Murray State is final hurdle in Redhawks' repeat attempt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ?--Southeast Missouri State's women are just one win away from their second straight NCAA tournament berth.

But the Redhawks know they have one more major hurdle to climb, so they're not about to get overly excited just yet.

"We can't," sophomore point guard Tarina Nixon said. "We know we haven't accomplished what we set out to do yet."

The top-seeded Redhawks advanced to today's championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament by beating fourth-seeded Samford 57-51 in Friday's semifinals.

Southeast (23-7) and second-seeded Murray State (21-8) will square off at 3 p.m. today at the Gaylord Entertainment Center, with the winner earning the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Murray State slipped past sixth-seeded Tennessee-Martin 66-65 in overtime in Friday's other semifinal.

"We're just thinking about the tournament championship," Nixon said. "Knowing we don't have it yet, that's enough to keep you focused."

Today's title contest will match the OVC's top two teams from the regular season, as Southeast captured the championship by going 16-4 while runner-up Murray State went 15-5.

The Redhawks won both regular-season meetings with the Racers, 67-61 in Murray, Ky., and 66-63 in double overtime in Cape Girardeau.

"We had two great games with them," Southeast acting head coach John Ishee said.

Ishee expects nothing less today, although the Racers will be without their top player -- who also happens to be the OVC player of the year.

Senior forward Joi Scott suffered a knee injury Feb. 22 in the next-to-last game of the regular season.

Scott has missed the Racers' last three contests, including a loss at Tennessee-Martin in the regular-season finale that kept Murray State from sharing the title with Southeast.

But the Racers have regrouped nicely without Scott -- who averages a league-best 21.7 points per game but will again not play today ?-- by posting razor-close wins in the first two rounds of the conference tournament.

Tuesday's first round saw the Racers beat Eastern Kentucky 68-66 on two free throws with less than a second remaining.

In Friday's semifinals, Tennessee-Martin's Crystal Fuller -- a 79 percent free throw shooter -- missed two foul shots with no time remaining in overtime as Murray State survived by a point.

"Joi Scott is a great player and it's a shame she got hurt," Ishee said. "But Murray State is still a very good team, with some other great players."

Namely sophomore guard Amber Guffey and sophomore forward Ashley N. Hayes, who both average better than 12 points per game and have helped pick up the slack in Scott's absence.

Guffey, who shoots better than 40 percent from 3-point range, scored 26 points Friday and has 38 points in the two tournament games.

Hayes added 19 points Friday, after scoring 26 in the opening round of the tournament.

"I know we'll have our hands full," Ishee said. "We had an extremely tough game with Samford, and I expect the same type of game with Murray State."

Today's contest will mark Southeast's third straight appearance in the OVC tournament championship game.

The Redhawks lost to Eastern Kentucky in double-overtime two years ago before routing Tennessee Tech 71-50 last season for their first OVC tournament title and inaugural NCAA Division I tournament berth.

"We're excited, but overall our team is pretty much focused," said senior center Lachelle Lyles, the nation's leading rebounder. "We came here for one thing and we have to take that mindset into [today[']s] game."