Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team tries to keep steam

Since the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team defeated Eastern Illinois nearly two weeks ago, the Redhawks have a new-found confidence as they close out the regular season.

Southeast will try to continue to build off that confidence, and keep its Ohio Valley Conference tournament hopes alive, when it faces the Panthers at 1 p.m. Saturday in Charleston, Illinois.

"Our team's been upbeat. They know that these next three games are very, very important," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "We also feel confident that we are playing our best basketball, which is good. They feel good that we got Eastern once, but we also know it's going to be very challenging at their place as well."

The Redhawks erased a first-half deficit and held on to beat the Panthers 69-65 at home Feb. 7. They've split a pair of games since -- an 18-point loss to the OVC's lone undefeated in UT-Martin and a 22-point victory over last-place Murray State -- and have had a week of practice to prepare for EIU (9-17, 6-7 OVC), which sits tied for seventh with Austin Peay in the OVC standings.

Southeast is 10th in the OVC with a 3-10 conference record, and is 10-16 overall. Only the top eight teams reach the conference tournament.

"I just try to keep them focused hard and playing how we've playing on the offensive and defensive ends, scoring the basketball, and just making sure they know that we still control things," Margenthaler said. "But again, every game's very, very important. We've got to take care of business."

The Redhawks, who had rarely scored more than 60 points through their first nine conference games, have averaged 74.5 ppg in their last four.

The Redhawks shot 51.5 percent and scored a season-high 88 points in Saturday's win against the Racers. The Panthers beat MSU 81-67 on Wednesday night.

Southeast shot 49.1 percent and made 17 of 26 field goals in their second-half comeback against EIU. Senior forward Sabina Oroszova scored 26 points against the Redhawks while forward Erica Brown had 16 and guard Grace Lennox had 11.

"I think just being aggressive on both ends, and just playing with that intensity and that urgency, and I think we've been doing that pretty well for the 40 minutes of the game," Margenthaler said about his team's confidence. "Just having that attack mode, and I think we've done a better job of when teams are scoring we're not getting deflated."

Margenthaler said his players believe they can score with their opponents, which wasn't the case earlier in the season. Senior guard Jasmine Robinson has been huge for the Southeast offense, averaging 17.7 ppg over the last two weeks and being named the OVC's Newcomer of the Week twice in a row. She scored a career-high 27 points against the Racers.

"It's been nice that Jasmine has been scoring bigger numbers," Margenthaler said. "I think that's giving everyone more confidence, so if we can get three players, which we have lately, in double digits it really helps."

Junior forward Connor King sprained her ankle during practice Monday and has been out of practice and in a protective boot since, but Margenthaler is optimistic his leading rebounder will be available for Saturday's game.

"We're going to get her out of the boot, hopefully [Friday], because we need her for sure against Eastern with their size," Margenthaler said.