OTAHKS ATTEMPT TO BOLSTER BID TONIGHT FOR OVC TOURNAMENT

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Bolstered by its first Ohio Valley Conference road win of the season, Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will now look to build on that and lock up a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Otahkians' final two regular-season games will be away from home, beginning with today's 4:45 p.m. contest against Morehead State. Southeast visits Eastern Kentucky Saturday.

Southeast is coming off an impressive 89-75 win at Eastern Illinois last Saturday, a game in which the Otahkians wiped out an eight-point halftime deficit.

"We hadn't been playing well on the road, but we really got a big win Saturday and hopefully that's going to give us some confidence that we can play that way on the road again," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen.

The Otahkians, who now have a two-game winning streak after previously having lost five in a row, are 10-15 overall and a seventh-place 6-10 in the OVC. The top eight finishers in the final league standings qualify for the conference's postseason tournament.

Southeast is in a three-way fight with Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois for the final two postseason berths. Tennessee State is in eighth place at 6-11 with just one game remaining while Eastern Illinois is ninth at 5-11 with two games left.

One win this week will likely put the Otahkians in the OVC Tournament while two wins secures a berth and could potentially place Southeast as high as fifth, depending on what other teams do.

"We've got a great opportunity to get in the (league) tournament, and once you get there, anything can happen," Arnzen said. "We'd love to have the opportunity."

Morehead State, 2-23 overall and 1-15 in league play, is in last place in the OVC and has no shot at making the league tourney. But the Lady Eagles have apparently not thrown in the towel, as evidenced by last Saturday's 82-73 upset of Murray State.

"They're evidently still playing very hard, which is a credit to them," said Arnzen. "They've really played a lot of teams tough this year, but they just hadn't been able to win until they beat Murray State."

Even though the Otahkians drubbed the Lady Eagles 85-62 in Cape Girardeau last month, Arnzen knows better than to believe things will be easy today.

"I expect a very tough ballgame," he said. "It always is on the road."

Saturday's opponent, Eastern Kentucky, is in fifth place in the OVC at 8-8. The Lady Colonels, who lost to Southeast 87-66 in Cape Girardeau last month, are 11-14 overall.