A whole lot of holes to fill

~ Southeast must replace six key seniors, including four starters.

A few non-seniors had solid seasons, but there is no doubt Southeast Missouri State's heart and soul -- not to mention much of its scoring and rebounding -- came from the six players who completed their college eligibility this year.

Southeast coach B.J. Smith realizes the enormity of the task the Redhawks will face next season as they try to continue the success that has made them the Ohio Valley Conference's most successful team over the past four years.

"This group of seniors will be hard to replace," Smith said in the aftermath of Saturday night's 72-45 loss to Stanford during Southeast's first NCAA Division I tournament appearance. "What they've done the last two years is really phenomenal."

The six seniors -- four of them starters and the other two key reserves -- helped fashion a 44-17 record the past two seasons.

After going 22-8 last year and losing a double-overtime heart-breaker in the OVC tournament championship game, this year's Redhawks went 22-9, won a share of their first OVC regular-season title and captured their first OVC tournament crown.

In Smith's four seasons at Southeast, the squad has gone 79-41. The Redhawks have the best collective record among all OVC teams during Smith's tenure, both overall and in league play.

But Smith knows the Redhawks will face a major challenge next year in continuing that trend.

Gone will be those six seniors, led by center Tatiana Conceicao, who paced the Redhawks in scoring and rebounding, with averages of 19.4 points and 7.1 boards per game.

Forwards Natalie Purcell and Simone Jackson also averaged double figures in points, at 11.7 and 11.0, respectively, while Purcell was Southeast's second-leading rebounder at 7.0, and she led the Redhawks in 3-point field goals with 68.

Point guard Wanika Owsley averaged 5.6 points, and led the Redhawks in assists with 98.

That quartet started all 31 games this season.

Southeast's other two seniors were major factors off the bench.

Guard Katrisha "Red" Dunn led the Redhawks in steals with 54, while averaging 4.7 points. Guard Tiffanne Ryan -- the only four-year player among the seniors, with the other five transferring in from junior college prior to last season -- averaged 3.8 points.

"They've all had great careers for us," Smith said.

Players who are eligible to return next season combined to average about 15 of the Redhawks' 71 points per game.

Freshman guard Tarina Nixon broke into the lineup early in the season and wound up starting 27 games. She averaged 5.6 points, although her scoring tailed off considerably late in the year, and she led Southeast in 3-point field-goal accuracy at 40.5 percent.

Junior college transfer center Lachelle Lyles was a constant factor off the bench, averaging 4.5 points and 6.4 rebounds.

Those eight players received the bulk of the minutes late in the season, with others contributing off and on during the course of the campaign.

Freshman forward Rachel Blunt, from Dexter High School, averaged just 1.7 points and 7.1 minutes, but she had a high game of 16 points.

Freshman guard Sonya Daugherty, the all-time leading scorer in St. Louis area high school girls basketball, averaged only 1.5 points and 4.1 minutes, but she had 13 points in a key conference win over Eastern Illinois.

Freshman guard Chytearra Kintchen (1.2 ppg, 3.5 minutes) also received little consistent playing time, as did junior college transfer center Joiceline Thesing -- at 6-foot-6 the tallest player in program history. Thesing (1.4 ppg, 3.8 minutes) did score four points against Stanford.

The rest of the 15-player roster -- freshman guard Szandra Pal, walk-on sophomore guard Aisha Moreno and walk-on freshman guard Heather Diebold -- saw virtually no action as they combined for just 22 minutes and 12 points all season.

"We think some of the returnees can be good players for us," Smith said. "Tarina Nixon had a good season for a freshman, and Lachelle Lyles was a factor for us. Hopefully some of those others will come around and help us."

Smith acknowledges that the potential success of next year's team will greatly depend on Southeast's recruiting class.

Already signed is junior college All-American forward Missy Whitney from Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff. The former Charleston High School star will be counted on to make an immediate impact for the Redhawks.

"We think she has a chance to be an impact player," Smith said.

Smith said Southeast will likely sign at least five more players when the spring signing period begins next month.

"We'll probably sign at least six total," Smith said. "This recruiting class will be vital."

Having success next season similar to this year's will be difficult, but Smith is also not ruling that out.

"We've got a lot of big shoes to fill," he said. "But hopefully this is just the start for us."

Smith status could hinge on the current NCAA investigation regarding alleged rules violations.

"Hopefully I'll continue to be the coach at Southeast," he said. "I really want to be."