Evansville downs SEMO women’s baseketball 70-55

SEMO's Tristan Spearman handles the ball during a recent game against Texas in Austin on Sunday, Nov. 10.

Jacob Blassingame ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

Zoe Best delivered again before Southeast Missouri State women’s basketball tripped up again.

The promising true freshman's big night was not enough as the Redhawks fell to Evansville 70-55 at the Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Thursday, Nov. 14, in Evansville, Indiana.

It was SEMO’s second loss to the Purple Aces (2-1) in the previous three meetings.

On a night where the Redhawks (0-3) only shot 24-for-74 from the field and 2-for-21 from 3-point range, Best’s brilliance continued, as the point guard finished with 16 points, five rebounds and two assists. Transfer Lexi McCully also stepped up, sharing a team-high 16 points.

SEMO found itself in a hole early on as head coach Briley Palmer’s squad trailed 30-21 at the break.

The difference in the first half was Evansville’s ability to shoot efficiently from long range. The Purple Aces only shot 6 of 20 from the field, but made up for it by draining five 3s, including three from freshman guard Kaiden Kreinhagen. On the other hand, SEMO shot 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes of action. Redhawks not named Kennedy Claybrooks, who finished with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds, made just six of their 23 first-half shots.

SEMO looked more comfortable offensively in the second half. Best hit the first 3-pointer of the night for the Redhawks with 6:04 remaining in the third quarter. A key moment of the game for SEMO came in the second half when Best reentered the game and gave her team some breathing room after she laid one in off a fast break, drew a foul and completed the three-point play to trail 45-53 with 7:35 to go.

However, the Purple Aces refused to take their foot off the gas and did not trail once in the entire second half. Evansville out-rebounded SEMO 47 to 35, made 82% of its free throws and were consistent shooting beyond the arc all game long.

Big picture

Early-season college basketball can be hard to make sense of, especially for a first-year head coach. Some, like SEMO’s tight loss to Dayton in the opener, are true barometers of where a program stands. Others, such as SEMO’s lopsided defeat to national-title contender Texas this past Sunday, feel more futile.

However, each matchup of the 29-game regular-season slate is meaningful in some way, and Palmer’s team is continuing to identify team strengths and weaknesses for a group that features 13 newcomers.

Strong outings from Best, McCully and Claybrooks leave a trail of optimism for a SEMO team that continues to gel. In the end, two 3s all night just aren’t nearly enough against a team as versatile as Evansville, but the Redhawks can earn their stripes with a bounce back performance this weekend.

What's next?

SEMO’s road slate continues this Sunday, Nov. 17, when the Redhawks travel to Richmond, Kentucky, for a date with Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+.