Racers end Otahkians' win streak at 7 games

MURRAY, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University coach B.J. Smith apparently had good reason to be wary of Murray State.

Smith said prior to Thursday night's Ohio Valley Conference road game that he considered the vastly improved Racers a dangerous opponent.

Dangerous indeed.

The Racers used two crucial late runs to knock off Southeast 64-59 and end the Otahkians' seven-game winning streak.

It was determined earlier in the day that Southeast (15-11, 10-5) had already clinched a home game for Tuesday's first round of the OVC tournament -- that reward goes to the top four finishers in the 11-team league -- but that was of little consolation to Smith, whose squad is tied for third place.

"I don't think we were ready to play," said Smith, whose team ends the regular season Saturday at Tennessee-Martin. "I think we thought we'd just win by showing up. They were a lot more aggressive."

Of the Otahkians' winning streak ending, Smith said, "More so than the streak, we wanted to continue playing well. We just didn't play well tonight."

Said junior center Chandra Brown, "It's disappointing. I don't think we took them lightly, I just don't think we had enough intensity."

Senior guard Kenja White led the Otahkians with 14 points. Brown had 12 points and 11 rebounds while senior forward Yashika Sidbury also scored 12 points.

Senior guard Megan Fuqua poured in 24 points for the Racers, who got 19 points from senior guard Stacy Holmes and 16 from junior guard Rebecca Remington. That trio accounted for all but five of MSU's points.

"It was a great team effort," MSU coach Joi Williams said. "I can't say enough about these players. We challenged them before the game and I was so proud of how they came out."

Although the game was a tight throughout, Southeast -- which led 27-22 at halftime -- appeared to be in control at 40-32 early in the second half.

The Otahkians led 51-45 with just over seven minutes remaining when MSU used a 12-0 run to go ahead 57-51 with 4:25 left.

A 6-0 Southeast spurt tied the contest at 57-57 with 2:25 to play, but MSU then grabbed control for good by scoring the next seven points, taking the lead on Remington's 15-footer at the 2:05 mark. MSU hit five of six free throws to seal the upset.

"We just let it get away," senior forward Carina Souza said. "We didn't play hard enough."