TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - The Southeastern Oklahoma State women's basketball team (0-1) opened the 2007-08 season on Friday night with a narrow loss at the hands of No. 9 Drury, 71-65, at the Northeastern State Classic in Tahlequah, Okla.

Ashley Tucker and Jessica Hocker led the way for the Storm offensively, with Tucker dropping a game-high 19 points, while Hocker chipped in 17.

SOSU got a big lift from newcomer Destiny Brown who racked up a double-double with 11 points and 17 rebounds off the bench.

Tucker also dished out a team-high six assists.

Southeastern out-rebounded the Lady Panthers, 51-38, while also getting to the line and converting 27-of 36 free throws.

Turnovers were the ultimate downfall for SOSU, as the Storm gave the ball up 31 times, even though Drury did not have a much better handle on the ball, committing 26 turnovers of their own.

The Storm scored first and built a lead of six on two occasions, with the last being 15-9 with 11:22 to play in the first half.

The Lady Panthers would erase that lead and the teams traded the lead over the next eight minutes before SOSU used a 10-0 run between the 4:06 mark and the 2:21 mark of the first half to take a 35-27 lead.

Drury responded again, however, and whittled away on the Storm lead before tying the game at 37-37 with :27 to play, and ultimately taking a 39-38 lead into halftime.

The Lady Panthers jumped out in front early in the second half, taking a 46-39 lead just 1:14 into the half.

The scoring slowed after that and the Storm chipped away at the Drury lead, keeping it between three and seven points for the first 12 minutes of the half.

With 8:07 to play, SOSU made its move and reeled off a 10-3 run to tie the score at 62-62 with 4:05 to play in the game.

Drury, however, answered with a three pointer just 15 seconds later, and SOSU would not get any closer than two points down for the rest of the contest, falling 71-65.

Southeastern will be back in action at 4 p.m. on Saturday against Arkansas Tech in their second game at the Northeastern State Classic.

Related Item: Box Score

Visit gosavagestorm.com for the latest news and info on Savage Storm Athletics.