Redhawks try to improve road success at E. Illinois

~ Just three of Southeast's 12 OVC wins have come away from home.

Southeast Missouri State's women are fairly certain of one thing as they chase their second straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title.

The Redhawks will have to increase their success rate on the road if they expect to gain at least a share of the championship.

And that begins tonight with a 7:35 p.m. tipoff at Eastern Illinois.

"The reality is, we have to go and prove we can win on the road," Southeast acting head coach John Ishee said.

Southeast (17-7, 12-4) is tied with Murray State for first place. Both teams have four games remaining, none against each other.

The Redhawks are 9-0 in OVC home contests this season, but just 3-4 away from the Show Me Center. Southeast plays three of its final four league games on the road.

"It's always a lot tougher to win on the road," Southeast senior center Lachelle Lyles said. "But we feel like we can get wins on the road. We just have to compete and play hard."

Even when Southeast has won on the road this season, things have not been easy.

Ishee expects much of the same tonight against the Panthers (9-16, 6-10), who are tied for eighth in the OVC. The top eight finishers in the 11-team conference qualify for the league tournament.

"They're fighting for that eighth spot. They'll bring everything they have to us," Ishee said.

Southeast rolled past the Panthers in the earlier meeting, winning 77-60 at home on Jan. 4.

EIU leads the league with an average of 73.8 points per game, but the Panthers are also allowing the second-most points in the conference at 76.1.

The Panthers feature the OVC's Nos. 2 and 3 scorers in 5-foot-7 freshman guard Jessica Huffman (17.7) and 6-2 sophomore center Rachel Galligan (17.5).

Galligan and Huffman each scored 19 points in the first game against Southeast.

"They've got a great freshman in Huffman and as good an inside player as there is in the league in Galligan," Ishee said. "They can put up a lot of points, and they're usually very dangerous at home."

The Panthers, in fact, handed Southeast one of its four OVC losses last season, when the Redhawks captured the program's first OVC championship and advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time.

"They beat Southeast last year at their place, and I'm sure they think they can do it again," Ishee said. "It'll be a really tough game for us."

But the Redhawks would not expect anything different as they chase an OVC repeat.

"When you're on top everybody is coming after you," sophomore point guard Tarina Nixon said. "We're going to get everybody's best game."