OTAHKS SUFFER FIFTH STRAIGHT OVC LOSS WITH 66-55 SETBACK TO MURRAY STATE

For the second straight game, Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team saw a spirited rally fall a bit short as visiting Murray State posted a 66-55 win Saturday afternoon.

The Otahkians, whose had a late rally was snuffed out by Tennessee-Martin Thursday night, suffered their fifth straight loss as they fell to 8-15 overall and 5-10 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Southeast remained in an eighth-place OVC tie with Eastern Illinois. The top eight finishers in the 10-team league qualify for the conference's postseason tournament.

Murray State, the OVC's surprise team, won for the ninth time in its last 10 games to improve to 12-11 overall and 10-4 in league play, good for second place.

"Murray State is a nice ballclub and they're on a roll right now," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "They're the second-best team in the conference in my opinion."

The Otahkians trailed by 17 points in the first half but rallied to take a one-point lead in the second half before the Lady Racers regained control.

"I appreciate the effort of the kids, to come back like that," Arnzen said. "But we can't dig ourself a hole like that."

Arnzen particularly lauded the effort of Pam Iversen, the Otahkians' sophomore center who suffered a completely torn ACL in her right knee a few games ago.

Iversen, Southeast's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, will eventually need major reconstructive surgery, but she is trying to delay that while she attempts to play again.

Saturday, Iversen saw her first action since injuring the knee on Feb. 3. She played 10 minutes and scored four points while grabbing five rebounds. But, early in the second half, she aggravated the injury and spent the rest of the game on the bench icing the knee.

"With Pam on the floor, we're a lot better ballclub," said Arnzen. "She wants to play so badly, but my vote is to shut her down. It's not fair to her.

"I have so much respect for Pam, and Lori Chase. She has a bad back but she won't say anything about it. She just goes out there."

Paula Corder-King led the Otahkians with 20 points and Chase added 12. Allison Iversen came off the bench to score eight points and block three shots.

Murray State got 18 points from Heather Bates, 16 from Monika Gadson, 14 from Liz Stansberry and 13 from Susan Tackett. Gadson also pulled down 14 rebounds while Bates grabbed 11.

"We didn't have an answer for Gadson," said Arnzen.

The Otahkians trailed 30-13 with under seven minutes left in the first half, but they pulled to within 32-26 at halftime.

Southeast finally took its first lead since early in the game when Corder-King's 18-footer made it 44-43 with 12:16 left in the second half.

But Murray State answered with a Stansberry 3-pointer that regained the lead at 46-44. The Lady Racers followed with seven more straight points, the 10-0 run making it 53-44. Southeast could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.