COLLEGE BASKETBALL: OTAHKS CRUSH OAKLAND CITY

Oakland City was just the kind of opponent Southeast Missouri State University's struggling women's basketball team needed.

Reeling after losing four straight games, the Otahkians were desperately seeking a big boost of confidence. And the Division II Lady Oaks provided it in the form of an 88-47 Southeast romp in front of about 250 fans at the Show Me Center Wednesday night.

The Otahkians improved their record to 3-4 while the Lady Oaks from Indiana fell to 1-3.

"They're exactly what we wanted and needed right now," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "We have gone through some agony the last four games, particularly the last two where we lost in the waning seconds.

"This came at a good time on our schedule. I hope this gives us a little momentum and gives the kids some confidence."

While the Lady Oaks hustled, they were woefully overmatched and put up little resistance. Southeast built a 44-23 halftime advantage and led by as many as 44 points in the late going.

Lori Chase scored 13 points to lead five Southeast players in double figures, three of them off the bench. The other starter to reach double digits was Pam Iversen with 10 points. Tisa Thomas had 12 points while Tiffany Melis and Kim Brown added 10 apiece.

Thomas led the rebounders with eight while Chase had seven as Southeast won the board battle 46-30. Christine Rathke dished out a team-high six assists off the bench while Thomas blocked three shots. Veronica Benson had five of the Otahkians' 17 steals as Southeast forced 29 turnovers.

"I thought we were very focused and intense on defense. We caused a lot of turnovers," Arnzen said.

Southeast will return to action Saturday afternoon with a game against Belmont in Nashville, Tenn.

• The newest member of the Otahkians' coaching staff joined the team for Wednesday's game.

Lisa Pace, a former player at Eastern Kentucky, has replaced Juliana Klocek as one of Arnzen's assistants. Klocek resigned in October.

Pace, a 1998 graduate of Eastern Kentucky, spent the past year as supervisor of camps for the women's basketball program at national power Tennessee.

"We're very happy to have Lisa on our staff," said Arnzen. "Playing for Eastern Kentucky gives Lisa the ability to be very familiar with the Ohio Valley Conference and the caliber of players it takes to play in the league."