Southeast women land two players from Ohio

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball program is dipping into the Ohio talent pool for two members of its 2007 recruiting class.

Tori Fite of Massillon, Ohio, and Lauren Sharpe of Tipp City, Ohio, both signed national letters of intent on Wednesday to play basketball at Southeast.

Wednesday was the first day of the early signing period for letters of intent.

Southeast has won 22 games each of the last two seasons, tied for the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship last year and won the league's postseason tournament to earn the program's first NCAA tournament berth.

Fite, a point guard, averaged 16 points and six assists per game last year as a junior at Perry High School. She was an all-Stark County first-team selection and participated in the Ohio Top 64 Camp.

"Tori is one of the most athletic players that I've seen at the point guard position and she could be an impact player as a freshman," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said in a news release. "Her play is similar to a lot of other players that we've ever had in this program."

Sharpe averaged averaged 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists last season for Tippecanoe High School. She led the state of Ohio with 207 steals last year and ranks sixth all-time in state history for career steals. She is a three-time all-Dayton selection and was an honorable mention all-state pick.

"I'm really exciting about Lauren coming to play for Southeast because she fits with what we're looking for in a big guard/forward combination," said Smith, who credited John Ishee for his work in recruiting Sharpe. "It was a big coup for us to sign her away from several big schools."