"Surreal" stunning win for Redhawks women's basketball

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach Rekha Patterson directs her team during a game earlier in her career against Tennessee Tech at the Show Me Center.

Tyler Graef ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Southeast Missouri State women’s basketball coach Rehka Patterson paused a moment to reflect on what had happened earlier in the day on Saturday.

For the first time in her tenure with the Redhawks, her squad had defeated a Power-6 opponent.

Southeast (6-2) toppled Ole Miss (5-5) at the Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi, 70-53.

It is the program’s first win against a Southeastern Conference foe since defeating Missouri, 90-71, at home on Nov 24, 1998.

“It was a surreal moment,” the fifth-year Southeast coach quietly said of beating the Rebels (5-5). “I had no idea the outcome would be like this.

“It is hard to win on the road, and it’s hard to win against an opponent in the SEC.”

Redhawks junior forward Tesia Thompson scored a team-high 16 points and passed the 1,000-point threshold in career scoring in doing so. She is only the 10th player in Redhawk history to do so.

Thompson also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

Redshirt senior guard Carrie Shephard and sophomore guard Taelour Pruitt each added 14 — with Shephard hitting half of her eight 3-pointers.

Senior forward Jessie Harshberger was the fourth Redhawk in double figures - contributing 11 points.

The Redhawks led for all but 27 seconds and took their largest lead, 51-23, with 5:23 left in the third quarter.

“In the 3rd (quarter) we started to see separation,” said Patterson, “we had a defensive stop and run, followed by another and another.”

Southeast was opportunistic, scoring 20 points off 22 Ole Miss turnovers.

A pattern is developing with this squad, which is off to its best start since 1993-94 when It also posted a 6-2 mark.

When the Redhawks have the lead at halftime this season, they are 6-0 and are unbeaten when Thompson, Shephard, Pruitt, Harshberger and Denisha Gardener are all starting.

“I’m so happy for our program,” said Patterson, “we have maturity and depth and multiple scorers.”

Patterson believes the Rebels are still trying to find their identity as a team, particularly with the loss of their freshman sensation from Romania, Sarah Dumitrescu, who suffered an ACL in the Nov. 26 game against Sam Houston State.

“(The Rebels) are rebuilding,” said Patterson, “(and) it’s a young team without great depth.”

The Rebels had three players in double figures - Valerie Nesbitt with 15, Deja Cage with 13 and Jayla Alexander with 11.

Cage was 4-for-9 from three-point land.

For the Rebels, it is the third loss in a row.

For the Redhawks, it’s their first win against Ole Miss in four tries dating to 1986.

Southeast returns to action Tuesday at Western Illinois at 5:30 p.m.

SOUTHEAST 70, OLE MISS 53

Southeast (70) - 20 15 21 14 - 70

Ole Miss (53) - 15 10 10 18 - 53

Southeast (70) — Tesia Thompson 16, Carrie Shephard 14, Taelour Pruitt 14, Jessie Harshberger 11, Denisha Gardener 6, Kennedi Allen 6, Sophie Bussard 2, LaTrese Saine 1. FG 31, FT 2-4, F 16 (3-pointers: Shephard 4, Pruitt, Harshberger. Fouled out: none)

Ole Miss (53) — Valerie Nesbitt 15, Deja Cage 13, Jayla Alexander 11, Iyanla Kitchens 5, Mimi Reid 3, Torri Lewis 3, Taylor Smith 2, Dominique Banks 1. FG 18, FT 11-18, F 13 (3-pointers: Cage 4, Lewis, Alexander. Fouled out: none)