OVC selects Lyles newcomer of week

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball player Lachelle Lyles has been a major part of the Redhawks' season-high four-game winning streak.

On Monday, the Ohio Valley Conference recognized Lyles for her recent strong play off the bench by naming her the league's newcomer of the week.

Lyles, a 6-foot-2 junior center in her first season at Southeast after transferring from junior college, grabbed 11 rebounds and scored six points during Thursday's 75-38 romp at Tennessee State.

Lyles then played a season-high 26 minutes during Saturday's big 53-46 win at first-place Tennessee Tech. She had seven points, five rebounds and two blocked shots, while also playing strong defense on Tennessee Tech center Emily Christian, the OVC's leading scorer.

"Lachelle had a great game [at Tennessee Tech]," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said. "She was probably our MVP."

Lyles, despite averaging just 13.2 minutes per game, is Southeast's second-leading rebounder at 6.2 per contest. She has 48 offensive rebounds to tie for the team lead, and is averaging 4.4 points per game.

"Lachelle just keeps getting better and better," Smith said. "She's really been a big factor for us the past few weeks, and she should just keep improving."

Southeast (10-7, 7-3) hosts Morehead State (10-6, 5-4) at 5 p.m. Thursday. The Redhawks, third in the 11-team OVC, are just one game out of first place.

Track athletes fare well

Southeast track athletes won five events during Saturday's Saluki Booster indoor meet at Southern Illinois-Carbondale, while All-American Miles Smith placed third in the 400-meters at the Arkansas Invitational the same day.

Finishing first for Southeast's men at SIU were Andrew Lambert in the high jump (6-7 1/2), Walter Washington in the 800-meters (1:57.40) and Kevin McNabb in the 3,000-meters (8:47.81).

On the women's side, freshman Whitney Thomas won the 60-meter hurdles (8.77) and Central High School graduate Lainie Bohnsack tied for first in the high jump (5-4 1/4).

Washington also ran on the runner-up 1,600-meter relay team that included Alonzo Nelson, Chris Poindexter and Chaz Brown. They timed 3:19.23.

Central graduate Heather Jenkins was third in the weight throw (61-5) and fourth in the shot put (46-5 1/2), while Jackson graduate Heather West was fourth in the triple jump (37-10 3/4).

Also for Southeast, Bilal Hameed was second in the triple jump (49-7 1/4), Jennifer Caywood was fourth in the 3,000 (10:35.05) and Funtasia Clark placed fourth in the high jump (5-2 1/4).

Smith had a strong early season time of 46.97 in placing third in the 400 at Arkansas. Baylor's Quentin Summers won in 46.70, followed by Illinois' Abe Jones in 46.73.

Gymnasts fall on road

The Southeast women's gymnastics team suffered a 189.425-188.425 loss at Illinois State Saturday.

Southeast freshman Sandra Blake won the all-around title with a score of 38.050. Sophomore Alison Ezell was third (37.375).

Blake also finished first on beam (9.650). The Redhawks' other top finish was a second by sophomore Danyelle Aber on vault (9.600).

Southeast (1-2) has its first home meet Friday when Winona State visits Houck Field House at 7 p.m.

--From staff reports