OTAHKIANS BOUNCE BACK FROM TOUGH LOSS

For the first half of Thursday's game against Murray State, Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team appeared to still be reeling from Tuesday's tough overtime loss to Tennessee Tech.

But the Otahkians, trailing by nine points at halftime, recovered in time to pull out a 74-66 victory over the Lady Racers at the Show Me Center.

The Otahkians, who lost Tuesday's game on a basket just before the overtime buzzer, improved to 8-6 overall and 3-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play as they stayed near the top of the league standings.

Murray State fell to 3-12 overall and 1-3 in the OVC.

"Tuesday night we played well and lost. Tonight we played poorly and won," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "The first half, we were just in a dream world. It's difficult coming off a game like that (Tuesday). It just tears your heart out.

"But the season is only a third of the way over. You have to bounce back from something like that. Fortunately, we were able to get going some in the second half and it's a big win for us."

Lori Chase led the Otahkians offensively with 16 points. Pam Iversen scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, LaShelle Porter had 11 points and a team-high five assists and Tisa Thomas contributed 10 points off the bench.

Liz Stansberry paced the Lady Racers with 16 points. Monika Gadson scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds while Susan Tackett and Denise McDonald both added 11 points. Khadija Head dished out 14 assists.

The Lady Racers, who have struggled so far this season despite the fact they were expected to be a prime contender for the OVC title, started strong and controlled most of the opening 20 minutes.

Murray State scored the game's first four points. After Southeast pulled into a 4-4 tie, the Lady Racers used a 7-0 spurt to go ahead 11-4 and the Otahkians faced an uphill battle the remainder of the half.

A Stansberry 3-pointer with 5:45 left before the intermission gave the Lady Racers their biggest lead of the half at 24-13. Eight straight points by Thomas helped pull Southeast to within 26-21, but Murray State scored the final four points for a 30-21 halftime advantage.

Based on the first-half statistics, the Otahkians were probably lucky to only trail by nine. Southeast shot a miserable 27 percent from the field (nine of 34) while Murray State hit 52 percent (14 of 27) and the Lady Racers held a dominant 27-10 rebounding edge.

"At halftime, our starting five had six points and six rebounds. Gadson had 11 points and nine rebounds by herself for them," Arnzen said. "Tisa Thomas was the only offense we had in the first half."

The Lady Racers quickly got their 11-point lead back to start the second half as Gadson got inside for a layup, making it 32-21.

Murray State still led by 10 at 34-24, but a 12-0 Southeast run -- capped by Iversen's follow shot -- gave the Otahkians their first lead of the game at 36-34.

After that, the contest turned into a back-and-forth affair that featured 11 lead changes and seven ties.

Southeast finally went ahead for good with 3:40 remaining as Porter hit a 3-pointer from straight on, putting the Otahkians ahead 63-62.

Just seconds later, Christine Rathke came up with a huge steal and drove for a layup, making it 65-62 with 3:25 left. Then, after a Murray State turnover, Chase hit one of two free throws at the 2:46 mark to give the Otahkians a 66-62 lead.

The Lady Racers never got closer than three points the rest of the way as the Otahkians iced the victory from the free-throw line, scoring their last eight points on foul shots.

Southeast shot 50 percent in the second half (12 of 24) to finish at 36 percent for the game (21 of 58). The Otahkians also held their own on the boards over the final 20 minutes with a 19-17 edge, meaning the Lady Racers had a 44-29 advantage for the game.

Southeast will return to action Saturday, closing out a three-game homestand when Tennessee-Martin visits the Show Me Center for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.