OTAHKS TRUDGE BY OAKS 81-53

SUM: Southeast women improve to 6-2 on the season.

Southeast Missouri State University's game Tuesday night wasn't a game at all. It was a root canal.

"This was like being in a dentist's office all day long," lamented Otahkians coach Ed Arnzen, after Southeast's anemic 81-53 victory over mediocre Division II school Oakland City before 474 fans at the Show Me Center.

"It's a game that I think every single player knew all along that we would win," Arnzen continued. "It's just human nature that you go out and you don't play any harder than you have to."

And, in the first half, Southeast didn't. The Otahkians, 40-percent 3-point shooters entering the game, missed all 12 attempts before halftime. "With this club that should never happen," Arnzen said. "And they were open shots."

The Mighty Oaks (4-2) trailed just 33-27 seconds into the second half, despite having slogged through a nine-minute scoreless spell.

"It seemed like we never got going," said Southeast guard Paula Corder.

But the Otahkians (6-2) finally shook off the Novocain soon after halftime.

Corder and Rusty Sowers hit consecutive 3-pointers, Southeast's first after missing 13 in a row, propelling the Otahkians to a 10-0 run and a 43-27 edge three minutes into the half. A Tajuana White putback of an offensive rebound and a Pam Iversen 10-footer got the spurt rolling.

Another 10-0 burst, bolstered by layups by White and Sherry Cook and a 3-point play from Tiffany Melis, helped fatten Southeast's lead to 59-36 after Cook's 3-pointer with 11:35 remaining.

"I think reality set in at halftime," Arnzen said. "We talked to them in no uncertain terms about, `Don't play to the level of your competition. You need to step it up about two notches on all phases of the game.' "

All 12 Otahkians played at least 11 minutes. White, a forward, scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds in just 17 minutes. Iversen, a 6-foot-3 freshman center, totaled a game-high 14 points, and Corder finished with 13 points.

Southeast redeemed itself somewhat in the second half, hitting 5 of 11 3-pointers. But the Otahkians still went just 5 of 33 (22 percent) from behind the arc for the game.

And a chance was squandered for a day off today before preparing for Saturday's trip to Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay. "We had a deal (with coach Arnzen) that if we played well we would get the day off," Corder said, "but it looks like we're going to have practice."

Although the win wasn't sharp, its significance wasn't lost on Arnzen. Southeast's 6-2 record represents a sharp departure from last season's gloom, and with victories over Austin Peay this weekend and Eastern Kentucky Jan. 2, the Otahkians would match last season's win total with at least 16 games remaining on the ledger.