OTAHKIANS HOPE TO END OVC ROAD SKID TODAY AGAINST AUSTIN PEAY

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will once again try to break its season-long Ohio Valley Conference road losing streak today.

The Otahkians, who have lost all five of their league games away from home so far this season, will square off with Austin Peay in a 5:45 p.m. tipoff at the Dunn Center.

After dropping a 65-60 decision at Tennessee State Thursday night, Southeast coach Ed Arnzen realizes how important today's game is.

"We really need a split on this road trip," Arnzen said. "It's a really big game for us."

Arnzen said the Otahkians must simply start playing better away from the friendly confines of the Show Me Center if they have any hopes of finishing toward the top of the OVC standings.

"It's frustrating," said Arnzen of his team's problems on the road. "It seems like we lack the fire on the road that we have at home.

"Our seniors really need to step up and ignite the spark."

The Otahkians will likely play today without their second-leading scorer, Pam Iversen, who suffered a knee injury during the second half of Thursday's game.

Iversen's knee buckled and she had to be helped off the court as she missed the rest of the contest. Tests done Friday in Cape Girardeau were inconclusive and the injury is currently being treated as a sprain. Iversen is doubtful for today.

"Not having Pam will hurt us, but other players will just have to step up," said Arnzen.

Because of how scrambled the majority of the OVC is, the Otahkians dropped from a tie for fourth place down to a tie for seventh place by virtue of Thursday's loss.

Southeast, 8-11 overall, is 5-6 in league play, the same record as Tennessee State. The Otahkians are still just 1 1/2 games behind second-place Murray State, which is 6-4.

Austin Peay is in a three-way tie for third place, along with Middle Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky, at 6-5. Tennessee-Martin is sixth at 5-5 and Eastern Illinois, although ninth, is very much alive at 4-7.

The only two places in the league that seem pretty well set are first and last. Tennessee Tech is running away with the OVC at 11-0 while Morehead State is on the bottom at 0-11.

"Second through ninth is still so wide open," Arnzen said. "There is still a lot of basketball left to be played."

Austin Peay, which is 10-10 overall, played Southeast tough on Jan. 8 before dropping a 74-72 decision at the Show Me Center.

The Lady Governors are led by a strong freshmen backcourt of Brooke Armistead and Paige Smith. Armistead is the OVC's second-leading scorer at more than 20 points per game while Smith averages better than 12 points a contest.

Austin Peay also gets solid inside play from 6-foot-1 Quin Sullivan, who averages more than 10 points and eight rebounds per game.

"They're a good club and it's going to be a very difficult game for us," said Arnzen. "They played us extremely well at our place and they're going to be really tough to beat at home.

"This is a critical week for us. We know we're going to have to start winning some games on the road if we want to finish high in the standings."

The top eight teams in the final league standings qualify for the OVC postseason tournament, with the top four finishers earning first-round home games.