OTAHKIANS REDISCOVER WIN COLUMN

For the first time since Nov. 19, Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach Ed Arnzen and his Otahkians were able to smile after a game.

That's because the Otahkians broke a six-game losing streak Tuesday night with a fairly routine 83-72 victory over Division II Oakland City in front of 834 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, which had been playing well but falling short against strong competition, is now 2-6. The Mighty Oaks, from Oakland City, Ind., fell to 3-3.

"This is exactly what we needed," said Arnzen. "We didn't play that well, but I'm tired of playing well and getting beat. This is much better.

"We got to play a lot of people a lot of minutes and some people off the bench really looked good."

With the Otahkians leading fairly comfortably for much of the game, several of Southeast's young reserves played as much if not more than the starters.

And three in particular -- all freshmen -- came through with flying colors.

Kristy Roherty, who had been seeing quite a bit of action, came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points. She hit all seven of her field-goal attempts and all three of her 3-pointers as she increased her Ohio Valley Conference-leading 3-point accuracy to 11-for-19.

"Kristy has been playing a lot of minutes anyway, but she got even more tonight and she really did a good job," Arnzen said. "We recruited her as a point guard, but she's turned into a very valuable player at the two guard. She has been shooting very well."

Jennifer Gries, who had been seeing only limited action, hit seven of 10 shots -- including two of four 3-pointers -- and scored 16 points.

"Jennifer showed that she can shoot, which we knew she could," said Arnzen.

LaShelle Porter, a point guard who redshirted last season, hit five of six shots for 12 points to go along with seven assists and five steals as she used her quickness to wreak havoc all over the floor.

"LaShelle was our best point guard tonight," said Arnzen. "She is very quick and I thought she really played under control."

A fourth freshman who had been playing well off the bench, forward Lori Chase, earned her first start of the season and added eight points along with five rebounds.

Pam Iversen was Southeast's lone starter to score in double figures as she had 10 points and matched Chase for team-high rebounding honors with five.

Oakland City guard Casey Mills led all scorers with 27 points as she hit seven of nine 3-pointers.

For the game, Oakland City hit nine of 14 3-pointers and 13 of 16 free throws as the Mighty Oaks kept from getting totally blown out.

"Oakland City can shoot the ball and that kept them in it," Arnzen said.

After several early lead changes, Southeast -- which shot 54 percent from the field (35 of 65) -- finally went ahead for good as a jumper by Regan Hughston made it 17-15 with just over 10 minutes left in the first half.

The Otahkians used an 11-0 run to go ahead 34-19 and they led 44-30 at halftime.

Southeast led by 23 points several times in the second half. Oakland City finished the game with a 14-2 run to make the final score a bit more respectable.

Now the Otahkians will prepare for Friday night's home game against a tough Indiana State squad that will mark Southeast's final contest of 1999.

Indiana State recently lost by only two points to nationally ranked Purdu. Arnzen said the Sycamores will be quite a test for the Otahkians.

"They'll be a very good ballclub," said Arnzen. "We'll have to play a lot better than we did tonight to win, but if we can win, it would really give us a lot of momentum when we start playing again after the break."