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Game #22
Morehead State (14-9, 9-3 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (8-13, 4-8 OVC) 
 
Game Information: 

Date: Thursday, February 5
Time: 5:15 p.m., CT. 
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Venue: Show Me Center
Series: SEMO leads 31-25
 
Head Coaches: 

SEMO: Briley Palmer (91-78 overall; 14-38 at SEMO; Second Season)
MSU: Ashton Feldhaus (14-9 overall; First Season)
 
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X: @OfficialSEMOWBB 
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM or 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
Tickets
 
Game Notes (PDF)

Media Guide (PDF)

Redhawks Return to Show Me Center for Big Matchup with Morehead State Thursday 

Southeast Missouri Women’s Basketball (8-13, 4-8 OVC) return to the Show Me Center after a two-game road trip to take on Morehead State (14-9, 9-3 OVC) on Thursday evening. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m., CT. in Cape Girardeau. 

 

Series History

The Redhawks and Eagles continue their long historic matchup on Thursday night marking the 57th time the two have met on the court, and the second time this season. SEMO maintains a 31-25 overall series record against MSU, but lost the first matchup this morning in Morehead, Ky. SEMO has lost three-straight to MSU with the Redhawks’ last win coming on February 29, 2024. 

 

Huge Road Win

The Redhawks concluded last week’s two-game road swing with a big 71-56 victory over Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Illinois. Four Redhawks finished in double figures led by forward Kearra Jones who scored a SEMO career-high 19 points and hauled in 13 rebounds. Raissa Nsabua (14), Lexi McCully (12), and Carmen Taylor (11) finished behind Jones as the Redhawks controlled the entire game after falling behind 6-0 early in the first quarter. SEMO shot 59.2-percent from the field and 33-percent from three-point range. 

 

OVC Newcomer of the Week

Sophomore forward Kearra Jones picked up Ohio Valley Conference ‘Newcomer of the Week’ honors, the league announced on Tuesday afternoon. Jones, a native of Madison, Wis., had a standout performance in back-to-back games this past week at Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois. She averaged a double-double over the two games with 13.5 PPG and 10.5 RPG, including hauling in 13 rebounds against Eastern Illinois. 

 

Against the Panthers, Kearra recorded her third double-double of the season and is still the only Redhawk to have recorded double-digits in two stat categories in the same game. She was efficient from the field over two games as she went 3-5 (60%) against Western Illinois and 8-12 (67%) against EIU finishing the week 11-17 from the field for an overall 64.7% shooting-percentage. She drained the only three-pointer she took on the week and finished 4-7 at the free throw line (57.1%). 

 

The award marks the first of Jones’ Southeast Missouri career and she is the first Redhawk this season to pick up a weekly award. She also became the second Redhawk in Head Coach Briley Palmer’s tenure to take home ‘Newcomer of the Week’ honors since Kennedy Claybrooks did it during the 2024-25 season.

 

Another Check for Palmer

Head Coach Briley Palmer completed her second sweep of an OVC opponent this past weekend after taking the second game against Eastern Illinois. In her two seasons at the helm, Palmer has swept SIUE and now EIU as it also marked her first two wins over EIU as the head coach. 

 

Career-Day for Jones

Forward Kearra Jones scored a SEMO career-high 19 points against Eastern Illinois to lead the Redhawks to a 71-56 victory. Jones raised her scoring average to 8.9 PPG after entering last week averaging 8.4 PPG. She hauled in 13 rebounds against EIU, the most rebounds she’s hauled in against a DI opponent this season. She raised her RPGs to 5.6 after entering the week at 5.1 RPG. 

 

Perfect Day

Graduate student Raissa Nsabua did not miss a field goal against Eastern Illinois last Saturday afternoon. Nsabua finished the game 6-6 from the field for a perfect 100% shooting-percentage for the third time this season. Nsabua scored 14 points, the most she’s scored since Tennessee Tech (12/18) and has now scored double digits in three-straight games. 

 

Back to Double Figures

Lexi McCully has really returned to impacting the game on the offensive end as she scored 12 more points against Eastern Illinois. McCully has scored north of 10 points in four-of-the-last-five games for the Redhawks and now averages 12.0 PPG. Over the last five games, McCully is averaging 11.8 PPG. She has scored 249 points this season and needs 161 more points to surpass 1,000 career points. 

 

The Offense

Southeast Missouri Women’s Baskeball has become one of the league’s top shooting teams in the OVC. The Redhawks have moved up two spots into third overall shooting a 41.2-percent clip as a team through 21 games. SEMO is 492-1195 this season led by Kearra Jones with a 49.7-percent mark. 

 

Two Leading Scorers

Southeast Missouri has two scorers who are averaging 10 PPG or more in the backcourt duo of Carmen Taylor and Lexi McCully. Carmen leads the Redhawks with a 12.2 PPG mark having scored 257 points in 21 games. McCully follows closely behind with an 11.9 PPG clip. The duo ranks 15th and 19th in the OVC, respectively, in scoring this season. 

 

200 Tracker

Raissa Nsabua is the Redhawks’ floor general from her point guard position. Nsabua dished out three more assists against Eastern Illinois and now has 185 career assists. Her 83 assists this season are the most she’s had in a single season in her career and is just 15 away from 200 career assists. 

 

Speaking of Assists

Raissa enters the week ranked second in the Ohio Valley Conference in total assists. Nsabua, who is averaging 4.2 APG, trails only Marie Sepp of Morehead State who has dished out 110 assists this season (4.8 APG). 

 

First Road Conference Win

Last Saturday afternoon marked the Redhawks’ first Ohio Valley Conference victory on the road this season. SEMO was previously 0-6 on the road in conference play before defeating Eastern Illinois. The road victory marked the third different team that SEMO has beaten on the road under Coach Palmer in SIUE, Tennessee State, and now Eastern Illinois. 

 

Defend the Show Me

The Redhawks hosts their seventh conference opponent this Thursday evening and have a 3-3 overall record in Cape Girardeau in OVC play. The Redhawks have defeated Eastern Illinois, SIUE, and Little Rock inside the Show Me Center. 

 

Fourth

Southeast Missouri ranks fourth in turnover margin and Assist-To-Turnover ratio in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks have turned it over 339 times in 21 games (16.1 TPG) but have forced 384 turnovers to their opponents (18.3 TPG) for a 2.14 turnover margin this season. SEMO has dished out 271 team assists (12.9 APG) and with 339 turnovers (16.1 TPG) the Redhawks have an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.80 this season.