Southeast women reach road block

A win over Morehead State today will lift the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team into a tie for fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Redhawks need to find a way to slow down Brittany Pittman if they're going to pull it off.

Pittman presents a major obstacle for the Redhawks entering the 1 p.m. tipoff in Morehead, Ky.

"She's a really good player," Southeast coach John Ishee said.

Pittman, a 6-foot-3 junior center, already holds the OVC career record for blocked shots even though she is only in her second season at MSU.

A transfer from Middle Tennessee State, Pittman blocked 123 shots in her debut OVC campaign last year to set the league's single-season mark.

Pittman already has shattered that this season with 148 blocks and needs only nine more to set an NCAA single-season record. Her 5.7 average leads the nation.

No other OVC player has blocked more than 33 shots this season and no other OVC team has more than 106 blocks.

"She gives them a really different dimension on the interior because she can erase a lot of shots going to the rim, which is a huge asset for them," Ishee said. "She's just such a dominant force inside."

Pittman proved that against Southeast on Jan. 15 in Cape Girardeau as she scored 22 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked five shots during a 74-68 MSU victory.

Pittman is also the OVC's No. 2 rebounder with 10.1 per game while averaging 11.7 points. She had her first career triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks during Thursday's 64-55 home loss to second-place Eastern Illinois.

"She had a great game against us last time," Ishee said. "We struggle with teams that have a lot of inside strength because of our lack of size."

Southeast (13-11, 8-5) is fifth in the 10-team OVC, but just one game behind the two squads tied for third place -- Austin Peay and Tennessee State.

MSU (14-12, 8-6) dipped into sixth place, one-half game behind Southeast, after losing to Eastern Illinois.

Austin Peay and Tennessee State square off today. The loser will fall to 9-5 in the OVC, the same record as Southeast, provided it beats the Eagles.

The top four finishers earn home games for the first round of the OVC tournament.

There still will be four conference games left after today, but at least the Redhawks -- who have contests remaining at Austin Peay and Tennessee State -- would control their own destiny regarding a tournament home date.

"It's pretty much in our own hands, considering we're playing the teams ahead of us and a team right behind us," Ishee said. "We've got a really big game [today] because if we win we go up two games on them [MSU] in the loss column. If we get beat, we're both at six losses, but they would have the tie-breaker on us because they swept us."

Pittman isn't the only MSU player Southeast has to keep an eye on today.

Chynna Bozeman, a 5-10 sophomore guard, is the Eagles' top scorer with a 15.7 average, tied for sixth in the OVC. Tiffany Hamilton, a 5-8 junior guard, averages 11.3 points.

Hamilton scored 20 points against Southeast earlier this season, hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers.

Bozeman and Hamilton rank first and third in the OVC in 3-pointers made with 72 and 59, respectively.

As a team, the Eagles are the league's most prolific 3-point shooting group with 214 made. The next-closest conference squad has hit 165 3-pointers.

"They shoot the three as good as anybody in the country," said Ishee, whose squad has won nine of 12 after Thursday's 66-56 victory at Eastern Kentucky. "They have a lot of players who can make 3s.

"They'll be a tough opponent in their building, coming off a loss. We'll have to play really well."