Southeast women to host pair

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team is coming off its first road win of the season.

Now the Redhawks will try to keep climbing the Ohio Valley Conference standings in today's 5:15 p.m. home matchup with Jacksonville State.

"We're looking forward to being back at home," said Southeast coach John Ishee, whose squad knocked off Murray State 48-44 on Saturday to break a 10-game road losing streak dating back to last year.

Southeast is 7-12 overall and 3-6 in OVC play.

The Redhawks are seventh in the 10-team league. Sixth-place JSU (7-13, 4-5) leads Southeast by one game.

The Redhawks are halfway through their 18-game conference schedule. The top eight finishers qualify for the OVC tournament, which Southeast missed out on a year ago after ending in last place.

"This time of the year, you've got to look at every game as the most important one of the season. They're all big," Ishee said. "We're trying to stay ahead of the teams behind us and we're trying to catch as many teams as we can. Jacksonville State is one of those teams we're pretty close to."

Southeast suffered a 62-48 road loss to the Gamecocks on Dec. 19.

Ishee is impressed with the way JSU, picked ninth in the OVC preseason poll, has played under first-year coach Annette Watts. The Gamecocks are 3-1 in league road games.

"Their coach has done a really good job," Ishee said. "I've always thought they had a lot of talent. She's really got them playing well."

The Gamecocks are led by junior center Brittany Wiley, the OVC's No. 5 scorer with an average of 15.5 points per game.

Wiley had a career-high 30 points last week in a win at Tennessee State and had a streak of 11 straight double-figure scoring games end in a loss at Austin Peay.

"She's a really good player and they've got other good players around her," Ishee said.

Today's game matches the OVC's worst defensive team against the conference's worst offensive squad. JSU ranks last in scoring defense (69.9 points per game) and field-goal percentage defense (43.9) while Southeast is last in scoring (52.9) and field-goal percentage (34.9).

The contest with JSU starts a two-game homestand for Southeast that includes Saturday's "Show-Me Sellout" matchup against Tennessee Tech.

Southeast lost at OVC-leading Tech (14-4, 8-1) 62-48 on Dec. 21.

The Eagles have won five straight.