Southeast ready for clash with Eaglettes

Southeast Missouri State University's women have played two games since facing Tennessee Tech on Jan. 8.

But that contest in Cookeville, Tenn., left a bad taste in Southeast's mouth -- one that coach B.J. Smith said still lingers.

"It did leave a bad taste in our mouth," Smith said. "I know our ladies are excited to play them, and as a coaching staff we're excited to play them."

Southeast (9-6, 3-1 Ohio Valley Conference) gets its chance today when the first-place Eaglettes (11-4, 4-0) visit the Show Me Center for a 5 p.m. matchup of OVC title contenders.

"We're looking forward to it," senior guard Brandi Russia said. "It's a big game for us."

A few things did not sit well with Smith and his players about the earlier meeting against the Eaglettes, particularly a lopsided difference in free throws that helped lead to a wild 80-78 Tech victory.

While Southeast was sent to the free-throw line just 17 times, Tech was awarded 40 foul shots, including 30 in the second half after Southeast had built a 17-point lead in the opening two minutes of the period.

The Eaglettes of veteran coach Bill Worrell wound up hitting 30 of 40 free throws, including 22 of 30 in the final half.

"One of the things, when the game's over, you think, gosh, if we could have just been in the ballpark with free-throw attempts we would have had a good chance to win," Smith said. "Bill has been around the league a long time and I think maybe he gets a little more respect from the officials than other coaches do.

"We'd like to get to the line more this time, and hopefully they don't get to the line as much."

Another thing that went against Southeast in the closing seconds of the earlier meeting was an extremely slow shot clock operator -- which might have prevented Southeast from pulling out the win.

Tech led 79-78 in the closing seconds when it had a 3-point attempt blocked toward the end of the shot clock. Russia broke out of the pack with several teammates on what looked like a solid fast-break opportunity and still 5 or 6 seconds remaining.

But, a few seconds after Tech's initial attempt that was blocked, the shot clock inexplicably went off. Russia believed it was the final buzzer and instinctively heaved up a shot from midcourt that was way off the mark. Tech retrieved the ball and made one of two free throws with .3 seconds left for the final margin.

Smith figures that drama should only add to what he expects to be another close, hotly contested game between teams that appear to be among the OVC's upper echelon.

And Smith knows Southeast -- which will move into a first-place tie with a win -- definitely doesn't want to lose both regular-season meetings with the preseason conference favorite Eaglettes and give them the tie-breaker if the squads end up tied for the title.

"Obviously there's a lot of conference play yet, but we don't want them to be up on us 2-0," Smith said. "With two losses, I don't know that you'll win the conference outright; it may take just one loss."

The OVC's top two scorers will be on display today in Southeast junior center Tatiana Conceicao (17.8 ppg) and Tech junior center Emily Christian (17.5 ppg).

Southeast also has the league leader in field-goal percentage in junior forward Simone Jackson (54.7), while Tech freshman guard Stefanie Holbrook is the OVC's most accurate 3-point shooter at 50 percent.

Tech leads the conference in overall field-goal percentage (45.0) and 3-point percentage (38.9), while Southeast is first in scoring (73.9 ppg).

"They're a very good team so It should be a great matchup and hopefully we'll have a good crowd," Smith said. "We really need a good crowd. It could make the difference for us."

Today's contest begins a key four-game homestand for Southeast, including Saturday's date with Austin Peay, the two-time defending OVC regular-season champion. Southeast beat the Govs on Jan. 6 in Clarksville, Tenn.

"It's early, but we know this is a really big homestand for us," said Smith, whose team played three of its first four conference games on the road. "You have to protect your home court."

Said Russia: "It's nice to be at home for a while, but we know we have to take advantage of it."