Southeast women get break from OVC schedule

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team spent nearly two months getting its record back above .500.

Now the Redhawks want to start putting some distance between themselves and the break-even point.

The Redhawks (11-10) will shoot for their third straight win tonight against NAIA Harris-Stowe (4-13).

Southeast's final nonconference game of the season will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center.

"It caught me off guard," senior guard Tarina Nixon said of the rare late-season nonleague matchup. "But it gives us a chance to work on some things.

"We finally got back over .500 [with Saturday[']s Ohio Valley Conference victory over Tennessee Tech]. We want to start getting as far over .500 as we can."

Prior to Saturday, the last time the Redhawks had a winning record was Dec. 4, when a loss to Austin Peay made them 3-3.

A defeat at Missouri on Dec. 29 dropped the Redhawks to 4-8, but since then they've won seven of nine games.

"I think we've played pretty good basketball ever since the Missouri game," Southeast coach John Ishee said. "I think all our experiences from a tough nonconference schedule and having to fight through injuries have helped us."

Southeast, 7-4 in the OVC, is tied for fifth in the 10-team conference, just one game out of third place on the loss side. The top four finishers earn first-round home dates for the league tournament.

Southeast plays five of its final seven OVC games on the road, beginning Saturday at second-place Eastern Illinois (15-7, 9-2), which the Redhawks beat last month in Cape Girardeau.

As big as Ishee knows that contest is, he doesn't want the Redhawks to start thinking about it until after tonight's date with the upset-minded Hornets from St. Louis.

"They're a team that concerns me because of their athleticism," Ishee said. "They present some matchup problems from a defensive standpoint. We can't take them lightly before we prepare for Eastern Illinois."