OVC champs have cozy trap set for Austin Peay

~ The Southeast women are 14-1 this season at the Show Me Center.

Southeast Missouri State acting head women's basketball coach John Ishee is not foolish enough to think his team can't lose at home.

But what the Redhawks have accomplished at the Show Me Center this season against Ohio Valley Conference opponents gives Ishee and his players plenty of confidence as they prepare to defend their OVC tournament title.

Regular-season champion Southeast carries the No. 1 seed for the eight-team event into tonight's 7 p.m. home date with No. 8 seed Austin Peay.

The winner advances to Friday's noon semifinal in Nashville, Tenn., where either fourth-seeded Samford or fifth-seeded Tennessee Tech would await. The tournament final is Saturday.

"It's a new season now. You pretty much wipe the slate clean," Ishee said.

Southeast had a clean home slate against OVC competition as the Redhawks (21-7) went 10-0 in conference games at the Show Me Center.

That was part of a 16-4 league record that gave Southeast its second straight OVC regular-season title, although this is the Redhawks' first outright championship.

Overall, the Redhawks won 14 of their 15 home games, the lone loss coming at the hands of Florida State on Nov. 17.

"We've been great all year at home, and hopefully we can defend our home turf one more time," Ishee said.

Several games at the Show Me Center this season hung in the balance entering the final minutes before the Redhawks found ways to pull them out.

"We just have so much confidence when we play at home," junior forward Missy Whitney said. "It's our home turf, and we don't want anybody coming in and taking anything from us."

Austin Peay (10-19, 9-11), which tied for seventh in the 11-team OVC, is among the squads that threatened the Redhawks' perfect conference home record.

In fact, the Governors have been as tough on Southeast as anybody in the league this season.

On Jan. 13 in Clarksville, Tenn., Southeast led by 15 points late in the first half and 33-23 at halftime. Austin Peay outscored the Redhawks 52-27 in the second half to win 75-60.

In the Jan. 29 rematch at the Show Me Center, Austin Peay led 33-31 at halftime and trailed 58-56 with four minutes left before the Redhawks scored the final nine points to prevail 67-56.

"They've played us as tough as anybody in the league this year," Ishee said. "They put it on us good when we went to their place, and they gave us all we wanted when they came here.

"It's tournament time. Everybody's season is on the line. You expect to get everybody's best shot, and I know we'll get Austin Peay's best shot. I'm expecting a very tough game. We'll have to play well if we're going to advance to Nashville."

The Govs have one of the more athletic front lines in the OVC, led by 6-foot-1 senior Alicia Watson and 6-2 sophomore Kellea Reeves. The pair has given Southeast problems this year.

Although Watson and Reeves average just 9.9 and 9.7 points per game, respectively -- Watson is the Govs' top scorer -- in the two contests with the Redhawks, Reeves had 38 points and Watson 29.

Reeves, who is shooting 57.9 percent from the field to rank second in the OVC, has hit 16 of 24 against Southeast.

"Their two post players have been really tough on us," Ishee said. "Hopefully we can defend them better this time, but they're good players."

Like Ishee, Southeast's players don't expect things to be easy tonight, or during the entire week as the Redhawks chase their second straight NCAA Division I tournament berth.

"We know every team that made the tournament is going to be tough," senior center Lachelle Lyles said. "But we'll be ready for everybody."

Southeast, picked fifth in the OVC's preseason poll after losing four starters from last year's title team, has proven the prognosticators wrong all season.

The Redhawks don't plan on letting up now.

"All year, we knew people didn't think we could do it," junior guard Ashley Lovelady said. "That's been our motivation."

The motivation for the Redhawks now is to reach another NCAA tournament. And the quest begins tonight.

"We want to get back there really bad," Lyles said.