Southeast Missouri State senior Mack gets one last try to make OVC basketball tournament

Patricia Mack, a senior forward on the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team, is counting down the games until the start of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

"Today she came in and is like, 'Nine games left until Nashville,'" Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "As a senior it hits you, and I think it's starting to hit her now."

As a fifth-year senior, Mack has yet to play in the postseason. The Redhawks picked up two key OVC West Division wins at home Saturday and Monday to improve to 3-4 in conference play and put themselves into the mix as the regular season draws to a close.

Southeast will look to improve its conference record to .500 when they face Eastern Kentucky at 3 p.m. Saturday in Richmond, Ky.

"I mean, I haven't gotten there in the last four years I've been here and getting to Nashville -- that's the icing on the cake," Mack said, "but, like getting the opportunity to win it is like the candles on the cake -- like, make a wish."

Southeast Missouri State’s Patricia Mack drives to the basket during a game against Southern Illinois earlier this season at the Show Me Center.

A torn ACL her sophomore season is the reason why Mack still has the chance to play in the postseason.

In 2010 she tore her right ACL two games into the season and received a medical redshirt.

"I feel like it's given me another opportunity to make an even greater change for my team, and get to Nashville," Mack said. "My previous teammates last year that came in with me [in 2009] graduated, and they didn't have that opportunity."

Mack takes pride in being part of a rebuilding process for the program, which included transitioning from former Southeast coach John Ishee to Margenthaler in 2011.

Southeast was the OVC regular-season champion in 2006-07 and 2007-08 and won the OVC tournament in 2007 with Ishee being named the 2007 OVC Coach of the Year. Southeast last made it to the tournament in 2009, the season before Mack came to Southeast.

Her statistics have steadily improved over the three seasons following her injury. She averaged 3.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game two seasons ago, which increased to 5.7 ppg and 9.3 rebounds last year when the Redhawks finished 11-18 -- their most wins since 2008. Mack is currently averaging 8.8 ppg and 9.5 rebounds.

Her 9.5 rebounds is third-best in the OVC. She also has 754 career rebounds, which is the active lead in the conference and puts her at fifth all-time at Southeast.

"Every year she's gotten better in her game," Margenthaler said. "I always tell her this, and it's the truth: She's one person I really know what I'm going to get out of every single day in practice and games and she's always going to give that great effort, and energy and enthusiasm."

Mack and senior Jordan Hunter are Southeast's captains, and Hunter echoes Margenthaler's sentiments.

"She's probably the best teammate I've ever had in my whole career," Hunter said. "She's probably like the most hard-working person, like athlete and student, that I've ever met. When we compete [in practice], we're pretty much competing against her. It's like all of us against Trish because she's the one that goes 110 percent every day."

Mack said part of her captain role includes "making my team want to accomplish the things that I want to accomplish, and making sure we're on the same page. It's not the easiest job in the world, but I've grown into it over the years."

Mack and Hunter vary in style, but they mesh well together. Hunter is quieter and will pull one teammate to the side to explain something, while Mack is vocal and will address the team as a whole -- in practice and in games. She's often seen talking to her teammates during the game, offering encouragement and adjustments, which Margenthaler said is exactly what he sees in practice.

"I'm an intense guy and a vocal guy, and I know that she's going to bring that energy," Margenthaler said. "When the rest of our players are maybe not having that one day I'll look at her and say, 'Trish, get 'em going,' and she'll huddle them up and she'll give her talk. It's just a joy for a coach to know exactly what you're going to get and she's someone that I can count on every single day."