Southeast Missouri State's Wright receives OVC freshman basketball honor

Southeast Missouri State freshman guard Kara Wright's breakout performance netted her accolades from the Ohio Valley Conference.

Wright was named the OVC freshman of the week, the league office announced Tuesday.

Wright made her first collegiate start at Western Kentucky on Sunday. She responded with a career-high 15 points and eight rebounds while logging a game-high 37 minutes during a 60-46 loss.

The native of Louisville, Ky., hit 6 of 9 field-goal attempts while adding two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Wright is the first Southeast player to earn the OVC freshman of the week award since January of 2001.

"I think it's great for Kara, and it's great for our program. It's been a long time since Southeast has had a freshman of the week," second-year Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "Kara is going to be a special player for us."

Southeast returns to action Friday, hosting Missouri State at 6:30 p.m.

Football

Southeast's Blake Peiffer and Scott Lathrop both finished among the top 15 in voting for national Football Championship Subdivision awards.

Peiffer, a senior linebacker from Jackson High School, was 12th among 20 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award that honors the nation's top FCS defensive player.

Montana State senior defensive end Caleb Schreibeis was the winner.

Peiffer was the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference defensive player of the year after finishing his senior season ranked 17th nationally in tackles per game (10.64).

Peiffer, named to multiple All-American teams, recorded 117 tackles during his final season with the Redhawks. It was the second consecutive year he finished with more than 100 tackles, and he ranks third on Southeast's career list with 359 tackles.

Lathrop, a redshirt freshman quarterback, finished 14th among 20 finalists for the Jerry Rice Award that recognizes the nation's top FCS freshman.

Villanova redshirt freshman quarterback John Robertson was the winner.

Lathrop produced 1,824 yards of total offense directing Southeast's option-based attack. He rushed for 824 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. He completed 91 of 158 passes (57.6 percent) for 1,025 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

Soccer

Southeast senior defender Hayley Abbott recently was named to the NSCAA all-South Region third team.

Abbott, the 2012 OVC defensive player of the year, holds school career records for starts made and minutes played.

-- From staff reports