Season Outlook

Southeast Missouri is in its sixth season under reigning Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year Rekha Patterson. SEMO posted an overall record of 25-7 and 14-4 in the OVC a year ago.

As the #3 seed, SEMO defeated Tennessee Tech on a buzzer-beater in overtime and used convincing wins over the tournament’s top two seeds (#2 Belmont; #1 UT Martin) to claim its first OVC Tournament Championship since 2006-07. The team was set to learn its NCAA Tournament opponent when the both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments were cancelled due to a global COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020-21 Redhawks were predicted to finish third in the OVC Preseason Poll. SEMO tallied 206 points in the overall voting by the OVC Head Coaches and Communications Directors. The Redhawks also collected two first-place votes.

This year’s squad returns each member of the coaching staff, plus Denisha Gardner joins the staff as a graduate assistant.

The Redhawks return eight players from a season ago; including Kennedi Allen (Sr.), Roshala Scott (So.), Taelour Pruitt (Jr.), Sophia Hancock (So.), Terri Smith (R-Jr.), Tesia Thomspon (Sr.), Sophie Bussard (So.), and LaTrese Saine (R-Sr.).

and two transfers. Deanay Watson (Bradenton, Fla.) and Nyrobi Pillers (Atlanta, Ga.) are the transfers. Freshmen Chandler Davis (Alpharetta, Ga.), Briana Johns (Alexandria, Va.), Shymaryia Christopher (Magnolia, Ark.), Ambrea Gentle (Evanston, Ill.), and Michaela Mayfield (Gurdon, Ark.) complete the 2020-21 roster.

Watson comes to SEMO after two seasons with Three Rivers. She averaged 13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 assists per game a year ago. Pillers joins the Redhawks squad from Colby Community Col-

Christopher is from Cabot High School where she averaged 27.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 steals as a senior. Christopher was the top scorer in the state of Arkansas in 2019.

Davis finished her high school career at Saint Francis averaging 11.1 points and 3.5 steals. She helped lead her team to two final four appearances in consecutive years as a sophomore and junior.

Johns, who will split time as a guard and forward, was a four-year starter for Thomas Edison High School. She led her team to back-to-back state championship games and was a state finalist as a freshman.

Thompson, who hails from Memphis, Tennessee, was named Preseason All-OVC for the third-straight year in 2020-21.

Last season, Thompson averaged 19.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per game. She ranked nationally in free throw attempts (14th, 206), free throws made (12th, 160) and points per game (17th, 19.7). Thompson was named to the OVC All-Tournament Team and earned tournament MVP honors after recording 93 points, 30 rebounds and 18 assists in three postseason contests.

Her Hoop Stats named Thompson to the 2021 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Preseason Watch List in November.

“Tesia has been a talented player since the day she stepped foot on our campus,” said Patterson. “She has continued to improve and add new elements to her game throughout her career. Her play last season, especially during the OVC Tournament, showed that she is one of the most talented players in this league.”

There are eight guards on this year’s team highlighted by four returnees. Thompson, Pruitt, Scott, and Bussard are the five returning from 2019-20.

Smith will play for the first time in a SEMO uniform after sitting out the past season due to NCAA Division I transfer regulations.

Davis, Watson, Christopher and Johns add depth to the guards. Johns also has the ability to play the forward spot.

Pruitt was selected to represent the OVC in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete Engagement Group. The group serves as an amplifying voice for women’s basketball players on key initiatives, legislation and various issues. The group was formed in collaboration with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and is the first of its kind at the NCAA. It consists of

SEMO’s frontcourt consists of Allen (6’1), Hancock (5’10), Saine (6’4), Pillers (6’0), Gentle (6’2), and Mayfield (5’10). Allen, Hancock, and Saine are back from last season. Saine appeared in every game off the bench, averaging 13.5 minutes of play. She led the team with 48 blocks and had 138 rebounds. In her career, Saine has 109 blocks and ranks second-best in program history. Pam Iversen and Vera Roberts hold the record with 115 blocks.

Meanwhile, Allen is returning from a season-ending Achilles injury (vs. UT Martin, on Feb. 13). Allen had dished out 12 blocks with 36 rebounds and 25 points prior to her injury.

Gentle joins the team as the lone center from Evanston Township High School where she averaged 13.8 points and 8.2 rebounds. Mayfield finished her high school career averaging 19.6 points, and 9.5 rebounds. Pillers averaged 11 points and 7.3 rebounds at Colby Community College and was named KJCC All-Conference Team.

The Redhawks will play four of their five non-conference opponents at home. SEMO will tip off the season against Missouri Baptist (Nov. 28) in Cape Girardeau.

Eastern Michigan (Dec. 6), and Western Illinois (Dec. 11). The Redhawks will then hit the road to face longtime rival Southern Illinois (Dec. 13) before beginning OVC play.

In order to help address issues associated with the delayed start date and to be responsive to a desire to provide additional contests within the geographic region, the schedules increased from 18 to 20 conference games for the 2020-21 season. Overall teams will play every OVC team once and nine schools twice.

In order to give teams flexibility to complete their non-conference schedules, schools were given discretion to schedule their two games with their “travel partner” separate from the 18-game conference schedule. One of those two games must be scheduled before the holiday break and the other can be scheduled any time during the basketball season.

SEMO starts conference play against UT Martin (Dec. 18) at home. SEMO will face UT Martin twice this year along with Tennessee Tech, Murray State, Austin Peay, Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky, SIU Edwardsville, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State.

The 2021 OVC Women’s Basketball Tournament is scheduled for March 3-6 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It marks the fourth year in

Teams will follow approved safety protocols established in partnership with the NCAA’s Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball and OVC guidance as it evolves based on science.

2020-21 Predicted Order of Finish UT Martin (22 votes) 242 Belmont 210 Southeast Missouri (2) 206 Tennessee Tech 172 Eastern Illinois 157 Jacksonville State 129 Morehead State 119 Murray State 104 Austin Peay 104 Eastern Kentucky 73 SIUE 36 Tennessee State 29

Preseason All-OVC Team Tesia Thompson, SEMO* Chelsey Perry, UT Martin* Maddie Waldrop, UT Martin* Karle Pace, Eastern Illinois* Macey Turley, Murray State* Kesha Brady, Tennessee Tech* Lariah Washington, Eastern Illinois*% Alexis Burpo, Murray State# Ariel Kirkwood, Morehead State#% Jamilyn Kinney, Belmont# Taylor Hawks, Jacksonville St.# *-1st Team All-OVC in 2019-20 #-2nd Team All-OVC in 2019-20 %- OVC All-Newcomer Team in 2019-20