Dayton sneaks past SEMO WBB and new coach Palmer 75-70 in season opener

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach Briley Palmer addresses the crowd during Houckamania on Oct. 11 at Houck Field House.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

DAYTON, Oh. — Dayton's resiliency was too much for SEMO to handle in the first game of the Briley Palmer era.

Trailing by five with two minutes remaining, the Flyers stormed back and used a 10-0 run to edge the Redhawks 75-70 on Tuesday night at the UD Arena in Dayton, Oh.

Dayton's Arianna Smith hit a layup with 1:14 remaining to give the Flyers (1-0) their first lead since the early fourth quarter, and her layup made it 73-70 with 40 seconds left. SEMO (0-1) sophomore Indiya Bowen missed a tying layup, and Smith got the rebound and closed it out at the free-throw line.

In the first-ever meeting between the two programs, the Redhawks were motivated to come through for their new coach, but late miscues saw the win slip away.

Palmer, who was the head coach at her alma mater Mineral Area Community College in 2023-24, replaced the resigned Rekha Patterson — now an assistant coach at UCF — in May after spending nine seasons at the junior college level.

SEMO true freshman Zoe Best was the star of the show, scoring 25 points, including 11 of SEMO's 14 first-quarter points, and seven rebounds, and shooting 66 percent from 3-point range.

The flashiest highlight for the coveted prospect out of Incarnate Word Academy came late in the second half when Best received a quick pass from Kennedy Claybrooks and was left all alone by the 3-point line. She wasted no time, immediately firing off and draining a shot in front of a whiffing Dayton defender; unfortunately, that was SEMO's final basket of the night.

Claybrooks, a transfer from Texas State, poured in 12 points for SEMO, who led 32-30 at halftime. Bowen, SEMO's top returning starter, added seven points and true freshman Ainaya Williams dropped eight points in her collegiate debut.

Nicole Stephens scored 15 points to lead Dayton, who is coming off a 12-19 season as a member of the Atlantic-10 conference. Four other Flyers had double-digit points, including Shantavia Dawkins (12) and Smith (11).

Big Picture

It was a humbling start for an almost entirely new team that features 13 new faces — including eight transfers. SEMO was held to 43 percent shooting from the field, as Dayton forced 17 turnovers in the game.

What's next?

SEMO will look to refocus ahead of its second of four-straight road games to open up the new season when Palmer’s squad travels to Austin, Tx. for a 2 pm game against No. 4 Texas on Sunday.