Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team routs Murray State

Bri Mitchell drained a 3-pointer as time expired on the third quarter of the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball game against Murray State on Wednesday night.

If the Redhawks had needed a boost it would've provided it, as her teammates ran out to meet her on the court while she held up three fingers on each of her hands to celebrate the shot.

But Southeast (14-9, 7-3 OVC) never needed a push, as it led from start to finish and picked up a 96-59 victory over the visiting Racers at the Show Me Center.

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Southeast Missouri State's Bri Mitchell drives against Murray State's Ajee Smith in the first quarter, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, at the Show Me Center. Southeast won 96-59.

"I feel like this win was one of the first, where we continued to stay with the lead instead of letting them come back in," Southeast senior forward Erin Bollmann said. "Maybe we can hold onto that feeling of not being down or always just having that cushion so that we continue to win."

Coach Rekha Patterson credited the energy of the crowd of 1,142 -- namely members of the Southeast football, softball and soccer teams -- for her team's hot start as the Redhawks jumped out to a 9-2 lead and held an 18-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

"I mean, before the game even started the football team was on it and I just want to seriously thank them for coming and thank them for that," Patterson said.

Southeast Missouri State's Hannah Noe hits a 3-pointer in the first quarter against Murray State on Wednesday at the Show Me Center.Laura Simon

Sophomore guard Hannah Noe connected on 5 of 6 3-point attempts in the first half and a triple by freshman guard Corneisha Henderson with 1 minute, 49 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Redhawks their largest lead of the half at 33. Southeast took a 48-18 lead into halftime after holding MSU to six field goals.

Noe scored 17 of her career-high 22 points in the first half. The Redhawks shot 48.6 percent from the floor and were 8 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.

"I think I was due," Noe said with a laugh. "Give that to my teammates for hitting me when I was open and giving me all the confidence in the world to shoot the ball."

Mitchell's 3 at the end of the third sent Southeast to the final 10 minutes with a 72-36 edge. Mitchell finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting along with eight assists and five rebounds, but her defensive effort holding MSU's Ke'Shunan James -- who entered the game averaging a team-best 17.1 points in conference -- to 10 points in the contest was what impressed Patterson the most.

"People are going to look at what she did offensively and say, 'Wow, she had a great game,' but what she did defensively was really, really special because she didn't let Miss James get into a rhythm because she was right there when she moved," Patterson said. "And I thought we did a pretty decent job of when she drove of not giving her those drop down opportunities to allow her some assists."

Patterson was able to use her entire bench in the victory. Sophomore guard Kaley Leyhue scored a season-high 15 points -- she was 6 of 7 from the field and 3 of 3 from 3-point range -- and freshman forward Hilma Mededovic finished with a career-high 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting in seven minutes of action.

"Hilma's my best friend, so obviously I'm screaming for Hilma," Bollmann said of the excitement of seeing her teammates performances. "But also Kaley and Katia [Polk] being able to come in and Dolapo [Balogun] being able to just get on the floor and feel the floor so that when they do get in those tough games they can perform."

SOUTHEAST 96, MURRAY STATE 59

Murray State 9 9 18 23 -- 59

Southeast 18 30 24 24 -- 96

MURRAY STATE (59) -- Ke'Shunan James 10, Kyra Gulledge 8, Ajee Smith 2, Jamine Borders 17, Jashae Lee 3, Taylor Reese 2, LeAsia Wright 3, Lexii Cassell 7, Abria Gulledge 7. FG 22-60, FT 5-11, F 14. (3-pointers: James 2, Borders 4, Lee, Wright, Cassell, Gulledge. Fouled out: None.)

SOUTHEAST (96) -- Erin Bollmann 14, Connor King 2, Bri Mitchell 16, Adrianna Murphy 4, Hannah Noe 22, Ashton Luttrull 3, Corneisha Henderson 7, Kaley Leyhue 15, Imani Johnson 3, Hilma Mededovic 8. FG 36-68, FT 12-17, F 14. (3-pointers: Noe 6, Leyhue 3, Mitchell, Luttrull, Henderson. Fouled out: None.)