Southeast Missouri has done it again.

The Redhawks clinched at least a share of the regular season Ohio Valley Conference title when it beat Eastern Kentucky 68-52 on Saturday behind a season-high 19 points from junior forward Rachel Blunt.

It is SEMO’s third straight regular season title.

The Redhawks are 12-2 in the conference, and their only losses have come from Tennessee State and Murray State.

SEMO plays Samford on Thursday and Jacksonville State on Saturday. If the Redhawks do win out, they are guaranteed the No. 1 seed in the OVC tournament.

“We’re just plugging away and defending and sharing the ball,” SEMO head coach John Ishee said.

The Redhawks have won 12 staight games and have not lost since a 71-68 loss to Murray State on Jan. 7.

“We need to take to exit polls like these presidential primaries and project the winner,” Ishee jokingly said. “You have to go play. I think our team realizes that.”

SEMO has gone 44-10 in conference play in the past three seasons with two conference games remaining.

Appling scores 50, almost sets school, conference record

Kendra Appling did something no Tennessee State or OVC player has done in a while.

The junior guard scored 50 points in a 91-77 TSU win against Jacksonville State on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.

Appling finished 19-of-31 from the floor, which included 6-of-10 from 3-point range. She finished 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. She had four rebounds and an assist.

“I don’t want to take credit away from her,” Jacksonville State head coach Becky Geyer said. “When she shot, it went in. We were very disappointed (with our defense). Defensively, it wasn’t like we were there.”

Tennessee State’s Carolyn Aldridge holds the TSU and OVC record with 51 points. Aldridge scored 51 against Wake Forest in the 1994-95 season.

Appling, also notched her 1,000 point during that game and moved to 12th all-time on TSU’s points list.

Teams unsure of position in conference tournament

Southeast Missouri, Samford, Murray State and Eastern Illinois have assured themselves a quarterfinal game in the OVC Tournament.

Those four teams will finish in the top four because of their conference records.

Tennessee State, which is in fifth place, also is guaranteed a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

This is the first time since the 2004-05 season TSU has been in the conference tournament. TSU was also last in the tournament in 2001.

“It’s been us about believing in ourselves (this year),” TSU head coach Tracee Wells said. “We tried to control our destiny. For us this is a rejuvenation.”

Eastern Kentucky (13-12, 8-10) which is in seventh place in the league still has two more games to play along with Morehead State.

Morehead State defeated Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday night, 68-65 in Richmond, Ky. EKU only has to win one more game to guarantee a spot in the conference tournament.

TTU has not been eliminated from the tournament even though Morehead won on Tuesday night. The Eagles have to lose their two remaining games, and Tennessee Tech has to win against Murray State on Saturday for the Golden Eagles to make the conference tournament.

Morehead has the tie-breaker and has swept the season series against TTU.

Jacksonville State sits in sixth place in the OVC Tournament. The Gamecocks play first-place SEMO on Saturday and fourth-place Eastern on Thursday.

Austin Peay and Tennessee-Martin are the only two teams that have been eliminated.

evin Murphy can reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.