OTAHKS PLAY FINAL HOME GAME TONIGHT

Three Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball players will be seeing the final home action of their college careers tonight when the Otahkians face Tennessee-Martin.

The squads will square off in a 7 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference contest at the Show Me Center.

Seniors Jamie Koester, Dana Hawkins and Jaime Neff will all be honored prior to playing their final home game tonight.

"It's always something of an emotional time when your seniors are getting ready for their final home games," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "They've meant a lot to our basketball program."

Koester is having another strong season to back up her impressive campaign last year after she became eligible following her transfer from Kansas State.

The 5-foot-11 guard/forward leads the team in scoring at nearly 12 points per game and she is also averaging nearly nine rebounds per contest to lead the squad and rank among the Ohio Valley's Conference's best. With 32 blocked shots, Koester, also ranks high in the OVC in that category.

Last season, Koester, who was only eligible for the second semester, also led the Otahkians in scoring and rebounding, with just over 15 points and seven rebounds per contest. She pulled down 20 rebounds in an overtime win at Middle Tennessee, the second-best single-game rebounding performance in school history.

"Jamie has just been a joy to be around," said Arnzen. "She has worked as hard as any player I've ever coached.

"She just gets the most out of the talent she has. She plays hard all the time and she always has a smile on her face. She's just a really great person."

Hawkins, a 5-11 forward, averaged nearly nine points and four rebounds per game last year after transferring from North Arkansas Community College. In more of a diminished role this season, she is averaging just under five points per contest.

"Dana has done a good job for us," Arnzen said. "She was a starter most of last season and this year she has accepted her role of coming off the bench more."

Neff, who has been slowed by a knee injury during much of her Southeast career, averaged nearly four points per game last year. The previous season, she averaged almost eight points in six games before suffering a serious knee injury that required major surgery.

Neff, who is averaging just under three points per game this year, came to Southeast from Northeast Oklahoma A&M Junior College after having previously transferred from Missouri-Kansas City.

"Jaime had the unfortunate knee injury two years ago at a time when she was really off to a good start," said Arnzen. "She just never was 100 percent last year. This year she hasn't received a whole lot of playing time but she's still done a good job."

The three seniors will try to lead the Otahkians into the OVC Tournament. Saturday's 66-65 home loss to Murray State prevented Southeast from clinching a tournament berth and means the Otahkians will probably have to close the season strong in order to get into the tourney.

Southeast is now 8-16 overall and 5-11 in OVC play. That record keeps the Otahkians in eighth place -- the top eight finishers in the 10-team league make the conference tourney -- but they are now just one-half game ahead of Murray State.

The Otahkians have two more games left, including next Saturday's contest at Eastern Illinois. Murray has three games remaining.

Tennessee-Martin certainly will be a difficult opponent tonight. The Skyhawks, despite Saturday's 59-54 loss to Eastern Illinois, are 13-10 overall and a fourth-place 10-5 in the OVC.

"It's going to be a difficult game for us," said Arnzen. "Tennessee-Martin is a very good club. We're going to have to play well."