OTAHKIANS IMPRESSIVE IN DEFEAT

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team lost here Monday night -- but it certainly wasn't because of a lack of effort.

The Otahkians, looking like a different squad during their two-game road trip to Tennessee, staged a furious rally that fell just a bit short as Tennessee Tech held on for a 75-68 victory.

Southeast is now 4-11 overall and 2-5 in OVC play. Tech's Golden Eaglettes improved to 8-6 overall, 5-2 in the league.

"It's a disappointing loss, but I really feel like the kids gave us what they had," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "They played very hard."

Arnzen certainly had to like what he saw from his team during this two-game trip that included an overtime upset of Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.

"I'm really encouraged," said Arnzen, whose squad had struggled virtually all season prior to the last few games. "We had a lot of problems at the beginning of the year. I think we were a divided team. But the last four conference games, we really played hard. I see this team coming together for the rest of the season."

Jamie Koester led the Otahkians offensively with 17 points. Also in double figures were Dana Hawkins with 15, Kim Palmer with 13 and Sarah Frazier with 10. Hawkins pulled down a team-high eight rebounds while Frazier led in assists with four.

Tech got 21 points from Amber Clark, 19 from Diane Seng and 11 from both Becky Clabough and Leslie VanWinkle.

"I thought it was a good effort by both teams," said Tech coach Bill Worrell. "We feel very fortunate to win."

The Otahkians shot nearly 50 percent in the first half (14 of 30), including four of six 3-pointers, as they entered the break behind just 36-34 after holding several first-half leads.

"I thought we played a solid first half and we were in good shape at halftime," said Arnzen.

But the Otahkians broke down offensively in the second half. They went the first four minutes without a point and scored just four points in the first 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Eaglettes scored the first six points of the second half to go ahead 42-34 and they had an overall 10-2 run to open up a 46-36 lead. Tech later went ahead 50-38.

But the Otahkians weren't about to fold. Trailing 63-53, Frazier hit a 3-pointer and Koester scored on the break to make it 63-58 with 3:40 left.

A little more than one minute later, Hawkins nailed a 3-pointer and Southeast was within 63-61. Tech then committed a turnover and the Otahkians had a chance to tie the contest, but an inside shot was off the mark.

Tech was able to build its lead back to 67-61, but Palmer hit a 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining to bring the Otahkians to within 68-66.

The Eaglettes were then able to secure the victory at the free-throw line as Clabough hit all six of her attempts in the final 35 seconds.

"At the beginning of the second half we weren't very intense and we let them get a 12-point lead," Arnzen said. "But we came roaring back. Dana Hawkins and Kim Palmer hit some big shots and we almost were able to pull it off."

Southeast shot just 37 percent (13 of 35) from the floor in the second half to finish at 42 percent (27 of 65) for the game.

One area in which the Otahkians improved dramatically is turnovers. They had just 14, which is well below their season average.

"We've really gotten better taking care of the basketball," said Arnzen. "I've really liked what I've seen from this club the last few games."

The Otahkians, after returning to Cape Girardeau early today, will play their fourth straight road game Thursday night when they make the short trip to Murray State.