OTAHKS CONTINUE TO DEFY ODDS, ROUT RIVERWOMEN

ST. LOUIS The Southeast Missouri State University Otahkians continue to defy heavy odds and a league penalty that was supposed to render them also-rans in the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association women's basketball race.

The Otahkians, playing without five players three of whom are starters for the third time under an MIAA sanction, drubbed the Missouri-St. Louis Riverwomen 91-67 here Wednesday night to improve to 10-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.

A starting lineup that included three freshmen, a junior and a senior scratched and clawed their way to an early lead and never looked back.

Senior Sherry Mitchell emerged as a consummate leader, pacing the Otahkians with 28 points and six assists.

"Sherry Mitchell has taken it upon herself to become the mother hen and take care of her baby chicks," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "Sherry was able to take control of this game."

Freshman Jody Pugh also had a monster game for the Otahkians, scoring 17 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.

Another freshman, Anne Cate, hit five of nine three-point shots and scored 18 points. Still another frosh, Jennifer Cavaness, had 12 points.

Former Cape Girardeau Notre Dame High star Kim Cooper paced UMSL (7-3 overall, 1-1 in MIAA play) with 17 points.

Southeast carried a 43-38 lead into the second half but had to deal with four players, Cavaness, Stephanie Holland, Deanna Jackson and Gwen Fitzpatrick, each being saddled with three fouls.

Somehow the Otahkians were able to get through the remainder of the game with just Holland picking up her fourth foul.

"I can't really explain why we didn't foul anybody out, but then you really can't explain how we're able to win games everybody expects us to lose," Arnzen said.

Arnzen indicated his players knew three games ago they could deal with the sanction.

"When we realized we could play with anybody, we knew anything was possible," said Arnzen. "We've got a motto right now. We just say, 'Ain't no deal. We're going out each night ready to take the hand dealt to us and just go from there. We're not looking for excuses or reasons to lose. Our players just crash the boards as hard as they can and scrap for every loose ball and see what happens."

The Otahkians were able to pull away from the Riverwomen largely on a gutsy move by Arnzen in the second half.

"We had a four-point lead and it looked like things were going our way," said Arnzen. "My two assistants suggested that we change our offense to deal with UMSL's sagging man-to-man and matchup zone defenses. We were able to free Sherry up more and she was able to make it work."

UMSL grabbed an early lead on a three-point bomb from Monica Steinhoff. But the Otahkians wrested the lead from the Riverwomen on a layup by Mitchell and held it until halftime.

Southeast pushed its lead to six on three occasions and claimed a nine-point advantage on a bucket from close range by Pugh.

The Otahkians were able to maintain a first-half lead largely on the long-range shooting of Cate, who connected from three-point range on four occasions, and the timely buckets from Mitchell, who led the Otahkians with 15 points. Cate added 12 first-half points.

Southeast also held a considerable advantage over the Riverwomen on the boards throughout much of the first half. Pugh pulled down 11 rebounds in the first half.

UMSL's Kris Earhart nailed a three-point basket in the final minute.

Undaunted, Mitchell completed a three-point play to give the Otahks a 43-38 halftime advantage.

The Otahkians will be back in action Saturday night at home against Central Missouri State. That will be their final game without the suspended players.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

TS6R,9R,11.5R,14R,16R,18R,20R Min FG 3PT FT Rb F Pt

Mitchell 37 13-25 0-1 2-7 5 0 28

Pugh 34 7-16 0-0 3-3 17 1 17

Cavanss 37 6-12 0-0 0-2 10 3 12

Holland 23 4-9 0-0 0-0 3 5 8

Cate 40 5-15 5-9 3-6 4 2 18

Miller 7 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Fitzptrck 8 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2

Jackson 14 3-7 0-0 0-0 2 3 6

Team Rbs 14

Totals 200 39-88 5-10 8-18 57 15 91

MISSOURI-ST. LOIUIS

TS6R,9R,11.5R,14R,16R,18R,20R Min FG 3PT FT Rb F Pt

Cooper 25 5-13 1-3 6-7 3 1 17

Putnam 34 7-11 0-0 2-3 11 2 16

Earhart 22 3-6 0-0 1-2 3 4 7

Steinhff 30 5-20 3-10 2-2 5 2 15

Houska 33 0-5 0-0 2-2 3 4 2

Hesemnn 15 0-3 0-2 4-4 5 1 4

Nunnelee 10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Moore 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 2

Jenkins 27 2-8 0-1 0-0 4 4 4

Team Rbs 13

Totals 200 23-67 4-16 17-20 48 20 67

TS14R,16R,18R,20RSOUTHEAST 43 48 - 91

UMSL 38 29 - 67

Shooting percentages - FG: Southeast .443, UMSL .343. FT: Southeast .444, UMSL .850. Assists: Southeast 16 (Mitchell 6, Jackson 4), UMSL 19 (Steinhoff 5, Houska 4, Jenkins 4). Turnovers: Southeast 12, UMSL 16. Technical Fouls: None. A - 850.