Daugherty may miss more time

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach John Ishee thinks senior wing Sonya Daugherty could miss several more games.

But Ishee said he hopes to have his second-leading scorer back when Ohio Valley Conference play resumes next month.

Daugherty, averaging 13.2 points per game, missed Southeast's first two OVC contests with a knee injury.

The Redhawks lost both games -- Thursday to Austin Peay and Saturday to Tennessee State -- marking the first time the program has suffered consecutive OVC home defeats since the 2001-02 season.

Ishee said Daugherty has a torn meniscus in the knee, which won't require surgery.

"She could be out a couple of weeks. We're just not sure," Ishee said. "She just has to get the knee stronger, get more range of motion, more flexibility.

"I'll pretty much let her call that shot, when she feels like she can play on it and she's ready to help us."

Daugherty has been among Southeast's top scorers since her sophomore season, averaging 12 points last year and 14.2 points the year before that.

In addition to her 13.2 scoring average this season, Daugherty leads the Redhawks in assists with 18 and is their No. 2 rebounder with 3.8 per game.

"You're talking about a player who was the MVP of the OVC tournament two years ago and is averaging almost 14 points per game," Ishee said. "I think we'd have won both [OVC] games if she had played, but we didn't."

The Redhawks, 3-4 overall and riding a four-game losing streak, host NAIA Bethel College at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

After Wednesday, Southeast has four more nonconference games before resuming OVC play Jan. 3 at Tennessee Tech.

Ishee said it's not worth rushing Daugherty back into action and jeopardizing her health for the remainder of the 18-game OVC schedule.

"If she's not 100 percent, it's not worth the risk," Ishee said. "Surely she'll be ready when we start up conference play again."