EDWARDSVILLE, Il- SIUE made a late run Thursday against Southeast Missouri but fell short 71-66 at First Community Arena.
SIUE dropped to 5-23 overall and 3-16 inside the Ohio Valley Conference. The Cougars were eliminated from the OVC tournament.
SEMO swept the season series and improved to 6-22 overall and 4-15 in OVC play.
SIUE opened scoring on a 6-0 run, but SEMO knotted the game up at nine on a Lexi McCully layup.
Ava Stoller connected on a mid range jump shot which made it 19-13 to give the Cougars its largest lead of the game.
The Redhawks broke the tie on a Zoe Best three-pointer with a minute left in the first half and took a 37-34 lead into halftime.
SEMO extended its lead to seven (47-40) midway through the third quarter on a Ainaya Williams jump shot and ended the quarter on a 9-4 run.
Another Zoe Best three-pointer gave the Redhawks its biggest lead of the game,14, 2:00 minutes into the final quarter.
In the midst of an 8-3 run SIUE cut the deficit to eight. A
Molly Sheehan three-pointer drew the Cougars within three, 66-63, but that's as close as it would get.
A pair of free throws, in the final seconds, by Zoe Best would seal the deal for the Redhawks.
Macy Silvey led the Cougars in scoring with 18 points and added six rebounds and an assist. The junior finished 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc.
KK Rodriguez filled the stat sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Rodriguez scored in double figures for the fifteenth time this season.
Molly Sheehan came off the bench and delivered 11 points, two rebounds and dished out two assists.
SIUE shot 26-of-68 (38 percent) from the field and buried 9-of-33 (27 percent) three-pointers.
SIUE finished 5-of-10 (50 percent) from the free throw line.
SEMO was led by Lexi McCully who scored 24 points with 19 coming in the first half. The senior guard recorded seven rebounds to go along with six assists.
The Redhawks also received a big contribution from Zoe Best. Best scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds with an assist in 40:00 minutes of play.
SEMO shot 41 percent (25-of-61) from the field and 8-of-23 from three-point range.
The Redhawks completed 13-of-15 attempts from the free throw line.
The Cougars finish the regular season on Saturday when it welcomes Little Rock to First Community Arena. The finale is set for 1:00 p.m.
