Defense triggers end to Otahkians' streak

Southeast Missouri State University's women turned to their defense Thursday to halt a five-game losing streak.

The Otahkians limited Tennessee-Martin to 29.8-percent shooting from the field and held the Skyhawks scoreless for more than eight minutes at the end of the first half on their way to a 61-51 victory at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, playing at home for the first time since Jan. 26, improved to 13-11 overall, 5-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. UTM fell to 7-17 and 5-8.

"Coach said we had to get our defense going tonight," said forward Lori Chase, who led all scorers with 20 points.

Added guard Veronica Benson, who chipped in 15 points, "The defense was the best we've had in a while."

And it came at just the right time for the Otahkians, who look to finish the year strong and carry momentum into the OVC Tournament. Southeast has three regular-season games left, including the next two at home.

"This was a big win for us," Chase said. "Our goal is to win the rest of the games and get our momentum up going into the tournament."

Center Pam Iversen scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Otahkians.

Amy Watson was the only UTM player in double figures with 12 points. The Skyhawks hit 17 of 57 from the floor, although Southeast also didn't exactly burn the nets at 19 of 53 for 35.8 percent.

"We played well defensively, although Martin is not a great offensive club," Southeast coach Ed Arnzen said. "We hadn't won in a while and I think this was a must-win game for us."

The Skyhawks led only once,18-17 with 8:24 remaining in the first half after a basket by Danielle Page.

But the Skyhawks did not score the remainder of the period. Iversen's basket at the 8:05 mark put Southeast ahead for good at 19-18 and started a 10-0 surge that gave the Otahkians a 27-18 halftime advantage.

Southeast went up 31-20 early in the second half for its biggest lead of the night. UTM battled back and pulled to within two points twice, the final time at 37-35.

UTM was still in contentionlate, trailing just 53-49 with under two minutes remaining. But Southeast scored its final eight points from the free-throw line, going 8-for-10 -- Benson made five of six -- to close out the victory.

"It was a must-win situation," Benson said. "Whatever it took to win."

The Otahkians will host Murray State on Saturday.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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