OTAHKS AVOID SHUTOUT, WIN

The way the game started, it appeared as if Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team had the proverbial two chances of beating Eastern Illinois.

Slim and none.

Southeast failed to score for the first 9:27 of Saturday night's contest at the Show Me Center, during which time EIU built a 10-0 lead.

But, lo and behold, the Otahkians were able to shake off their horrendous start to pull off a 48-41 upset of EIU, which came into the game leading the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Otahkians improved to 6-11 overall and 4-6 in OVC play while the Lady Panthers fell to 9-9 overall, 7-3 in the league.

"This is an awfully big win for us," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen, whose squad solidified its hold on seventh place in the 10-team OVC. "We knew we had to knock somebody off like this.

"You want to finish as high as you can (in the OVC), but the key is to first get in the (OVC) tournament and to do that you have to finish in the top eight. This was a big step for us."

Both teams suffered through miserable shooting performances that were virtually identical.

The Otahkians hit 16 of 57 (28 percent) from the field while the Lady Panthers hit 16 of 54 (30 percent). From 3-point range, Southeast was two of 15 (13 percent) and EIU two of 13 (15 percent).

"It was a crazy game," said Arnzen. "Neither team could score, but I think both teams played good defense."

Southeast was led offensively by Annie Struve, a 6-foot-1 redshirt freshman center who came off the bench to score 16 points and grab eight rebounds. She hit seven of 10 shots from the field.

Shauna Cook also had a strong game off the bench with nine points -- all coming in the second half -- as she hit four of five shots.

"I have to give a lot of credit to Annie Struve, Shauna Cook and Dana Hawkins (three points, six rebounds)," Arnzen said. "All three came off the bench and played big. Without any one of those three, we don't win the game."

Leah Aldrich led EIU with 14 points but leading scorer Barbora Garbova, averaging 16 points a game, got into foul trouble and scored only five points before fouling out.

"You have to forget it, but it's tough," said EIU coach John Klein. "I don't expect a game like this from a group of seniors."

Even though Southeast struggled so much in the early going, EIU was not exactly burning the nets either, so the Lady Panthers never could knock the Otahkians out.

After trailing by as many as 11 points at 21-10, the Otahkians were able to close within 27-21 by halftime.

"I thought we were getting good shots in the first half but they just wouldn't fall, so we didn't really change anything at halftime," said Arnzen.

The Otahkians were finally able to pull into a 37-37 tie on Cook's basket with 10:20 remaining in the second half.

Then it was EIU's turn to go stone cold. The Lady Panthers scored only four points the rest of the game and during one stretch they went scoreless for 8:11.

Southeast took its first lead of the contest on Cook's driving basket that made it 39-37 with 9:33 remaining.

Struve followed with a bucket less than a minute later to put the Otahkians ahead 41-37.

With EIU struggling so much offensively, the Otahkians really weren't in serious danger the rest of the way. Cook's 3-pointer with 5:25 left made it 47-39 and only three points total were scored the rest of the way.

"We couldn't score early and then the last 10 minutes they couldn't throw it in the ocean," Arnzen said. "It was just one of those games. But it's a great win for us."