of her Southeast career. She scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds while adding two blocks.

"We stepped our game up in the second half," Whitney said.

Lyles, Southeast's only other player who saw considerable action last year, grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with six points -- all in the second half -- and two blocks.

Southeast shot just 38.6 percent for the game, but hit 41.9 percent in the second half. The Redhawks also outrebounded the Bears 26-12 in the final period to finish with a 50-35 edge.

"We started crashing the boards harder in the second half," Lyles said.

Caronica Randle paced UCA with 20 points.

Southeast has another home game Friday, against Florida State. The Seminoles, from the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference, advanced to the second round of last year's NCAA tournament.