Southeast women hit road for first taste of OVC hoops

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team is not entering Ohio Valley Conference play with much momentum.

Coach John Ishee hopes that won't be a factor when the Redhawks begin their OVC schedule with two road games this week.

Southeast (2-3) visits Austin Peay (1-5) today and Tennessee State (2-3) on Saturday. The Redhawks then will have several more nonconference games before OVC play resumes in early January.

"We've got 18 conference games so these two won't make or break us," Ishee said. "But it would be great to get off to a good start."

The Redhawks have suffered three straight losses, all by at least 26 points to high-level opposition, capped by Sunday's 88-50 home rout at the hands of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Southeast Missouri State coach John Ishee talks to his team during Sunday's game against Wisconsin-Green Bay at the Show Me Center. (LAURA SIMON)

With nine freshmen on a 13-player roster, Ishee knew the going might be rough early. He's hoping the rugged schedule to date has helped prepare Southeast for OVC play.

"Nobody [in the league] has played a tougher schedule than we have," Ishee said. "Even though the scores might not show it lately, I do feel like we're getting better."

Southeast is opening with two of the OVC's top teams as Austin Peay and Tennessee State were picked to finish second and third, respectively.

Those squads accounted for one-third of Southeast's losses during last year's 15-15 campaign. Austin Peay won both meetings, while Tennessee State beat the Redhawks three times, including in a first-round conference tournament game.

"They swept us last year," said Ishee, whose Redhawks were tabbed seventh in the 10-team OVC. "We're opening with two very good teams right off the bat."

Austin Peay returned four starters and its top two scorers from last year's club that went 17-16 and won the OVC tournament title to earn an NCAA tournament berth.

Junior wing Ashley Herring ranks as the OVC's No. 4 scorer (15.2 points per game), while senior forward Nicole Jamen is tied for ninth in scoring (11.7 ppg) and ranks fourth in rebounding (8.5 rpg). Both were preseason all-OVC selections.

"They're both very good players," Ishee said. "They've only got one win, but they've also played a tough schedule. The difference is they've got a lot of experience and they're playing at home.

"Austin Peay is a good team, but we're going down there to win."

Tennessee State is coming off its first winning season since 1994-95 as the Tigers went 18-13, including a third-place 13-5 in the OVC.

Tennessee State is led by preseason all-OVC senior forward Oby Okafor, averaging 16.2 points while shooting 55.8 percent from the field. Both figures rank second in the OVC. Her 6.8 rebounding average is tied for sixth in the league.

Okafor missed all of last season with a knee injury after averaging 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds in 2007-08.

"Tennessee State is really fast and athletic," Ishee said.

Ishee is eager to see how his young Redhawks match up with the rest of the conference.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing how we stack up from a talent standpoint and a mental toughness standpoint," he said.