Southeast women suffer their worst OVC loss vs. MSU

~ Morehead State posted a 49-point victory against the Redhawks

Very little went right for the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team Saturday.

The result was Southeast's most lopsided Ohio Valley Conference loss since the university joined the OVC during the 1991-92 season.

Host Morehead State celebrated senior day with an 89-40 romp in Morehead, Ky.

MSU, beating the Redhawks for the sixth straight time, improved to 18-8 overall and a third-place 11-4 in the 10-team OVC.

Despite the huge defeat, Southeast (8-16, 4-10) remained seventh in the OVC and still very much on pace to qualify for the eight-team conference tournament. The Redhawks have four league games left.

Southeast, which lost to MSU 85-69 on Jan. 13 at the Show Me Center, grabbed a pair of early leads Saturday, including 7-6.

MSU did not begin to pull away until late in the first half and led 35-21 at halftime.

But the second half was a total mismatch as the Eagles outscored the Redhawks 54-19.

Senior guard Chynna Bozeman, the OVC's leading scorer at nearly 20 points per game, poured in 29 points as she went over the 2,000-point mark for her career.

Bozeman, who hit 7 of 15 3-pointers, also moved into eighth place in NCAA history for 3-pointers made. She added nine assists and five steals.

"She's a very good player," Southeast coach John Ishee said.

Sophomore forward Ashar Harris, the OVC's leading rebounder at nearly 12 per game, had 16 points and 15 rebounds. She recorded 20 points and 18 boards in the earlier meeting with Southeast.

The Redhawks were paced offensively by junior forward Katie Norman, sophomore guard Erika Lane and sophomore guard Jasmine Davis with nine points apiece. Sophomore forward Bailie Roberts added eight points.

MSU shot 48.5 percent from the field, including 44.7 percent from 3-point range as the Eagles bombed in 17 of 38 from beyond the arc.

Southeast shot only 27.1 percent and was hurt by 28 turnovers as MSU had a whopping 39-4 edge in points off turnovers. The Eagles lead the OVC by forcing nearly 21 turnovers per game and the Redhawks average more than 19 turnovers.

"We didn't handle their pressure very well," Ishee said. "Half of that is credit to Morehead State and half of that at least is us wilting to pressure. We just weren't very tough."

The Eagles committed only eight turnovers while recording 24 assists for an impressive ratio.

Southeast still gained an important split of its two-game road trip after beating Eastern Kentucky Thursday.

The Redhawks host Murray State Thursday night.