Otahkians overcome a familiar slow start

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team is no stranger to slow starts.

After falling behind 8-0 to Murray State at home Saturday night, the start to Monday's Ohio Valley Conference battle against Tennessee-Martin at the Show Me Center looked strangely familiar.

The Skyhawks (5-11, 2-3) shot to an 8-0 lead and led as late as the final 38 seconds of the first half. But the Otahkians (10-5, 4-1) grabbed a 27-26 lead with eight seconds left in the first half, and then used a second-half charge to cruise to a 70-49 win in front of an announced crowd of 612.

Southeast forward Yashika Sidbury, who led the Otahkians with 21 points, said the team comes out with more intensity in the second half. That was the case Monday.

"It's the lockerroom for us," she said. "We need him to yell at us."

Whatever Southeast coach B.J. Smith said to his players must have worked, considering Southeast's 43-23 advantage in the second half.

For Southeast, their first-half problems came from poor shooting. Southeast went 10-for-29 from the field in the first half, including a 3-for-14 performance from 3-point range.

"Our field goal percentage is no good when our shot selection is no good," Smith said.

While Southeast struggled on offense, defense came to the rescue. The Otahkians forced 12 Skyhawk turnovers and held Tennessee-Martin to 33 percent from the floor in the first half.

After their sluggish start on offense, the Otahkians came out strong in the second half. Carina Souza made a couple of buckets down low, and Sidbury asserted herself on the offensive glass.

"Offensive rebounds are a real back-breaker for a team," Smith said.

With seven straight points by Sidbury eight minutes into the second half the Otahkians pulled out to a 43-34 lead, their biggest lead of the night. The Skyhawks got it back to seven on the next possession, but that was the closest Martin would get the rest of the game.

"I like our personality," Smith said. "They don't quit. They don't panic."

A key to the Otahkians' second-half surge was the shooting of Sidbury. Sidbury hit her fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the night in the second half and shot 4-of-5 from the free-throw line in the half.

Sidbury said she started to get more confident in her shot as the game went on.

"I was feeling it after the second one," she said.

Smith said Monday's shooting performance from Sidbury was what he has expected from her all season.

"That's what we expect out of Ya-Ya," he said.

Southeast got a solid performance from freshman point guard Tiffanne Ryan. Ryan, starting for the injured Sarah Costello, scored 10 points, eight in the second half, and only turned the ball over three times in 29 minutes. Costello played six minutes and scored three points after missing several games with a leg injury.

The Otahkians, who have had turnover problems in recent games, turned the ball over 18 times in the game and only seven times in the second half.

Smith said the team played more within the offense in the second half.

"We quit trying to make great plays and just made good plays," he said.

Souza, who scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Otahkians, said after dropping their first OVC game against Eastern Kentucky last week, they know they have to keep winning to reach their goal of an OVC title.

"We lost one game. We can't lose any more games," she said.

While the Otahkinas may need to improve on offense to reach their goal on an OVC title, Smith said Southeast's defense continues to shine.

"Overall our defensive performance was as good as since I've been here," he said.

Besides leading the Otahkians in scoring, Sidbury also led Southeast with nine rebounds. Lori Chase chipped in seven rebounds to go along with eight points.

The Skyhawks were paced by top scorer Amy Watson's 21.

jjoffray@semissourian.com

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