OTAHKIANS ESTABLISH MOTIVE FOR FINAL 2 GAMES -- PRIDE

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team has nothing left to play for except pride.

Coach Ed Arnzen hopes that will be enough to carry his Otahkians to strong showings in their final two games of the season.

The Otahkians will close out their worst season ever under Arnzen on the road, beginning today with a 5:30 p.m. contest at Tennessee-Martin. Saturday, Southeast will play at Eastern Illinois in a 4:30 p.m. tipoff.

Southeast -- already eliminated from contention for a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference post-season tournament -- is 5-19 overall and a last-place 3-13 in the 10-team OVC.

"It has certainly been an extremely disappointing season," said Arnzen. "But any time they hang a scoreboard in the gym, you owe it to yourself to do the best you can and try to win.

"You have to have integrity in the game to do that. I know as a coach, I'm never going to give up. I'm going to coach these last two games just like we're fighting for a championship. Hopefully our players will do the same thing."

UTM's Skyhawks will certainly have plenty of incentive today because they're fighting for one of the eight spots in the OVC tourney.

The Skyhawks (7-17 overall) are tied with Murray State for seventh place, both with 6-10 league records. They're just one-half game ahead of ninth-place Middle Tennessee State, which is 6-11. Just ahead of UTM, at 7-9, are three teams tied for fourth: Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State and Morehead State.

Earlier this season, the Skyhawks rolled to a 66-53 victory over the Otahkians at the Show Me Center.