'Hawks have first workout in Denver

~ Southeast tried to stay sharp during a two-week layoff while preparing for Stanford.

DENVER, Colo. -- As the first women's basketball team to secure an NCAA tournament berth this season, Southeast Missouri State has had plenty of time to develop rust.

That is a natural concern of coach B.J. Smith, but as the Redhawks hit the practice court early Thursday evening, he was hoping that won't be a factor.

"It is very much a concern. By the time we play, it'll be two weeks since our last game, and it's hard to be game-like with that long a break," Smith said. "Our practices this week have been OK, but hopefully we'll have some good ones out here. We've scrimmaged more in practice the last week and a half than we normally would."

The Redhawks (22-8) earned the program's first NCAA Division I tournament berth by winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship on March 4.

Stanford, Southeast's opponent Saturday in a 9:30 p.m. tipoff at the Pepsi Center, has also had plenty of time since its last game.

The Cardinal (23-7), seeded third in the regional and ranked 13th nationally have not played since being upset by UCLA in the Pac-10 Conference tournament final on March 6.

"Maybe they'll be rusty too," Smith said, smiling.

After arriving here early Thursday afternoon, the 14th-seeded Redhawks checked into their hotel, grabbed lunch and headed out to Regis University -- a Division II school -- for a practice session that lasted about 90 minutes.

Senior guard Tiffanne Ryan said it was good for the players to get their feet under them after the flight that lasted a little more than two hours.

"Definitely, get the legs going," Ryan said. "The travel out here was great, but you still get a little stiff."

The Redhawks expressed excitement regarding their first experience in an NCAA tournament setting.

"It's very exciting, but we're trying to treat it like another game," senior forward Natalie Purcell said.

After working out at Regis University on Thursday, the Redhawks will get their first taste of the Pepsi Center today, when they and Stanford both have public practice sessions scheduled. Those are as much for the media as the teams, but it does let the players get accustomed to the surroundings.

Southeast also will have a practice today at Division II Metropolitan State.

"It will be good to get acclimated to the surroundings, get a feel for everything," Smith said of working out at the Pepsi Center. "We'll do a lot of shooting. We don't play very often in big arenas like that, and we have to get used to it."

The Pepsi Center is the home of the NBA's Denver Nuggets.

Also today, the teams will have official NCAA tournament news conferences, as the coaches and selected players from both squads meet with the media.

With more media attention likely to surround the Redhawks here than at any other time during the season, Smith will try his best to keep his players focused on the task at hand -- trying to upset Stanford.

"We really are trying to guard for anything that can be a distraction," said Smith, whose program also is the subject of an NCAA probe that included on-campus investigators earlier this week.

"I think having a lot of seniors helps," added Smith, whose squad has six seniors. "We don't want to just be tourists out here. We want to see if we can win this game."

The Redhawks believe focus won't be a problem.

"We're just focused on the game and not letting the media hype get in our heads," Ryan said. "We have to be ready to play."

Added Purcell: "We know there will be a lot more people around. We've tried to have people in our practices back home, like boosters and fans, just to help us get used to it."