OTAHKIANS POST 3-0 HOMESTAND

The way things were going in the first half of the Southeast Otahkians' basketball game Saturday night against Oakland City, a 3-point basket could have been considered a scoring explosion by either team.

Southeast senior Jamie Koester proved that with her buzzer-beating 3-pointer from 27 feet away to bring the crowd to its feet and put the Otahkians up 26-23 at halftime.

Southeast then started the second half with a 7-0 run and eventually breezed to a 65-47 non-conference victory at the Show Me Center.

The victory improved the Otahkians to 4-5, ending a three-game homestand with their third consecutive win. Oakland City, a Division II school out of Indiana, fell to 6-5.

"I feel we played very flat all night, but I tip my cap to Oakland City," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "They came in here and played real hard and played well. We never could put them away."

The first half was no work of art as both teams struggled to mount any form of offense. Turnovers and poor shooting ailed both teams early. With over eight minutes elapsed in the game, Oakland City led 4-2.

"If we could have shot just a little bit (better), we could have put the game away," said Arnzen. "Very early we missed shot after shot inside the paint. It was one of those games where we just couldn't get going."

Tajuana White, who sang the national anthem prior to the contest, appeared to be the only Otahkian with her shooting eye in focus. White dropped in four of her first five field goal attempts to score eight points by halftime.

"We got a lot of work out of Tajuana in the low post," Arnzen said. "We were able to get the ball to her -- which we thought we could -- and she scored almost at will."

White led the Otahkians with 19 points overall. Koester scored 12 points, ChyAnne Kapitzke added 10 and Moneik Campbell nine. Koester led the Otahks with 14 rebounds.

"It was definitely a sloppy first half," said Koester, who drilled three 3-pointers in the game. "We just kind of dropped down and didn't play with the intensity we were playing."

Southeast pulled ahead 23-18 with 1:06 left in the first half. But Oakland City got a 3-pointer and two free throws from Casey Mills to make the score 23-23 with three seconds left before halftime. Mills led the Lady Oaks with 15 points.

Looking at a tie score, Koester took a pass from Campbell and heaved up a shot from well behind the 3-point arc with an Oakland City defender in her face. The ball fell through the net as the horn sounded, giving the Otahkians a much needed boost.

"We needed it at the time," Koester said of her shot. "It gave us the lead and gave us a little pump."

Southeast was never challenged in the second half, jumping to a 33-23 lead on a Campbell layup after a steal.

Oakland City, which shot poorly in the first half (35 percent), got even worse in the second half (26 percent). For the game, the Lady Oaks made just 21 of 53 shots (31 percent).

Last year, in a 67-55 Southeast win over Oakland City, the Lady Oaks shot just 30 percent (19 of 63).

Dana Hawkins and White sparked a 12-0 run later in the half that gave the Otahkians their biggest lead at 53-33. Both players scored four points during the stretch, with White ending the run with a turnaround jumper and a break-away layup to push the margin to 20 points.

Despite the sloppy play early, the Otahkians were pleased with the final result.

"It was definitely a `W' and that's what our goal is," said Koester. "We want to get all the W's we can. Especially since we were picked last in the conference. We want to prove everybody wrong."