SE HAS HOME STREAK SNAPPED

Last season, Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team won all 14 of its games played at the Show Me Center.

But there will be no perfect home record this season. That was guaranteed on the opening home date of the 1999-2000 campaign when the University of Missouri-Kansas City stunned the Otahkians 71-70 in front of 684 fans Tuesday night.

Freshman Kristin Kenton scored on a follow shot with just two seconds remaining to drop the Otahkians to 1-2 and lift the Kangaroos to 1-1."It's a disappointing loss," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "We really had a nice home streak going, but we just didn't get the job done tonight."The Otahkians struggled much of the game against the taller Kangaroos, who started a pair of 6-foot-4 players.

Still, even though Southeast trailed most of the way, the Otahkians appeared to have pulled out a victory in the late going as Moneik Campbell's steal and layup with 17 seconds left gave Southeast its only lead of the second half, 70-69.

But UMKC had a final answer. Lauren Powers, a 6-4 center, missed a close-in shot but Kenton grabbed the rebound and laid the ball gently off the glass from only a couple of feet away.

Southeast could not get off a final shot before the game ended."I know Southeast Missouri's tradition. They have a hell of a program, and to come in here and win on their floor is a hell of a win," said UMKC coach Jeff Tadtman. "We were glad to have a shot to win at the end, but this game could have gone either way."The Otahkians led a few times early in the game, but the Kangaroos took control midway in the first half and did not relinquish the lead until the final seconds.

UMKC led 40-34 at halftime and by eight points several times in the second half before the Otahkians rallied."We were playing catchup the whole night," Arnzen said. "We never could get anything going."Our ballhandling was atrocious. We had 15 turnovers in the first half and that led to our downfall."Liea Toedte, a senior guard who played sparingly last season but is now a starter, scored a career-high 17 points for the Otahkians, hitting four of seven 3-pointers.

Paula Corder-King, a senior forward who led Southeast in scoring a year ago, also had 17 points.

A third Southeast player finished with 17 points as freshman forward Lori Chase provided a huge lift off the bench. She hit all 13 of her free-throw attempts and also pulled down five rebounds in just 16 minutes of action."I thought none of our post players other than Lori played with any energy," said Arnzen. "She came in and gave us a boost, but it was hard to match up with all their size inside."Powers paced all scorers with 19 points as she hit 13 of 16 free throws. Powers also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Kaycee Kapels added 15 points for UMKC while Kenton contributed 10."Our size helped us tonight," Tadtman said. "We were determined to throw it in there."Southeast closed in on UMKC several times in the second half before finally pulling even with 2:33 left as Chase hit two free throws for a 66-66 tie.

UMKC held two more leads and there was one more tie before Campbell put the Otahkians ahead and Kenton won the game for the Kangaroos.

Now the Otahkians will prepare for their toughest opponent in school history as Southeast will take on Louisiana Tech Saturday night in the opening round of the Nevada-Las Vegas Tournament.

Louisiana Tech made last season's Final Four and is ranked second nationally."It's going to be an incredible challenge for our ballclub," said Arnzen. "Tonight's game is a disappointing way for us to go into the tournament."