Southeast heads west for a pair

~ The Redhawks will play Texas State and Northern Colorado.

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team will try to keep its season-opening winning streak intact a long way from home.

Southeast is in Las Cruces, N.M., where it will participate in the New Mexico State Thanksgiving Classic.

The Redhawks, who are 4-0 for the first time in the program's Division I history, play Texas State (2-1) at 5 p.m. today and Northern Colorado (2-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Southeast will look to continue its best start since the 1990-91 squad -- the university's last in Division II -- won its first six games on its way to a second place national finish.

"It would be nice, but we've got a lot of work to do before we can get to that point," Southeast coach John Ishee said.

Ishee certainly can't complain about the way his two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Redhawks have performed to this point.

Southeast has had one close call, a 59-58 home victory over Division II Henderson State.

The Redhawks' other triumphs have been lopsided. They beat Tulsa 67-45 and NAIA Cumberland 73-57 at home, while hammering Central Arkansas 91-60 on the road.

"Overall, I've been very pleased. I think we've played some good basketball," Ishee said. "But I told them as much as I hate it, my job is to nitpick every little thing. That's the only way we're going to be where we need to be at the end of the year."

His players don't seem to mind because they know they have plenty of areas where they can improve.

"Every game we can always get better," senior guard Ashley Loveleady said. "We have to keep working."

The Redhawks' top two scorers from last year again are leading the way offensively through the early part of this season.

Senior forward/center Missy Whitney, the preseason OVC player of the year, heads the list at 19.3 points per game. She is shooting 62.2 percent from the field.

Junior forward Sonya Daugherty is next at 15.3 points per game. Daugherty topped Whitney for the team scoring title a year ago.

Top rebounders so far have been Daugherty (6.8), Whitney (6.3) and junior college transfer forward Crysta Glenn (6.3).

With only one game so far going down to the wire, Ishee has had the luxury of getting most of his players plenty of action as he tries to build depth. That was an area the Redhawks lacked last season.

"My M.O. for this time of the year is to get everybody quality minutes and develop depth," Ishee said.

The Redhawks expect to be tested in New Mexico, especially against today's foe.

Texas State went 18-12 last year, including 11-5 in the Southland Conference. With an experienced squad returning, the Bobcats are expected to contend for the SLC championship.

The Bobcats are led by senior forward Joyce Ekworomadu (16 ppg). She has been second-team all-SLC the past two seasons.

"Texas State is a real athletic team, a good team," Ishee said. "They'll be the most athletic team we've faced so far. We'll have our hands full with them."

Northern Colorado, Saturday's opponent, is coming off a 5-24 season -- including 2-14 in the Big Sky Conference -- but Ishee expects the Bears to be improved.

The Bears are paced by junior guard Whitley Cox (22.3 ppg).

If the Redhawks can leave New Mexico unscathed, they would carry plenty of momentum into Thursday's much anticipated home date with nationally ranked Baylor, the 2004-05 national champions.

But Ishee knows the Redhawks can't begin to think about that contest for at least the next two days.

"I look for this to be a tough trip for us," Ishee said.