Otahks look for revenge vs. Govs

Southeast Missouri State University's women had a big debut under new coach B.J. Smith last year, finishing second in the Ohio Valley Conference's regular season and tournament for the first time ever.

But Smith's rookie season with the Otahkians could have been even better if not for Austin Peay, which dealt them three losses -- including 85-61 in the OVC Tournament finals.

Today, the Otahkians (5-6) get their first 2003-2004 crack at revenge against the Governors (6-5) when the teams square off in their OVC opener at the Show Me Center.

"I've never beaten them," said Smith. "I would hate to lose four in a row to them."

Ditto for senior guard Kenja White, last season's OVC newcomer of the year.

"We're looking forward to playing them," White said. "Anybody who beats somebody three times in one year, you really want to get them back."

If the Otahkians -- picked first in the OVC preseason poll, just ahead of Austin Peay -- are going to finally knock off the Govs, Smith knows they'll have to play considerably better than they did for most of an up-and-down non-conference schedule.

But Smith has not been all that disappointed with the Otahkians through 11 games. He realized building a big-time record would be difficult at this point. Four of Southeast's six losses came against national powers Oklahoma, Kansas State, Utah and Southwest Missouri.

"We stubbed our toes a couple of times, but I knew it would be hard to have a great record, with the schedule we've played," Smith said. "Even though our record is not that good right now, I think our kids have really done a good job of keeping a positive attitude and not getting down."

Austin Peay rolled through the OVC with a 16-0 record last year on its way to a 27-4 overall mark. The Govs graduated conference player of the year Brooke Armistead, but Smith doesn't know that they've slipped a whole lot.

"They've got a lot of the pieces back," he said. "They're still very good."

Austin Peay features arguably the OVC's dominant inside player in 6-foot-1 senior forward Gerlonda Hardin, a returning all-league first-teamer who is averaging 14.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 58.3 percent from the field.

"We couldn't have guarded her with a baseball bat last year," Smith said. "She hurt us the most last year."

Ashley Haynes, a 5-10 sophomore forward who had a strong freshman season last year, is averaging 14.2 points and 8.5 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Govs is 5-9 sophomore guard Kera Bergeron (10.9 ppg).

"They have two really good players in Hardin and Haynes, but really their whole team is good," White said.

Southeast has two players averaging in double figures. Junior center Chandra Brown leads the way at 11 points per game, followed by White at 10.5.

Smith said Southeast has missed sophomore guard Tiffanne Ryan, who has played in only six games because of an ankle injury that has her questionable for today and Saturday's home contest against Tennessee Tech.

"She was really starting to come on and I think not having her has hurt us," Smith said.

One of the Otahkians' main problems so far has been their shooting. They are hitting just 36.6 percent overall, including only 27.5 percent from 3-point range.

"We haven't shot well all year, but I still think we have good shooters," Smith said. "But sooner or later we have to start showing it."

As far as Smith is concerned, there would be no time like today.