OTAHKS HOPE TO MAINTAIN COMFORT ZONE

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team still has a nice cushion as far as a top-four Ohio Valley Conference finish goes.

But Otahkian coach Ed Arnzen knows that buffer could dwindle quickly the rest of this tough week, which is why today's 5:30 p.m. game at Murray State looms so large.

The Otahkians lost the opener of a three-game road swing this week, falling 89-75 at Tennessee Tech Tuesday. Southeast, 12-9 overall, dropped into fourth place in the OVC with a 7-4 mark.

Finishing at least fourth in the final regular-season conference standings is important because that guarantees a home game for the first round of the OVC Tournament.

Southeast leads fifth-place Tennessee-Martin, which hosts the Otahkians Saturday, by 2 1/2 games. Murray State is in sixth place and three games behind the Otahkians.

"We're still in pretty good shape (as far as finishing in the top four), but this is a difficult week for us," said Arnzen. "We've got two more tough road games left and the Murray State game is a big one."

Arnzen is wary of the Lady Racers (6-16 overall, 4-7 OVC), who gave Southeast quite a battle on Jan. 11 before dropping a 74-66 decision.

"They were ahead of us by nine at halftime at our place and the final score is not indicative of what kind of game it was," Arnzen said. "They're a good team and it's going to be a tough game at their place."

The Lady Racers have one of the better inside players in the OVC in Monika Gadson, who averages 16 points per game and is the league's top rebounder at 10 a contest.

Liz Stansberry is Murray State's only other double-figure scorer at 10 points per game.