'Hawks shoot for an even dozen

~ Southeast will go for its 12th straight win today.

As disappointed as Southeast Missouri State coach B.J. Smith was by Thursday's performance, it was almost hard to believe that the Redhawks are in the midst of an 11-game winning streak.

But Smith simply wants to make sure his players realize that victories don't come automatically, and if they fail to play the way he believes they should, then losses are inevitable.

"We played awful," Smith said following an 84-76 home triumph over Eastern Illinois. "The playoffs [Ohio Valley Conference tournament] start in two weeks and this is not acceptable."

Smith believes the Redhawks (17-7, 14-3) will have to perform better today as they face their final road test of the regular season, a 4 p.m. contest at Tennessee-Martin (8-17, 6-12).

"We'll have to play better or we'll be on the short end," Smith said.

Still, as upset as Smith might have been by Thursday's choppy outing, the fact remains Southeast has put together its longest winning streak since moving up to Division I in 1991-92. The Redhawks had been tied with last year's squad that won 10 straight.

And Thursday's victory clinched a home game for the first round of the eight-team OVC tournament on Feb. 28. The top four finishers in the 11-team conference play opening-round tournament contests at home.

But the Redhawks continue to chase a bigger prize. They remain in second place in the OVC, one-half game behind Tennessee Tech, although the squads are tied in the victory column.

If the Redhawks win their final three games -- they close out the regular season next week with home dates against Samford and Jacksonville State -- they'll have at least a share of the program's first OVC championship.

"That's our goal," Southeast senior center Tatiana Conceicao said. "But we know we have to play a lot better. We'll have to play a lot better against Tennessee-Martin."

Even though the Skyhawks' record is not impressive, they are solid at home, posting a 7-5 mark at the Elam Center, including 5-4 in conference play. Tennessee-Martin, in 10th place in the OVC, is just 1-12 on the road.

"They play well at home, and we've had trouble there the last few years," Smith said.

Southeast won 79-56 at Tennessee-Martin last season, but the Redhawks lost at the Elam Center in each of Smith's first two seasons.

The Skyhawks hung with Southeast much of the way on Feb. 4 at the Show Me Center before the Redhawks pulled away late for a 67-52 victory.

Junior forward Andreika Jackson, a first-team all-OVC pick last season, leads the Skyhawks with 15.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Jackson, who is shooting 51.2 percent from the field, had 16 points and eight rebounds in the earlier meeting against Southeast.

"She's a good player," Smith said.

Southeast continues to lead the OVC in scoring at 73 points per game, and the Redhawks were ranked 25th nationally in the most recent NCAA Division I statistics.