Otahkians begin quest at home against EIU

Southeast women hope to convert their best-ever OVC finish into trip to Nashville.

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

Southeast Missouri State University's women had little trouble winning both games against Eastern Illinois during the regular season.

But Southeast coach B.J. Smith knows what happened previously won't mean much tonight when the Otahkians and Panthers square off in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The tipoff will be at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center.

"We've got to know that just because we beat them twice already, that won't mean a whole lot if we don't beat them again," Smith said. "It's like a new season now, and it's the most important season."

Southeast (17-10, 11-5) finished second in the OVC and thus earned the No. 2 seed for the eight-team conference tournament. It is Southeast's highest-ever OVC finish. EIU (6-21, 5-11) wound up seventh.

The winners of tonight's four first-round games at campus sites advance to Friday's tournament semifinals in Nashville, Tenn. The championship game is Saturday in Nashville. The tournament champion earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"I think having that first tournament game at home is big," Smith said. "We have to take advantage of it."

The Otahkians rolled past the Panthers 74-59 on Jan. 4 in Cape Girardeau and 82-64 on Jan. 30 in Charleston, Ill.

"They're not a bad team," Smith said. "We played two good games against them, but they're capable of beating you if you don't play well."

Smith entered his first season at Southeast hopeful that the Otahkians could seriously challenge for the OVC championship.

While their second-place finish was impressive and bettered their preseason prediction of fifth, the Otahkians never really challenged Austin Peay, which became the first team to go undefeated in the OVC since Tennessee Tech went 12-0 in 1989-90.

"You've just got to give Austin Peay a lot of credit. To go undefeated in any conference is a great accomplishment," Smith said. "We're happy to finish second, but we're not satisfied.

"But if we can finish one spot higher this week, we'll be really happy. This is the week that counts the most."