Otahkians can't afford slow start today, Smith says

Southeast Missouri State University's women have gotten off to painfully slow starts in their last two games, although the Otahkians went on to win both contests handily.

But if that happens again today, when the Otahkians visit Austin Peay for a 5 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference showdown, coach B.J. Smith doesn't believe his team will be so fortunate.

"We better come ready to play or we'll get buried," Smith said. "We can't afford to do that at Austin Peay."

The Governors (11-3 overall, 4-0 OVC) are in second place in the conference, one-half game behind Eastern Kentucky. The Otahkians (10-5, 4-1) are in third place and a win today could vault them into a first-place tie, depending on what Eastern Kentucky (5-0) does.

"It's a really big game for both teams," Smith said. "If we could win a road game like this, it would really put us in good shape in the conference."

Against Murray State last Thursday, the Otahkians fell behind 8-0 and trailed by 18 points midway through the first half before winning 82-69. Against Tennessee-Martin Monday night, Southeast again trailed 8-0 before romping 70-49.

"We've kind of come up with some strategy that we'll spot everybody eight points," Smith said, laughing. "I don't know why, but we've gotten off to slow starts."

Austin Peay, which has won the last two OVC Tournament titles, was picked a solid first in this year's OVC preseason poll -- a ranking Smith says is well deserved.

"They're really good. I think they're the best team in the league, and then everybody else is trying to get up there," Smith said. "They execute everything they do so well. I don't know how we're going to guard them."

The Govs are led offensively by 5-foot-9 senior guard Brooke Armistead, a four-year standout who leads the OVC with 18.2 points per game after finishing second last season with 22.2. She entered this season with a 21.5 average and is on pace to become the conference's all-time leading scorer.

Gerlonda Hardin, a 6-1 junior center, is averaging 14.2 points and eight rebounds per game. Hardin is first in the league in field-goal percentage at 60.6, second in blocked shots with 20 and third in rebounding.

Kera Bergeron, a 5-9 freshman guard, is the OVC's third-best 3-point shooter at 42.4 percent (28 of 66) while 5-8 senior guard Paige Smith, another four-year starter, is fourth at 40.9 percent (27 of 66).

Bergeron and Smith help the Govs shoot 34.3 percent from 3-point range as a team, which is second in the OVC. Austin Peay leads the league in overall field-goal percentage (45.0).

Austin Peay also is strong defensively, allowing a league-low 60.9 points per game, while Southeast is the OVC's second-highest scoring team at 77.7 points a contest.

Southeast has four double-figure scorers in junior guard Kenja White (14.5 ppg), senior forward Lori Chase (13.7 ppg), junior forward Carina Souza (11.7 ppg) and junior forward Yashika Sidbury (10.4 ppg).

"Austin Peay has really been playing well, and it's going to be a big challenge for us," Smith said. "But we're looking forward to playing in a game like this."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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