Redhawks down but still hoping to make noise in OVC

~ Southeast, which has lost as many league games as it did all of last year, bids for its second straight win tonight.

As frustrated as Southeast Missouri State coach B.J. Smith has been by the way the Redhawks have played much of the season, he realizes the Ohio Valley Conference schedule is a marathon and not a sprint.

So, even though the Redhawks have already lost as many OVC regular-season games as they did all of last year, they still have their sights squarely on the title.

"I know I've been really frustrated after a lot of our games this season, because I think we should be doing better," Smith said. "But we're only a fourth of the way into the conference season. It's such a long haul. So many things can happen."

Bolstered by Monday's 84-78 win over defending OVC champion Eastern Kentucky, the Redhawks (6-6, 3-2 OVC) will try to make it two in a row today when they visit Eastern Illinois (4-7, 3-1) at 5:15 p.m.

"Hopefully we can string some wins together, something we haven't really been able to do yet," said Smith, whose squad has had only one winning streak all season, that being two in a row. "We're still not playing as good as we need to, but I thought we played better Monday night."

Smith was happy that Tennessee Tech -- the OVC preseason favorite which beat preseason No. 2 Southeast on Dec. 10 in Cape Girardeau -- suffered its first conference loss Monday night, to Samford. The Bulldogs are now the only squad without a league defeat.

"I think that just showed that the conference race is probably going to be pretty wide open and go down to the wire," Smith said. "We've only played five conference games, and we've got 15 left. By no means are we out of this thing."

EIU, after finishing tied for 10th in the 11-team OVC last season under first-year coach Brady Sallee, has been one of the league's early surprises.

The Panthers, tied for second, have won at Eastern Kentucky, and they very nearly beat Tennessee Tech at home.

"They're really playing well," Smith said. "They wore Eastern Kentucky out, and they had Tennessee Tech beat."

Smith said the Panthers are this year playing an up-tempo style similar to the Redhawks. EIU is forcing an OVC-best 23.8 turnovers per game and averaging 68.9 points, although that is far off Southeast's conference-leading 76.2 point average.

"They want to press and run, just like we do," Smith said. "It's going to be an interesting game, playing against such a similar team."

One area Southeast should be able to exploit is rebounding. The Redhawks, after dominating Eastern Kentucky 51-30 on the boards, are second in the OVC in rebounding margin with plus-5.4 per game. The Panthers are last at minus-12.

EIU is led offensively by 5-foot-9 senior guard Megan Sparks (16 ppg) and 5-7 freshman guard Megan Edwards (10.2 ppg).

Sallee is excited about the improvement the Panthers have made in his second season.

"The most exciting thing for me is that when we go on the floor now we know that from top to bottom in this league, we can play with everyone," Sallee told the Charleston Times Courier. "We know we have a chance every game. This team is learning how to win."

But the Redhawks hope to stunt that growth today.

"We need to get on a streak," said senior center Tatiana Conceico, who matched her career highs with 30 points and 12 rebounds against Eastern Kentucky. "We need to start winning a lot of games."