SEMO BIDS FOR DANCE TICKETS; SE WOMEN TO FIGHT TECK FOR KEY TO FINAL

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech's Bill Worrell genuinely seems happy for the success of one of his fellow Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball coaches, Southeast Missouri State University's Ed Arnzen.

"You can't meet a finer person than Ed Arnzen," said Worrell. "He does a super job and I'm very happy for him."

But Worrell would be just as happy to knock Arnzen and his squad out of the OVC Tournament today.

Tech and Southeast will match 19-8 records when they square off at 11 a.m. in a semifinal game at the Nashville Arena. The other semifinal, set for 1 p.m., will pit Tennessee-Martin (20-7) against Tennessee State (13-14).

Today's winners move in to Sunday's 4:30 p.m. championship game -- and one step closer to an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. The losers are done for the season.

"The stakes will be extremely high," said Arnzen. "It's an exciting time of the season and we're just really happy that we're involved."

While Tech is used to advancing this far -- the Golden Eaglettes have reached the semifinals 16 times in 17 seasons since the OVC Tournament began in 1982 -- Southeast is not. The Otahkians will be making their first semifinal appearance since joining the OVC eight years ago.

"We've taken a big step with our program," said Arnzen, whose squad finished fourth in the OVC during the regular season, just one game behind tri-champions Tech, Tennessee-Martin and Middle Tennessee. "At the beginning of the season, my goal was to get to Nashville. But I've had to adjust that goal. We want to win it all and I believe we have as good a shot as anybody.

"The final four looks extremely wide open. I think any of the teams could win it. I don't know why it can't be us."

In order to advance to the finals, the Otahkians will have to knock off a tradition-rich program, although Tech features a young lineup, with just one senior starter.

Arnzen is worried the most about Tech's strong inside game, led by 6-foot-2 junior center Diane Seng and 6-foot freshman forward Janet Holt. Seng leads the Eaglettes in scoring at 14.8 points per game while Holt is not far behind at 13.3 points a contest.

Seng, the 1997-98 OVC Female Athlete of the Year -- she also stars in volleyball and competes in track -- shoots nearly 60 percent from the field. Holt is at close to 50 percent.

"They feature what I think are the two best inside players on one team in the conference," said Arnzen. "Seng and Holt are both very, very good."

Arnzen said Tech's perimeter players are solid but not overwhelming.

"Their perimeter game is good enough, but it's not the strength of their team," he said. "The key to beating Tech is making their guards score. They can score, but we have to make sure the inside players don't beat us.

"Seng and Holt are capable of scoring 50 points between them. If they do that, we're in trouble."

Worrell acknowledged that Seng and Holt are both excellent players but he doesn't feel like Tech is a two-person team.

"We feel like we have lot of people who can step up and we feel like we're hard to prepare for," he said.

While the Eaglettes give Arnzen plenty of concerns, ditto for the Otahkians and Worrell. Southeast features a more balanced attack, with three players scoring in double figures and two not far behind.

Forward Paula Corder leads the way (14.3 ppg), followed by guard Rusty Sowers (13.2 ppg), center Pam Iversen (12 ppg), forward Tajuana White (9.5 ppg) and point guard Moneik Campbell (8.3 ppg).

Corder and Sowers are both dangerous 3-point shooters while Iversen and White are both strong inside, which has Worrell concerned.

"Ed has some good kids we've got to worry about," Worrell said. "They're a balanced team. Corder is really a nice shooter. Sowers is also a good shooter and she's such a competitor. Iversen and White are strong inside and Campbell does a good job."

In order to help combat the Eaglettes' strong inside game, Arnzen said he will probably start freshman center Regan Hughston in place of White, although White will also see plenty of action.

"We did that when we played them at our place (a Southeast win) and I thought it helped us," Arnzen said. "Regan just gives us a bigger body in there to help try and control Seng and Holt."

The teams split the two regular-season meetings, Tech winning 87-74 in Cookeville and Southeast returning the favor 74-70 in Cape Girardeau.

"I feel like the teams are pretty evenly matched," said Arnzen. "It should be an excellent game."