OTAHKIANS READY FOR OVC OPENER, BEAT OAKLAND CITY

It wasn't an overly impressive performance.

But it was certainly exactly what Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team needed.

The Otahkians, seeing action for the first time since being routed by Troy State 75-46 on Dec. 12, topped Oakland City University 67-55 Thursday night in front of 655 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast improved to 2-5 as the Otahkians prepare for the start of Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend.

"It wasn't pretty, but it's exactly what we needed," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "We needed to play and we needed to beat somebody going into conference."

The Division II Lady Oaks came into the game shorthanded, missing four players for various reasons. Only seven players saw action, but OCU was playing with four of its starters.

"They've had some adversity recently, but they did have four starters on the floor," Arnzen said. "They probably haven't played the best competition, but they were 9-1 coming in here. They played extremely hard."

OCU had no player taller than 5-foot-10, which allowed Southeast's 6-foot center, Kim Palmer, to dominate inside. She hit nine of 11 shots to score 19 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.

"Kim scored well, which she should have," said Arnzen. "She was a lot bigger than anybody they had."

The Otahkians also got a lift from Jamie Koester, who was playing her first game in a Southeast uniform after becoming eligible for the second semester.

A 5-11 junior guard who transferred from Kansas State last season and thus had to sit out an entire school year, Koester scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

"Jamie hasn't played in a year and a half," said Arnzen. "She was really tight before the game, but she did as well as I expected. And as the year goes on, she'll get a lot better."

Freshman guard Sarah Frazier also scored 14 points for the Otahkians.

OCU was led by Shay Walker with 16 points. Christie Miller and Casey Mills both added 10.

Southeast scored the game's first six points and never trailed, although the Otahkians could not totally shake the pesky Lady Oaks the entire night.

The Otahkians opened up a 30-15 lead in the first half but OCU rallied to within 33-26 at the intermission.

Southeast built its lead to 52-34 in the second half, but OCU was able to slice its deficit to 63-55 late in the contest.

"I thought our second-half defensive effort was very good," Arnzen said. "But we're still making way too many turnovers. We had 20 tonight and that's below our average."

Now the Otahkians will get ready for the start of the conference season. They'll tip things off Saturday afternoon with a 12:30 game at defending OVC champion Austin Peay. Then Monday, Southeast will play at Tennessee State.

"I think Austin Peay might be the best team in the conference right now," said Arnzen. "They're playing well. It's going to be an extremely tough first (OVC) game for us. If we could split this weekend, I'd be really happy."