OTAHKS TO RETURN BIG GUNS NEXT YEAR

A late slump put a damper on Southeast Missouri State University's 2000-01 women's basketball season, but the future does appear to be bright for the Otahkians.

Southeast's roster during the season that ended last week included just one senior, reserve forward Kim Nicholson, who saw very little playing time.

Every other player is eligible to return next season for the Otahkians, who finished with a 14-13 overall record and a 9-7 Ohio Valley Conference mark, which was good for fourth place in the nine-team league.

However, the Otahkians lost seven of their final 10 games and were upset by visiting Tennessee-Martin in the first round of the OVC Tournament last Tuesday.

"Going into the season, I knew we were going to struggle early because of the new kids we had and waiting for Pam (Iversen) to get a little closer to 100 percent (after knee surgery)," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "And we did struggle early, but then, at about the first of the year, I really thought we played well throughout January. We were 6-2 in the conference at one time. Then February wasn't real good too us. We were only 3-7 in our last 10."

Asked to explain that significant dropoff, Arnzen said, "I really can't. We lost a few really close games, and if we could have won those, we could have had a really good year. But I don't know if other teams caught up with us or we peaked out."

Particularly disappointing for Arnzen was the 68-63 loss to Tennessee-Martin in the OVC Tournament opener that denied the Otahkians a spot in the tourney semifinals in Nashville, Tenn.

"We worked the whole year to get the home game (by finishing in the top four of the conference) and it was real disappointing not to be able to go to Nashville," Arnzen said. "That was one of our goals."

But having had such a young team this year, Arnzen is hopeful that the Otahkians can take some major steps forward next season, although he offers a note of caution.

"Having such a young team is encouraging, but so did everybody else (in the conference)," said Arnzen. "Most of the teams will have their lineups back."

One of the highlights of the season for the Otahkians was the play of sophomore forward Lori Chase. After a solid rookie year that saw her make the OVC's all-freshmen team, Chase stepped up her play several notches as she led Southeast in scoring (14.7 ppg) and earned first-team all-OVC honors.

"To become first team all-conference, that was an obvious jump for Lori," Arnzen said. "She really had a good year."

Another highlight was the performance of first-year player Veronica Benson as the junior-college transfer at guard was Southeast's second-leading scorer (12.1 ppg).

"Veronica added a great deal to our club," said Arnzen.

Arnzen was also pleased with the overall play of sophomore point guard LaShelle Porter, the Otahkians' third-leading scorer (9.6 ppg). And junior center Iversen, after a slow start, came on to rank fourth in scoring (9.4 ppg) and first in rebounding (7.3) while being the OVC's second-most accurate field-goal shooter (60.2 percent).

"I thought LaShelle had a good year and Pam came on for us," Arnzen said.

The Otahkians also got solid play from two freshmen, guard Christine Rathke (who led the squad in assists, just ahead of Porter) and center Tisa Thomas, along with sophomore Tiffany Melis, who missed all of last season with an injury.

"One of the reasons we became good in January is that, we were searching for a three player (small forward) and Tiffany really solidified us," said Arnzen. "Christine and Tisa also played a lot of minutes and did a good job."

Several other underclassmen saw limited action and could be factors next season while the Otahkians signed one player early, forward Tonya Guell from Wisconsin, who could be Southeast's lone incoming recruit, according to Arnzen.