Ishee hopes to parlay tough schedule into wins

A rugged Southeast Missouri State women's basketball nonconference schedule won't get any easier today.

In fact, it might get even tougher.

The Redhawks play a team from one of the nation's power conferences for the third time this season.

Missouri (6-4) will provide the latest daunting test for Southeast (4-7) in today's 3 p.m. tipoff in Columbia.

"It's going to be another huge challenge for us," Southeast coach John Ishee said. "It sure doesn't get any easier."

The Redhawks already have lost to squads from the Big East Conference (Providence) and Atlantic Coast Conference (Florida State).

And that's not even the extent of Southeast's nonconference schedule that Ishee believes is the toughest in program history.

"We don't have a top-10 team like we've had some years in the past, but I think, top to bottom, there's no question this is the toughest schedule we've ever faced," Ishee said.

Southeast also has taken on squads from notable leagues like Conference USA (Southern Mississippi), the Sun Belt Conference (Arkansas-Little Rock) and the Missouri Valley Conference (Missouri State and Indiana State).

The Redhawks beat Arkansas-Little Rock and Missouri State -- but that was over a month ago.

After a 3-0 start, Southeast has lost seven of its past eight games, the lone victory being over NAIA Bethel College.

"Maybe I put together too tough a schedule, I don't know," Ishee said. "But hopefully it will pay off for us in the long run."

While the Redhawks have been hurt by inconsistent play, they also have been hampered by injuries to key players.

Senior point guard Tarina Nixon, Southeast's floor general and leading scorer at 12.4 points per game, has missed the past two contests with a finger injury that has bothered her much of the season.

Nixon has been Southeast's only consistent 3-point shooting threat, hitting 40.5 percent from beyond the arc for a squad that is at 30.4 percent.

"There's no question we miss Tarina," Ishee said. "Not only her scoring, but her leadership."

Ishee said Nixon probably could have played in Southeast's two most recent games -- Dec. 20 and 21 -- but he is trying to give the finger as much time as possible to heal.

"I don't think the risk was worth the reward," said Ishee, who doubts that Nixon will play today. "The big thing is to have Tarina ready when we get back to the OVC. We need her then."

Southeast, off to an 0-2 Ohio Valley Conference start, resumes its league schedule Saturday at Tennessee Tech.

Senior wing Sonya Daugherty missed most of four games with a knee injury, but she returned for the Dec. 20 and 21 contests in New Orleans.

Daugherty scored 42 points in Southeast's two games at the Tulane Double Tree Classic.

The Redhawks dropped both -- to Providence and Alabama State -- but Daugherty was named to the all-tournament team.

Daugherty is Southeast's No. 2 scorer with a 12-point average.

"It was good to have Sonya back. She looked like the Sonya of old for two days in New Orleans," Ishee said. "Hopefully we'll have Sonya and Tarina healthy on the court together soon."

MU, which has not yet opened its Big 12 schedule, carries a five-game winning streak into today's matchup.

The Tigers struggled a year ago, going 10-21 overall and a last-place 2-14 in the Big 12.

MU is picked to repeat its last-place Big 12 showing, but Ishee said the Tigers are much improved after they returned their top three scorers.

The Tigers are led by 6-foot-1 junior forward Jessra Johnson, who averages 14.8 points and eight rebounds.

Alyssa Hollins, a 5-11 senior guard, is next with a 14.4 scoring average.

Another strong MU player is 6-2 sophomore forward Shakara Jones with an 11.3 average.

Hollins led last year's MU squad with a 16.6 average, followed by Johnson (13.5) and Jones (10.5).

Jones, named to several Big 12 all-rookie teams a year ago, is the daughter of Cape Girardeau native Ron Jones, who played at MU from 1981 to 1984. The family resides in the St. Charles area.

MU leads the all-time series 12-1, the latest meeting an 80-62 victory for the Tigers during the 2001-02 season.

Southeast's win over MU was 90-71 at the Show Me Center in 1998-99.