OTAHKIANS TRY TO GET BACK BACK ON TRACK

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will tonight look to begin re-establishing itself as an Ohio Valley Conference contender.

The Otahkians, saddled with their first two-game losing streak of the season, kick off a three-game homestand when Austin Peay visits the Show Me Center for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.

Southeast will entertain Murray State Thursday night and Tennessee-Martin Saturday night.

"It's a very big week for us," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "This group hasn't been down this road (a two-game losing streak) before. We have to see how we respond."

The Otahkians were riding high in first place in the OVC when they left Cape Girardeau last Wednesday for a road trip to Tennessee. But Southeast suffered losses to both Middle Tennessee and Tennessee Tech.

Still, the Otahkians own an impressive 9-4 overall record and their 4-2 OVC mark puts them just one-half game behind a trio of first-place teams that are 4-1: Tennessee-Martin, Middle Tennessee and Tennessee Tech.

"We're still in pretty good shape because the conference is just so balanced this year," said Arnzen. "But we have to get it going again."

Austin Peay is just 3-10 overall and 2-3 in the league, but Arnzen knows the Lady Governors won't be easy to defeat tonight, even though Southeast posted a 69-55 win in Clarksville last month.

"They have a good team and they gave us a good game at their place before Christmas even though one of their better players was out with an injury," Arnzen said. "It's going to be a tough ballgame for us.

"The way the league is this year, there isn't a whole lot of difference between the first-place team and the last-place team. You have to be ready to play every night."

The Lady Govs have one of the OVC's better players in Quinn Sullivan, a transfer from Iowa State who is averaging 16.4 points per game.

"Sullivan is having a very good season and they have some other talented players around her," said Arnzen. "We'll have to play better than we have the last few games."

Arnzen said his main concern is an Otahkian offense that seems to have gone somewhat stagnant in the past few games.

"We have some offensive problems right now," he said. "I think we've gotten a little stagnant. Our spacing has not been good. We need to improve on that in a hurry."

Following tonight's game, the Otahkians will take on a Murray State squad that is just 1-4 in OVC play but lost to league power Tennessee-Martin by just two points Saturday night.

"It seems like Murray State has been losing to everybody by two points," Arnzen said. "And Tennessee-Martin is one of the best, if not the best, teams in the league.

"It's a very important week for us. We need to play well."