Ishee: Redhawks basketball squad needs a win against Bethel

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach John Ishee said his team sure could use a win.

But Ishee believes it won't come nearly as easily as people might think when the Redhawks face Bethel University today at the Show Me Center.

Ishee said the Wildcats, an NAIA squad from McKenzie, Tenn., that is 7-4 and ranked 24th nationally, will pose plenty of problems for the 2-5 Redhawks.

"They're pretty good," Ishee said. "We're going to have to play. We just can't show up and expect to win."

Winning has been tough for the Redhawks lately as they have suffered five consecutive losses after opening the season with two straight victories.

Southeast is 0-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play, losing last week at Austin Peay (76-63) and Tennessee State (54-50).

Ishee said he is far from discouraged, because he realized things might be tough early for a Southeast squad that features nine freshmen on its 13-player roster.

"I was extremely proud of our effort Saturday [at Tennessee State]," Ishee said. "We just need to get a win."

Ishee said the Redhawks are making steady improvement, even if the record might not show it.

"There's no question we've gotten better each game," Ishee said. "But we don't want to be a team that gets better and gets beat. We want to be a team that gets better and wins."

Bethel gave an experienced Southeast unit problems last year at the Show Me Center, trailing by just six points at halftime before falling 73-54. That was part of a 19-13 season for the Wildcats.

"We didn't have an easy time with them last year and they've got every player back," Ishee said. "They can score. I really think we're going to have to play well to win."

Ishee said the Wildcats have several accurate 3-point shooters, an impressive point guard and a solid inside game led by 6-foot-1 senior forward Nina Djokovic.

Djokovic averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds in two games last week to earn TranSouth Athletic Conference player of the week honors.

After today's game, the Redhawks face a tough nonconference opponent Saturday when Texas-Arlington (3-4) visits the Show Me Center.

UTA is coming off a 22-11 campaign that saw it win the Southland Conference regular-season championship and earn a WNIT berth.

"They're going to be a really good team," Ishee said.