By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

EVANSVILLE, Indiana — Mia Nicastro was 19 seconds into Friday’s Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinal and on her rear end underneath Western Illinois’ basket.

Nicastro, arms outstretched and glaring at the officials, looked incredulous that there was no foul call on the play.

Then she had to get up and run to the other end of the court.

It was that kind of day for Nicastro, the Leathernecks’ leading scorer who has been getting more and more physical attention from opponents as she stays at the top of the list of the nation’s top offensive players.

Nicastro endured what she called “the worst first half of my life” by going scoreless, to finish with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Leathernecks’ 74-66 win over Southeast Missouri State at the Ford Center.

Nicastro, who came into the game ranked fourth in NCAA Division I play in scoring at 24.6 points per game and was the OVC’s player of the year, was just 4 of 11 from the field.

The Leathernecks’ win, Nicastro said, was a credit to those around her.

“I don’t need to be making 12 to 15 shots a game for us to win,” she said. “I will do that, and I can do that if my team needs me to.

“But we showed today that I can make four shots and we can still win, because other people will pick up the offense. We have so many talented offensive players. And so that’s huge for us.”

The Leathernecks got 27 points from Mallory Shetley and 17 from Addi Brownfield. Madison Davis had eight points and Allie Meadows added six.

Nicastro said she apologized to the Leathernecks at halftime for how she played, then went around the locker room and praised them individually for what they had contributed. Then she had a parting message on what was at stake in the second half for the team.

“I said, ‘We’ve got to go,’” Nicastro said.

Western Illinois coach JD Gravina called two early plays to start the second half that he hoped would get Nicastro going. She made both shots.

“I think it worked,” Gravina said.

Nicastro was 4 of 6 from the field in the second half, but was also drawing fouls. She made all eight of her free throws, including four in a crucial six-point possession with a minute to play after she was fouled and then SEMO’s Anaiya Williams was called for a technical foul.

“The second half, I just came in with the mentality of knowing what I’m capable of,” Nicastro said. “My teammates know what I’m capable of. They believe in me, and I just needed to play my game, let the game come to me. And I knew my teammates would pick me up and kind of help me out and get my back, keep me going, and then I kind of just went from there.”

The Redhawks consistently threw double-teams at Nicastro, and when she stepped outside the 3-point arc someone was there with a hand in her face.

“She’s been seeing a lot of defenses focus on her and get aggressive with her this season,” Gravina said. “It’s just something she’s dealt with. She’s done a good job of overcoming it, and I thought she did that in the second half.”

Photo: Western Illinois’ Mia Nicastro (left) defends in the first half of Friday’s game. (Ohio Valley Conference)