Otahkians take another shot at a high-profile opponent

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team has won six of its first nine games this season -- but the Otahkians have failed in three tries to knock off a highly regarded opponent.

Today, the Otahkians get another shot at pulling off a major upset when they play defending national runner-up Oklahoma in a 3 p.m. tipoff in Norman, Okla.

"We've had our chances against some really good teams this year, but we haven't beaten any of them," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said. "It would be nice to finally get a win against one of these teams."

The Otahkians (6-3) were competitive in losses to Southwest Missouri and Indiana State while they were blown out by nationally ranked Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Smith, in his first season at Southeast, knows the Otahkians face one of their toughest challenges against the 19th-ranked Sooners (8-3), although OU is just a shadow of the squad that last year went 32-4 and lost to Connecticut in the NCAA championship game.

The Sooners returned just one starter from last season, senior forward Caton Hill, who was third on the squad in scoring at nearly 13 points per game. But Hill is out for the season with a knee injury suffered early this year. Two other anticipated key players also have been lost to injury.

Still, the Sooners have plenty of weapons, led by a player Smith is very familiar with. Maria Villarroel was Smith's star at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College last season and she has filled that same role with OU this year.

Villarroel, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, averages 17.7 points and shoots a sizzling 66 percent from the field. Last season, she led the nation's junior colleges in scoring (24.4 ppg) and field-goal shooting (73.4 percent) as Northeastern Oklahoma finished second in the nation.

"She's a very good player," Smith said. "She's the best finisher I've ever seen in women's basketball. She's uncanny the way she gets to the basket. She'll put it on the floor, you think you're there, and she gets through you."

Dionnah Jackson, a 5-9 sophomore guard and one of the Sooners' top players off the bench last year, averages 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds.

"Their talent is still good. They just don't have the depth they had because of the injuries," Smith said. "But they're still a very good team."

Good, but not insurmountable, according to Smith.

"They're beatable," he said. "We just have to establish some consistency when we play these really good teams."

Southeast features four double-figure scorers: Lori Chase (14 ppg), Carina Souza (12.9 ppg), Kenja White (12.3 ppg) and Yashika Sidbury (12.1 ppg).

Point guard Sarah Costello averages 8.8 points and 5.1 assists, although she is questionable for today because of a leg injury that does not appear to be too serious. Smith said he wants to make sure she is ready for next Saturday's Ohio Valley Conference opener against Eastern Illinois.

The Otahkians and Sooners are meeting for the first time primarily because of the relationship Smith built with OU coach Sherri Coale during the three years the Oklahoma native coached Northeastern Oklahoma A&M's junior-college powerhouse.

"For me it's exciting, not only going back to my home state but to play a program the caliber of Oklahoma," Smith said. "The only better thing would be to beat them."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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