Otahkians seek win prior to long break

After seeing his team play its last four games away from home, Southeast Missouri State University women's coach Ed Arnzen is happy that the Otahkians will be back at the Show Me Center today.

The 5-3 Otahkians, who have lost two straight after previously posting a five-game winning streak, will take on 1-4 Samford from Birmingham, Ala.

"It seems like we've been on the road forever and we got back at 4 a.m. Thursday," said Arnzen, whose squad played at Northern Illinois Wednesday night. "It's been a while since we've been at home and it will be nice to play a game here."

Southeast, which last played at the Show Me Center Nov. 24, suffered a 71-63 setback to Northern Illinois. That defeat came on the heels of an 80-62 loss to Missouri in the championship game of the Missouri Tournament last Saturday.

"Northern Illinois has a solid club," Arnzen said. "I felt we could beat them, but I knew we would have to play well."

Today's game will give the Otahkians something of a glimpse into the future as Samford is scheduled to join the Ohio Valley Conference in 2003.

While the Bulldogs have won just once in five games -- a 64-61 triumph over Southern Mississippi -- and are riding a three-game losing streak, Arnzen said they appear to be somewhat better than their record.

"They're kind of an interesting team," he said. "They've only won one game, but they've played a pretty tough schedule and they look decent. They're very athletic, the Price girl is good and they've got a bunch of 3-point shooters."

Giavanni Price, a 6-foot sophomore forward, is the Bulldogs' only double-figure scorer as she averages 15 points per game while also hauling down a team-leading eight rebounds per contest.

But as a group, Samford is being outscored by an average of 28 points per game and being outrebounded by nine a contest.

Today will mark the Otahkians' last game for more than three weeks as they won't return to action again until Jan. 2.

"We have dropped two in a row and we need to finish off the semester strong," Arnzen said.