New-look Otahkians to make OVC debut

P Southeast takes 6-4 record into conference opener.

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

B.J. Smith, Southeast Missouri State University's first-year women's basketball coach, has insisted since he took the job that he expects the Otahkians to challenge for the Ohio Valley Conference championship.

Today, the Otahkians' OVC title quest begins when Eastern Illinois visits the Show Me Center for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff that marks the conference opener for both teams.

"We feel like our talent is good enough to win the conference," Smith said. "We're definitely good enough to contend for the championship."

Considering that next week the Otahkians hit the road to face Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky -- regarded as two of the OVC's top teams -- Smith knows today's game is almost a must win.

"This one is really, really important," he said. "We need to get this one before we go play at Morehead and Eastern Kentucky."

But despite Eastern Illinois' 1-9 record and six-game losing streak, Smith isn't expecting the 6-4 Otahkians to have an easy time today.

"They're a lot better than their record. Just about every game they've played, they've either been ahead or in it at halftime, then in the second half for whatever reason they don't play well," Smith said. "They're going to turn it around and beat somebody at some time. We just hope it doesn't happen in Cape Girardeau."

The Panthers tied for sixth place in the nine-team OVC last season and were picked in a three-way tie for sixth in this year's preseason poll, one spot behind Southeast.

EIU suffered a blow when junior center Pam O'Connor, last year's leading scorer at 18 points per game and a first-team all-OVC preseason pick, suffered a serious knee injury last spring. Although she is likely to return at some point this year, she has not yet appeared in a game and probably won't play today.

Lauren Dailey, a 5-foot-10 junior guard who was EIU's second-leading scorer last year at nearly 12 points per game, tops the Panthers this season with 11.8 points a contest. No other player is averaging in double figures.

Southeast features four double-figure scorers in senior forward Lori Chase (14 ppg), junior guard Kenja White (13.2 ppg), junior forward Carina Souza (12.4 ppg) and junior guard/forward Yashika Sidbury (11.1 ppg). Chase is shooting 55.3 percent from the field.

The Otahkians will likely be without junior point guard Sarah Costello today. Costello, averaging 7.8 points and a team-leading 4.6 assists, has a foot injury that is not believed to be serious, but Smith doesn't want to take any chances on it getting worse.

"We want to get it right before we play her," Smith said. "We want to make sure she's ready for the Kentucky trip."

As the OVC schedule begins, Smith believes preseason favorite Austin Peay has lived up to its billing while expected contenders Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State and Tennessee Tech also appear solid.

"Austin Peay is obviously the favorite. They've had some big wins (including a victory at Missouri). Tennessee Tech, Morehead and Eastern Kentucky all look pretty good," Smith said. "We feel like we're in that mix as well. We're excited about the conference season. One of the things we've talked about all year is that everything starts Saturday."