OTAHKIAN BASKETBALL TRIPS IN OPENER 71-56

Perhaps the best thing about Saturday night's season opener for Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team is that it only counts as one game.

That fact may or may not make Otahkian coach Ed Arnzen feel any better about his squad's disappointing 71-56 loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in front of 716 fans at the Show Me Center.

Coming off a horrendous 5-21 season last year, Arnzen was looking for some marked improvement from the Otahkians in 1997-98. It still might happen, but not Saturday night.

"It's certainly a disappointing way to open the season," said Arnzen. "We have a really difficult early-season schedule but tonight was one we could have had. Now we go to Missouri (Thursday night) and that will be very difficult."

The Otahkians had all kinds of difficulty with their shooting Saturday, hitting just 27.6 percent from the field on 16 of 58. Their three-point accuracy was even worse at 13.6 percent on three of 22.

"I'm concerned about our shooting," Arnzen said. "In Division I college basketball, you have to be able to shoot the ball.

"Twenty-seven percent for the night is atrocious. And some of those were relatively easy shots."

Poor shooting was not the only thing plaguing the Otahkians. They also couldn't control Trina Rathke, UWM's 6-foot-2 center who scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Lady Panthers won the battle of the boards by a 45-33 count.

"She just dominated the ballgame," said Arnzen. "Our centers were no match for her. We have to get better production out of our centers."

Sarah Frazier was Southeast's only double-figure scorer with 10 points but she hit just two of nine shots. Jamie Koester, last year's leading scorer, had nine points but hit only four of 14 shots. Junior-college transfer Tajuana White led the way on the boards with nine rebounds.

One bright spot for the Otahkians was the play of 5-11 forward Kim Nicholson, the team's only true freshman. Nicholson, after not playing in the first half, contributed four points and some serious hustle in 10 second-half minutes.

"I thought Kim was a real bright spot," said Arnzen. "She has good athleticism."

UWM scored the final nine points of the first half to lead 29-23 at the intermission.

The Lady Panthers built a 59-48 lead with under six minutes left in the game and appeared to be in control, but the Otahkians used an 8-0 run to pull within 59-56 with 3:25 left. Annie Struve had four of the eight points while Frazier and Moneik Campbell each had two points.

But the Otahkians would not score again. UWM closed the game with a 12-0 run to win its season opener.

"We just have to go back to work," Arnzen said. "All we can do is work every day to get better and be the best we can be, wherever that takes us."

Southeast's next home game will be Nov. 25 against Western Illinois.