OTAHKS FALL SHORT AGAINST E. KENTUCKY

Southeast Missouri State University put up a valiant effort, but Eastern Kentucky showed why it is considered the cream of the crop in Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball.

The Otahkians played tough for much of the game but the powerful Lady Colonels were able to hang on for a 86-77 victory at the Show Me Center Saturday night.

EKU, the defending OVC champion, improved to 13-5 overall and 9-2 in league play.

The Otahkians fell to 6-12 overall, 4-7 in the OVC.

"The kids played hard and I'm really proud of them," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "We had too many turnovers and we put them on the line too many times, but we really kept battling.

"Eastern Kentucky is a very good team and I thought they played a pretty good game to beat us."

Rusty Sowers hit five of 13 3-point shots and led the Otahkians offensively with 21 points.

Jamie Koester had a big game with 19 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.

Also in double figures were Tajuana White with 16 points and Annie Struve with 12.

The Otahkians played without point guard Moneik Campbell, who missed the game with an ankle injury suffered in practice during the week.

"I thought Rusty Sowers and Shauna Cook (six assists) handled the point guard spot well for the most part," Arnzen said. "And Jamie Koester and Tajuana White played well inside."

Chrissy Roberts, a senior guard, paced the Lady Colonels with 28 points as she hit five of seven 3-pointers and all 11 of her free throws.

"Roberts is such a great player," said Arnzen.

Also in double figures for EKU were Marla Gearhart with 15 points and Charlotte Sizemore with 13.

EKU shot 44 percent from the field (25 of 57) and a sizzling 88 percent from the free-throw line (29 of 33).

Southeast shot 47 percent from the field (29 of 62) but just 50 percent from the foul line (11 of 22). The Otahkians were plagued by 19 turnovers.

After several early ties, Roberts drilled a 3-pointer with 13:08 left in the first half to put EKU ahead 16-13. The Lady Colonels never trailed again.

Another Roberts 3-pointer a short while later put EKU up 21-15 as the Lady Colonels began to pull away.

The Lady Colonels were able to stretch their lead out to as many as 17 points in the opening half before settling for a 50-36 halftime advantage.

Southeast pulled to within 50-40 at the beginning of the second half before EKU used a 5-0 run to go up 55-40.

ChyAnne Kapitzke's follow shot with 12:50 remaining cut EKU's advantage to 61-52, but the Lady Colonels answered with a 10-1 run to open up the game's biggest lead at 71-53.

But the Otahkians were far from through. Trailing 80-69 with under two minutes left, they stormed back with six straight points.

Sowers hit a 3-pointer, White made one of two free throws and then Sowers' layup after a turnover with 52 seconds remaining pulled the Otahkians to within 80-75.

Southeast then came up with a steal but missed a shot.

Roberts made six straight free throws in the final 28 seconds as the Lady Colonels were able to hang on.

"I was really proud of our effort in the second half," Arnzen said. "We made a really good run and if we hit a shot when we're down five who knows what might happen."

The Otahkians will close out a three-game homestand Monday when Morehead State comes to the Show Me Center for a 7 p.m. contest.