OTAHKS WANT TO CHANGE DIRECTION ON THE ROAD

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team has not been strong on the road so far this season, but coach Ed Arnzen is hoping that changes this week.

The Otahkians, who have won three straight games to climb back in the thick of the Ohio Valley Conference race, face Tennessee State tonight and Austin Peay Saturday night. Both contests are set to tip off at 5:45 p.m.

Southeast has won just one true road game this season, that a non-league overtime triumph at Arkansas-Little Rock. The Otahkians are 0-4 in OVC road contests.

"We have to play with some authority on the road. We haven't really done that yet," said Arnzen. "This is a big week for us. We've won three in a row and we're feeling pretty good, but we've got to be able to win some games on the road."

Southeast, 8-10 overall, has evened its OVC record at 5-5 as the Otahkians have moved into a fourth-place tie in the 10-team league.

While 10-0 Tennessee Tech is running away and hiding from the rest of the OVC just as Arnzen had predicted only two games separate the next eight teams.

Eastern Kentucky and Murray State are tied for second at 6-4, with Southeast, Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee and Tennessee-Martin all deadlocked for fourth at 5-5.

Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois are tied for eighth at 4-6, followed by Morehead State at 0-10.

While Tennessee Tech appears to pretty much have a lock on the OVC regular-season title, everybody else is chasing a top-four finish, which means a first-round home game for the league tournament. The top eight squads in the final standings qualify for the conference tourney.

"Once you get past Tennessee Tech, it's really wide open," Arnzen said. "I think any of the next eight teams could finish as high as second and as low as ninth. The teams look to be that even."

The Otahkians defeated both Tennessee State and Austin Peay earlier this season at the Show Me Center, but Arnzen knows that will mean nothing this week.

"Both games were difficult, and I know those teams will play a lot better at home," he said.

Southeast knocked off Tennessee State 59-46 on Jan. 6. The Lady Tigers, 6-12 overall, have lost four straight and eight of their last 10.

"They shot very poorly here, but they'll shoot it better there," Arnzen said. "And they're an awesome offensive rebounding team. That's going to be a key, to keep them off the boards."

Tamara Washington leads the Lady Tigers offensively with 15.8 points per game while Angela Hassell contributes 12.4 points a contest. Washington is the OVC's fifth-leading scorer.

Southeast's top scorers are Paula Corder-King, who ranks seventh in the OVC at 15.2 points per game, and Pam Iversen, who is 12th in the league at 13.1 points per game.

Iversen is tied for second in the OVC in blocked shots with one per game, she is third in rebounding at 7.7 a contest and she is sixth in field-goal shooting at 52.2 percent.

Corder-King leads the OVC in free-throw shooting at 92.9 percent while Southeast freshman Lori Chase is seventh (80.9 percent).

Kristy Roherty, another Southeast freshman, leads the OVC in 3-point shooting at 45.7 percent as she has made 21 of 46. Corder-King is second at 41.8 percent, and she leads the league in 3-pointers made with 2.41 per game.

Southeast's Allison Iversen ranks fifth in the league in blocked shots with 0.88 per game.