Otahkians ready for lowly TSU

The Ohio Valley Conference's worst women's basketball team -- at least the record says so -- pays a visit to the Show Me Center tonight.

Tennessee State (2-15, 0-7 OVC) will shoot for its first conference win of the season when it takes on Southeast Missouri State University (12-6, 6-2) in a 7 p.m. tipoff.

It will be "Take a Kid to the Game" night tonight. All those age 18 and under will be admitted free and the first 200 youngsters age 12 and under will receive a free NCAA J.J. Jumper Growth Chart.

Even though TSU is struggling, Southeast coach B.J. Smith emphasizes that his squad can't afford to take the Tigers lightly.

"It's another must-win game for us and we have to make sure we take them seriously," Smith said. "We're playing pretty well now and we've got a chance to put a streak together. We can't afford to slip up."

The Otahkians, after beating visiting Tennessee Tech 86-80 Saturday, have posted two straight victories and have climbed into a second-place tie in the nine-team OVC, two games behind Austin Peay (8-0). Southeast is in the midst of a four-game homestand.

"We've got to take advantage of this stretch of games at home," Smith said.

TSU, which lost 77-68 at Eastern Illinois Saturday, has lost 11 straight games overall. Five of the Tigers' seven OVC defeats have been by at least 12 points, with three of them by more than 20. TSU's closest conference setback was seven points.

"They're obviously struggling," Smith said. "But I'm sure they're going to beat somebody before too long. We just have to make sure it's not us."

"Every conference game is really big," said Southeast senior forward Lori Chase, who scored 32 points against Tennessee Tech Saturday. "We're playing pretty good now and we have to keep it going. No matter what their record is, we have to come ready to play."