Southeast Missouri State’s Halle Smith shining early in freshman season
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — This past week, Southeast Missouri State’s women’s basketball team had one of their players selected for an honor. Freshman Halle Smith was announced as the Freshman of the Week in the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday morning.
And Smith had quite a week. The 6-foot forward out of Belle, Missouri, started off the week hot. She racked up eight points and grabbed four rebounds against the Salukis of Southern Illinois University on November 30.
Smith continued her run of dominance on the third of December, when she made her first career start at SEMO against the Billikens of St. Louis University. She grabbed three more boards and scored a total of nine points in that game.
But Smith wasn’t done yet. She finished off the week with a career-high 18 points on December 5 in the Red Hawks’ win over the Hornets of Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis. She also had a career-high in rebounds with eight to add to her point total in the 27 minutes she played in. She went 6-for-6 on free throws while shooting 6-for-8 from the field and adding two blocks.
This marks Smith’s first honor in her time at SEMO. She is just the second SEMO player to achieve the award during the 2021-22 regular season.
Smith’s outstanding week comes to no one’s surprise. She enjoyed quite a solid career while playing high school basketball at Belle High School under coach Evin Farris. During her time there, Smith averaged 18.7 points per game, as well as 2.7 blocks and 8.1 rebounds. She was also selected to the all-conference and all-district team in three of her seasons at Belle High.
In addition to her strong statistics and conference and district honors, she earned player of the year award, was named MVP of the South Central district and was selected to the Missouri Media All-District team in her Junior year. As a senior, Smith was named to the Preps Girls Hoops All-Central Missouri Area Preseason First-Team. She also played AAU basketball for Missouri Phenom under coaches Dennis Baggett, Greg Logsdon, and Taylor Possaill.
If Smith can continue her recent dominance throughout the rest of her collegiate athletic career, the sky is the limit. She has shown what kind of player she can be and that she has a bright future, adding to her already impressive basketball reputation, and she should be a key piece for the Red Hawks going forward.
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