TOP-RANKED SOUTHEAST UNIVERSITY OTAHKIANS ARE ON THE BALL

Ed Arnzen considers this his most enjoyable season during his eight-year tenure as Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball coach and not just because the Otahkians have had their best season in school history.

No, it goes much deeper than a record number of victories, a record winning streak, a first-ever regional championship. Those things are all great and they have helped make this a season that Arnzen, his staff and players will never forget.

But the special glow Arnzen gets when he speaks of the 1990-91 Otahkians would be there even if they had not been able to erase a 12-point second-half deficit and beat West Texas State in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional final last weekend.

"This group would be so special to me even if we had lost to West Texas by a point instead of winning by a point," said Arnzen. "They've been special because of the personalities of the people involved, starting with the assistant coaches and every one of the players.

"We have just had a tremendous blend of personalities and we have had very few problems. As a basketball program you always go through periods of time where there is dissension and you have to have locker room talks. We have never had one of those this season."

Arnzen says he has never had a group of players that got along so well together.

"We're closer than any group I've ever had," he said. "They do things together and they seriously care for each other. We haven't had the selfish attitude that teams have a lot of times, with individuals wanting to play for themselves.

"When I came to work last Monday morning, there in the locker room on the message board Anne Cate had written: `Good luck Otahkians. I love you all.' Anne wasn't able to play in the regional and she had knee surgery Tuesday. But it's been that kind of feeling for all the players."

Sarita Wesley, the Otahkians' standout senior point guard, knows exactly what Arnzen is talking about.

"We are really close," said Wesley. "I think that's one reason we've done so well. Everybody gets along. I think you have to have that type of cohesiveness.

"We all go out together. One of our favorite pastimes is playing cards. We play cards forever. And we joke all the time. We just have a lot of fun."

Wesley and fellow senior Sherry Mitchell, who is the school's all-time leader in assists, have been key contributors since they were freshmen.

Another senior, leading scorer and rebounder Jerri Wiley, has now been with the program two years after transferring from junior college.

The fourth `veteran' of the bunch is junior Renee Rogliardi, the second-leading scorer and rebounder. She entered school with Wesley and Mitchell but retains one more year of eligibility because she took an injury redshirt season.

That `Big 4' of upperclassmen carried the Otahkians most of the season in terms of scoring and rebounding. Arnzen has often referred to his "senior leadership," including Rogliardi in that group because she would be a senior had it not been for the redshirt season.

"They've always been excellent ballplayers, but this year they have become such great leaders," said Arnzen. "Sarita and Jerri are very good friends and they have kind of combined to become leaders.

"Sherry grew up and really matured and she's really become a leader.

"Renee, and I don't want to sound negative about this, but she can be a cutting type of person with her remarks, although she doesn't mean any harm. But all of a sudden she stopped that and became very supportive."

While those four have dominated the statistical categories this season, it has taken much more than that quartet for the Otahkians to thrive.

Cate, a freshman, was the fifth starter and fifth double-figure scorer until suffering her serious knee injury.

Fellow freshman Stephanie Holland took Cate's place in the starting lineup. Three more freshmen Jody Pugh, Jennifer Cavaness and Allison Morris have played major roles off the bench, as has junior Deana Jackson.

Freshman Gwen Fitzpatrick and junior Sandy File were adding needed depth until they were sidelined by injuries several weeks ago.

"Everybody has contributed," said Arnzen. "It's been a team in the truest sense of the word."

That includes assistant coach Alicia Polson Scott, graduate assistant Jill Pizzotti and student assistant Chris Janet.

As an example of how everybody has a say in the Otahkian program, Arnzen likes to point to the stirring 71-70 comeback win over West Texas State in the regional final.

The Otahkians were facing a 12-point second-half deficit while they were in Arnzen's favorite defense, the half-court trap. Polson and Pizzotti suggested Southeast switch to a man-to-man defense.

It was against Arnzen's better judgment, but since he was outvoted 2-1, he decided to try the man defense. That move helped spark the comeback.

"I know enough to know that I don't know very much," said Arnzen with a laugh. "When Alicia and Jill both keyed on that, I knew we should try it. And it might have won the game for us.

"Our assistant coaches have recruited the bulk of our players. They've done a lot of the scouting. They're involved in our total program and I think that's one of the reasons our program is so successful."

Arnzen, who took a dazzling 192-46 record as Southeast women's coach into Saturday night's quarterfinal game against Cal Poly Pomona, is about as cordial and cooperative as a person can be.

After the Otahkians won their first-ever regional championship, the Leopold native was besieged all week by special media requests. He made sure he, his assistants and players met them all.

"There's not enough hours in the day," said the personable Arnzen early last week. "But we'll do anything we can. For years we struggled to get this type of attention. Now that we have it, we love it."

The Otahkians' assistant coaches and players reflect Arnzen's personality, which is to say they are for the most part good-natured and thoughtful.

"Probably more than anything else, these players are very good people, which is so important," said Arnzen. "These players have some personality.

"They're more than just basketball players and we want people to see that. They're good people, they're headed toward getting their degrees, they have things in the proper perspective and they really care."

Arnzen, a former boys basketball coach at Notre Dame and a men's assistant at Southeast, has built the Otahkians into one of the premier Division II programs in the nation.

Still, not many people in the community seemed to notice, or care, as evidenced by the few fans who turned out to watch the team play. Sure, the official attendance figures have been pretty decent, but that's only because seats begin to fill up at halftime of the women's contests by early arrivers for the men's games.

But Arnzen thinks his program just might have finally turned the corner in terms of fan appreciation. He considers the South Central Regional final to be something of a breakthrough because a Southeast record women's crowd of 1,875 showed up for the game against West Texas State.

"I think that game did wonders for our program," Arnzen said. "Before then, I don't think very many people had ever seen an entire game of ours. People would come for the last 10 minutes and maybe see a blowout.

"But people saw a tremendous basketball game that night and they really enjoyed themselves. I think we might have won some fans over for good."

Arnzen would like nothing better. He figures this season has been a perfect springboard into Division I, which the Otahkians will join next season.

"We couldn't have written a better script this season," he said. "We open at home with Missouri next year. I would be very surprised and disappointed if we don't have an excellent crowd."