Jan. 25, 2008

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Senior center Missy Whitney (Charleston, Mo./Three Rivers CC) recorded a double-double of a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds as Southeast Missouri State women's basketball posted a 66-58 Ohio Valley Conference win over visiting Morehead State tonight at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks hiked their season record to 13-6 (8-2) and the Eagles dropped to 7-12 (5-6) on the year.

The visitors produced an early 6-2 lead at the 16:21 mark behind a pair of treys from freshman Chynna Bozeman and senior Anitha Smith-Williams before junior guard Tarina Nixon (Gilbert, Ariz./Highland) hit two consecutive driving layups less than a minute late to tie the score at 6-6. Morehead later scored 17 of the next 30 points over a near nine-minute stretch with senior Tarah Combs tallying six points during the run to post a 23-19 lead with 5:34 remaining. After sophomore Brandi Rayburn drained a three to put the Eagles ahead by a 26-21 margin with 4:19 left in the half, the home team responded with a 10-4 scoring in the final minutes behind five points from Whitney to claim a slim 31-30 advantage entering intermission.

Whitney outscored Morehead by a 7-2 margin at the free throw line just five minutes into the second half as the Redhawks increased their lead to 37-32 at the 15:20 mark. A three-pointer by junior forward Rachel Blunt (Dexter, Mo./Dexter) at 12:55 gave Southeast a six-point advantage at 42-36 before the Eagles scored a 9-2 run which helped them regain the lead at 45-44 on a jumper from sophomore Brittany Pittman with 10:04 remaining in the game. It would be the last lead that Morehead would hold as the Redhawks posted an 11-3 scoring drive over a period of 4:03 to capture a 55-48 lead that culminated with two free throws by junior guard Sonya Daugherty (St. Louis, Mo./Hancock). Bozeman scored five straight points in less than a minute to pull the Eagles to within two at 55-53 with 4:56 to go, but Southeast closed the game by tallying 11 of the final 16 points down the stretch that included going 4-of-4 from the line in the final 20 seconds.

Nixon also finished with 22 points on 7-of-14 from the field that included going 4-of-8 from three-point range and added four steals. She moved to fourth on Southeast's all-time made treys list with 111 in her career. Junior forward Crysta Glenn (San Diego, Calif./Cowley County CC) added seven points, while junior guard Tierra Johnson (Poplar Bluff, Mo./Three Rivers CC) produced six points, four assists and three offensive boards.

Bozeman paced Morehead State with 16 points and added eight rebounds, while Rayburn contributed 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field. Pittman posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards to go along with a game-high four blocks to become the OVC's single-season blocks leader with 79 rejections.

Southeast heads to Murray, Ky., this Saturday for an afternoon OVC showdown against Murray State at the RSE Center with a start time of 4:30 p.m.