Cape Girardeau, Mo. --- The Tennessee State University women's basketball team dropped its second straight after falling to Southeast Missouri, 51-46, on the road.

The Lady Tigers (3-5, 0-2 OVC) outscored the Redhawks (3-5, 1-1 OVC) in the second half but SEMO was able to hold off TSU's comeback attempt. TSU never led and trailed  SEMO by as many as 13 points in the game.

Tayla Foster was the only Lady Tiger to post double-figures with 10 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of play. Simone Hopes pulled down nine rebounds to lead TSU.

SEMO was led in scoring by Karley Evans and Jasmine Davis who each tallied 10 points.

Thanks 13 empty possessions including six turnovers, TSU fell behind SEMO 9-0 early in the first half. Simone Hopes finally got TSU on the board when she connected in the paint at the 12:48 mark.

TSU narrowed the gap down to 9-4 following scores from Destiney Gaston and Alana Morris but SEMO used a run to swell the advantage to 20-8 with 6:14 remaining in the half.

TSU trailed SEMO, 24-15, at the halftime break.  The Lady Tigers had 16 turnovers and only made 5-of-21 from the field in the first half.

The second half was an uphill battle for TSU. After slowly chipping away at the lead, the Lady Tigers closed to within four (33-29) following a three-pointer from Meredith Stafford.

Over the next three minutes, however, TSU suffered a scoring drought while SEMO used four free-throws and a three-pointer to move ahead 40-29 with 7:35 remaining in the game.

TSU continued to fight and rallied to within four, 43-39, behind triples from Jasmine Brimm and Kesi Hess with 4:55 on the clock.

The Lady Tigers had an opportunity to tie the score late in the game after Tayla Foster nailed two free-throws to make the score, 49-46. TSU used its press to force a turnover as SEMO inbounded the ball, but missed the shot attempt. The Redhawks made a couple more free-throws in the final seconds to keep the Lady Tigers at bay.

TSU finished the game shooting 26.5 percent (13-of-49) from the field and 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from 3-point range. SEMO only managed a 26.1 shooting percentage (25.0 percent from 3-point range) but outrebounded TSU 44-38.

TSU only had five turnovers in the second half, finishing the game with a total of 21. SEMO committed 20 turnovers.

The Lady Tigers return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at Belmont. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Curb Event Center.