Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team to host SIUE tonight

~ The Redhawks will attempt to shake off Saturday's 27-point loss

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team will try to bounce back from a lopsided loss when it concludes a run of Ohio Valley Conference home games today.

First-year OVC member SIU Edwardsville visits the Show Me Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff. It will mark the Redhawks' fifth home date among their first six OVC contests.

Southeast opened a two-game homestand Saturday when perennial OVC power Eastern Illinois routed the Redhawks 73-46.

"We just have to put that one behind us and move on," said Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler, whose squad fell to 4-14 overall and 1-4 in league play. "We've got another tough game coming up."

SIUE, while not eligible for the OVC tournament this year, already has made its presence felt in the conference.

The Cougars, 9-7 overall, are 3-2 in the league. They are coming off Saturday's 60-50 win at Tennessee State that saw them rally from a 15-point first-half deficit.

SIUE also has beaten defending OVC regular-season champion Tennessee Tech. The Cougars' other conference victory was over Jacksonville State.

Michaela Herrod, a 6-foot junior forward, leads a balanced SIUE offense with an average of 10.3 points per game. Three other players are averaging between 9.4 and 9.8 points for the Cougars.

"They're playing very well," Margenthaler said. "They've had some nice wins."

SIUE is fifth in the 11-team OVC. Southeast is 10th but just one game out of sixth place in the scrambled conference race. The top eight finishers qualify for the OVC tournament.

Southeast suffered a 60-51 loss at SIUE last year.

The Redhawks play three of their next four games on the road after today's game, beginning Saturday at Tennessee Tech.