Women's basketball victory gives Coach Patterson first college win

First-year head coach Rekha Patterson secured her first win as the coach of Southeast Missouri State’s women’s basketball team. The Redhawks defeated Harris-Stowe on Monday night at the Show Me Center in a 78-66 win.

This was the first regular-season win for the Redhawks this season, bringing their record to 1-1, with a loss from Saint Louis last Saturday.

Coach Patterson was happy with the win regardless of some “technical difficulties,” as she referred to the slow second half.

"I hope I have the opportunity to coach long enough to feel bad about that, but that was my first college win, and I am happy," Patterson said. “So I don’t care if people think it was ugly. I don’t care if people were nervous. It was the first game of the season… and we are a work in progress.”

Senior guard Olivia Hackmann lead the team with a career-high 26 points, sophomore guard Hannah Noe following with 12, senior forward Erin Bollmann with 11 and junior guard Brianna Mitchell with 10.

Coming off the bench, Noe brought high energy and a solid shot to the game as she went 4-4 from beyond the arc.

“That’s a nice weapon to have, her ability to shoot,” Patterson said. “Anytime you have a weapon like Hannah, you can always use that."

“She’s been doing it since day one,” senior forward Connor King said about Noe’s shooting presence. “I think it’s a huge energy boost and it brings a big spark to our team. Sometimes her big shots get us back on track.”

Bollmann lead the team in rebounds with 12 and also tied a career-high five steals. Sophomore forward Deja Jones followed with 10 rebounds and two steals. King had nine rebounds, just six short of 500 in her career.

At the end of the first quarter, the Redhawks lead 22-15 with 12 of Southeast’s points coming from three-pointers. Hackmann lead with eight points and four rebounds. Noe followed closely with six points.

The Redhawks continued to build their lead in the second quarter, adding four more three-pointers in the last 5:24 of the half. At the end of the half, Southeast lead 46-23 with a 23-point lead.

Starting out slow from halftime, the Redhawks went scoreless for 4:45 in the third quarter after Hackmann secured a three-pointer early on. Harris-Stowe took their advantage and went on a 12 point run, bringing the score to 49-37, with the Redhawks still leading.

Patterson said she saw the Redhawks getting shots in the paint but not finishing and that caused some issues.

“Harris Stowe is a scrappy team and they played good defense,” King said. “We got the shots that we wanted, they just didn’t go in.”

Coming out of a timeout late in the game, Coach Patterson’s words made an immediate impact. Redshirt freshman forward Imani Johnson broke the Hornet’s streak, sinking two shots from the free-throw line.

“Coach Patterson reminded us not to let them determine how we are going to play and to just keep our heads together,” Bollmann said. “She makes it simple as to what we need to work on, so that our next steps are not as complicated.”

Although the Hornets outscored the Redhawks 18-14 in the third quarter, Southeast finished the frame with a 60-41 lead.

Bollmann said sticking to the basics is something the team tries to carry over throughout the game.

“We were calm through the game and didn’t let them speed us up. Even though they were making baskets and gaining ground we held our ground against them,” Hackmann said.

Entering the final quarter, both teams turned on the heat. Harris-Stowe went on a seven point run with 5:29 left in the game which narrowed the Redhawks lead to eight. At 2:48, Hackmann ended the Hornet’s streak with a three-point bringing the Redhawks lead to 70-59.

“I thought we made plays, hit free throws and got rebounds when we needed to,” King said. “I think we did all the things at the end of the game to seal the win.”

The Redhawks went 6-6 from the free-throw line in the last few seconds of the matchup and Southeast was able to clench the home opener in a 78-66 win.

“I felt we were in control for most of the game. We made some lapses and they made some tough shots, so we have to give them props for making those,” Hackmann said.

“Our team chemistry is building,” King said. “The more we play together, the better we get and you can see that. It’s coming.”

The Redhawks will continue their season on the road with a matchup against Alabama A&M (0-2) on Wednesday and will return to the Show Me Center to host the University Missouri-Kansas City (0-2) at 6:30 p.m. Friday.