OVC CHAMPIONS • 2006-07 • 2007-08 // TOURNAMENT CHAMPS • 2006-07 • 2019-20
PREVIEW 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. TEAM 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.).
SEASON OUTLOOK
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.
lege where she averaged 11 points and 7.3 rebounds.
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-
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.
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.
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. PRESEASON ALL-OVC 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.
SEMO welcomes seven newcomers
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2020-21 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
