SEMO women’s, men’s basketball opens home conference slate against SIUE
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – The SEMO men’s and women’s teams hosted SIU Edwardsville in their home conference openers at the Show-Me Center Saturday afternoon.
Rekha Patterson’s squad dug themselves a 25-point hole that they could not climb out of.
The Redhawks did cut the deficit to 7 on multiple occasions, thanks in large part to a 17-point third quarter from Jaliyah Green, but SEMO fell to 0-2 in conference play with a 76-61 loss.
Patterson said she is proud of the fight her team has exhibited, and that third quarter shows them what they are capable of.
“What I do like about our young ladies is the fight and the fact that we won’t lay down,” she said. “Obviously, we show that we are talented and we can, to battle back the way we did today, but we can’t set ourselves back by 25 and expect to come away with a win.”
Green said the defensive intensity the Redhawks (5-8) put forth reflects what Patterson preaches.
“She wants us to play the SEMO way, which is extremely hard, extremely tough, and together, and that’s what we do on defense,” she said. “That’s how we stop teams from getting their average, and we just have to keep together. We can’t wither away from each other when things get down.”
On the men’s side, the Redhawks (6-9) never trailed and held off several SIUE pushes to snap an eight-game losing streak with an 82-73 victory.
Four different Redhawks scored at least 12 points, and SEMO’s high-pressure defense forced 16 SIUE turnovers.
Sophomore Dylan Branson, who scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, said the Redhawks’ depth makes them a dangerous team.
“It lets us take our energy level up,” he said. “When you know the next guy coming off the bench has got your back and he’s going to raise your level and play just as well as you, it helps. You know you can go out there and fully exert yourself with the next guy coming in ready to go.”
Both teams will hit the road to begin the new year with games at UT Martin and Little Rock on Jan. 5 and 7, respectively, before returning home to take on Lindenwood on Jan. 12.
