OTAHKIANS MOVE INTO 1ST IN OVC

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team built up just enough of a cushion Thursday night to take over sole possession of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Otahkians, playing some of their best basketball of the season for much of the game, built up a 16-point second-half lead against Middle Tennessee State.

And even though the Lady Raiders made a major comeback bid down the stretch, Southeast held on for a 76-73 victory in a first-place OVC showdown at the Show Me Center.

So the Otahkians -- just one year removed from an eighth-place OVC finish -- jumped a half-game ahead of MTSU in the scrambled conference standings.

Southeast improved to 16-6 overall and 11-3 in league play. The 16 victories ties the Otahkians' record for most wins in a season since they moved up to the Division I level eight years ago.

MTSU fell to 14-7 overall, 10-3 in the OVC. Tennessee Tech, which comes to the Show Me Center Saturday night, is now tied with MTSU for second place.

"It feels good to be in first place," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "But there is still way too much basketball to be played and the race is still so tight."

Five Otahkians reached double figures in the scoring column, led by Rusty Sowers with 21 points. She hit seven of 13 shots from the field, including three of five 3-pointers.

Pam Iversen scored 15 points, Paula Corder had 13, Tajuana White 11 and Moneik Campbell 10. Corder also had a team-high six assists.

"We had a lot of help from a lot of different people tonight," Arnzen said.

Iversen, White and Campbell all had seven rebounds as the Otahkians won the battle of the boards by a 40 to 32 count. Southeast outrebounded MTSU by 10 in the first half as the Otahkians led 36-28.

"Rebounding was a big key tonight," said Arnzen. "It's something we haven't done very well and we knew it would be critical."

Said MTSU coach Stephany Smith, "We've got six kids with the flu and that didn't help us. But I really thought we lost the game in the first half. They killed us on the boards and they got a lot of fast-break baskets."

MTSU freshman Jamie Thomatis hit 10 of 14 shots and led all scorers with 24 points. Cortney Neeley added 14 and Bama Burrell had 11.

"I thought we caught Middle Tennessee at a good time because Burrell had a touch of the flu and she wasn't at full strength," said Arnzen. "But their freshman, Thomatis, really stepped up."

The Otahkians pounded the boards relentlessly and played stellar defense for the first 28 minutes of the game.

Leading 36-28 at halftime, the Otahkians outscored the Lady Raiders 21-13 over the first eight minutes of the second half, Campbell's steal and layup making it 57-41 with 12 minutes remaining.

But as could be expected of a team fighting for a conference championship, the Lady Raiders came storming back -- and actually had a chance to force overtime at the end.

Although the Otahkians hit their last 10 free throws, a few costly turnovers and some huge shots by MTSU brought the Lady Raiders to within striking distance in the closing moments.

With 35 seconds left, Sowers made two free throws and the Otahkians appeared to be in good shape with a 72-65 lead.

Corder hit a pair of foul shots with 26 seconds remaining as the Otahkians again held a seven-point lead at 74-67.

Corder made two more free throws with 15 seconds left to put Southeast up 76-70.

But Burrell nailed a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining to pull MTSU to within 76-73.

Southeast then threw the ball away trying to inbound under its own basket, giving the Lady Raiders possession with six seconds to play. MTSU needed a 3-pointer to force the tie.

However, with Southeast defending hard against a 3-point attempt, Jessica McClure inexplicably drove for a layup, which would have done the Lady Raiders no good anyway. She missed and the buzzer sounded as the Otahkians held on.

"They really just did a good job and forced the turnover when we tried to inbound the ball," said Arnzen, who added with a smile, "I think we were all happy when she (McClure) dribbled in toward the basket.

"But we made our free throws at the end and we did what we had to do to win the game."

The Otahkians hit 19 of 23 free throws in the game, an impressive 83 percent.

Now the Otahkians -- who are 12-0 at home this season -- will turn their attention to yet another first-place showdown as Tennessee Tech comes to town Saturday.

"I told the players at halftime Tuesday (against Tennessee State) that Saturday doesn't matter if we don't win Tuesday and Thursday," Arnzen said. "But we've taken care of business and now we can think about Saturday."