OTAHKS WARY OF DECEPTIVE AUSTIN PEAY

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will be playing a squad with only one victory today -- yet coach Ed Arnzen figures it's likely to be one of the Otahkians' toughest tests of the season so far.

Austin Peay, which hosts Southeast in a 3 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference contest in Clarksville, Tenn., is 1-5.

But a further look at the Lady Governors shows that they played a brutal early-season schedule that featured games against the likes of Kansas, Western Kentucky and Kentucky.

The Lady Govs began the year with five straight losses. But they opened OVC play with a 70-59 win over Eastern Illinois.

"Austin Peay is definitely a lot better than their record," said Arnzen. "They've played a really tough schedule, but they won their last game and I'm sure they're feeling good about themselves."

Southeast, at 6-2, is off to its best start since the 1993-94 season. The Otahkians, like the Lady Govs, are 1-0 in OVC play after last Saturday's 63-48 win at Tennessee State.

"We've already won a conference road game and if we could get another, it would be tremendous," said Arnzen. "It's already been a good first semester for us, but if we could go 2-0 leading into Christmas, that would certainly make the holidays so much better."

Austin Peay will present plenty of problems for Southeast, particularly with its size. The Lady Govs' two leading scorers are a pair of 6-foot-1 players. Junior Quinn Sullivan, a transfer from Iowa State, leads the way at 17 points per game. Senior Julie Virta is next at 10.7 points per contest.

Angelica Suffren, a 5-10 senior who scores 7.7 points per game, has been a mainstay for the Lady Govs since her freshman season and is one of the OVC's better athletes.

"Sullivan is a very good player and they've got good size, with three 6-footers, and Suffren is probably their best athlete," Arnzen said. "We have to keep Sullivan from beating us, keep Suffren off the boards, and we have to shoot the basketball."

Southeast's two leading scorers are newcomers in junior guard/forward Paula Corder (15.8 ppg) and freshman center Pam Iversen (12.5 ppg).

Also in double figures is senior guard Rusty Sowers (10 ppg), a returning starter from last year.

The Otahkians are shooting an OVC-leading 75 percent from the free-throw line, led by the amazing performance so far of Iversen, who is perfect on all 24 attempts. Corder is not far behind with 33 of 37 (89 percent). They rank 1-2 in the league.

"I've never been around a club that has shot free throws like that. It's amazing," said Arnzen. "I knew Paula would shoot like this. When she was 13, she won the national Elks free-throw contest. And she was in the top five nationally in junior college.

"I knew we had some other good free-throw shooters, like Rusty and (point guard) Moneik Campbell. But I never thought a big inside girl like Pam would be shooting 100 percent. That's really amazing."

Iversen leads the OVC in rebounding with nine per game and in blocked shots with 13. Her sister, junior Allison, is second in the league in blocked shots with 12.

"We've got several kids playing well," said Arnzen. "Paula, Pam and Rusty are obviously doing a good job. Moneik has been handling the ball well and scoring just enough so that you can't back off her. And (forward) Tajuana White has had a good year. She's been a lot more active. Plus, we've had people coming off the bench and contributing."

After the Otahkians won only 13 games combined the past two seasons and finished toward the bottom of the OVC standings, Arnzen believes he has a team that has the potential to beat any conference squad.

"If we play well, I believe we can beat any team in the league, regardless of where the game is played," Arnzen said.