OTAHKIANS PAY VISIT TO STRUGGLING E. ILLINOIS

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team has gotten off to a strong Ohio Valley Conference start. Today the Otahkians will look to continue that -- and avoid an upset in the process.

Struggling Eastern Illinois will provide the opposition for the Otahkians in a 5:15 p.m. tipoff at Lantz Gym.

The Otahkians are 9-6 overall and 4-1 in OVC play, which has them in a second-place tie in the nine-team league and just one game behind leader Tennessee Tech. The Lady Panthers are 4-12 overall and a last-place 0-5 in OVC.

"They're struggling, but you know how that goes," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen with a laugh. "I think we have an opportunity to win the game, but we're not in a position to overlook anybody.

"It's a big game. They're all big, but you have to take care of business, beat the teams you should beat and take your chances against the better clubs."

Arnzen definitely likes the way things are shaping up for the Otahkians, who were not looking all that good after a surprisingly lopsided home loss to Arkansas-Little Rock on Jan. 2 in their final non-conference tuneup.

But since that time, the Otahkians have thrived, winning four of five OVC games, with the only setback a one-point overtime defeat to defending league champion Tennessee Tech. And two of the league victories have come on the road.

"We've really come on since we started conference play and hopefully we can keep that going," said Arnzen.

Even though Eastern Illinois does not look impressive on paper, Arnzen doesn't expect an easy game today.

The Lady Panthers have some weapons, led by 6-foot-2 freshman center Pam O'Connor (14.1 ppg), 5-7 senior guard Renee Schaul (13.5 ppg) and 5-10 freshman guard Lauren Dailey (10.4 ppg). O'Connor is the OVC's top freshman scorer and she is among the league's top 10 field-goal shooters at 52 percent.

"We've won handily there the last two years, but we've had trouble there in the past," Arnzen said. "In conference play, games on the road are generally very tough no matter what the records are.

"The unusual thing is, we're 4-1 on the road so far this season. We've played better on the road than at home. Hopefully we can keep playing well on the road because they're capable of beating us if we don't play well. We've just got to be ready."