Southeast women's basketball team seeks OVC winning streak

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team finally got back in the victory column during its most recent game.

Saturday the Redhawks will shoot for a two-game winning streak against the Ohio Valley Conference's first-place squad that recently beat Southeast by 20 points.

Southeast (9-14, 3-7) hosts Eastern Illinois (14-8, 8-2) in a 3 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center as the Redhawks begin a two-game homestand.

The Panthers lead the six-team OVC West Division and also have the best conference record in the 12-team league.

"I think they're the best team in our conference," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said.

Southeast remains fifth in the OVC West and 10th overall in the conference -- the top eight make the league tournament -- but the Redhawks kept their tourney hopes alive with Monday's 69-51 victory at Austin Peay.

That triumph ended Southeast's season-long six-game losing streak.

"We really needed it," Margenthaler said. "We've got a lot of work to do but it definitely keeps us alive."

The Redhawks will need an especially strong performance to have a shot Saturday against EIU, which beat Southeast 82-62 on Jan. 26 in Charleston, Ill.

That game was much more competitive than the final score indicates. Southeast led 43-39 early in the second half and trailed by only two points with under 14 minutes left when the Panthers began to pull away.

"We played them well for quite a while, and we'll need to put a 40-minute game together against them this time," Margenthaler said.

A senior-dominated, physical EIU squad that entered this season with the OVC's top overall (106-55) and conference (72-18) records during the previous five years outrebounded Southeast 51-31 in beating the Redhawks for the eighth straight time.

"They're a veteran group. They know how to play," Margenthaler said.

Senior forward Mariah King is EIU's top scorer at 14.3 points per game. She had 19 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the earlier meeting against Southeast.

Senior point guard Ta'Kenya Nixon, a three-time first-team all-conference selection and a two-time OVC defensive player of the year, is averaging 13.8 points. She is second in the OVC in assists with a 5.7 average and third in steals at 2.4.

Nixon had a huge performance in the first meeting against Southeast, matching her season high with 23 points to go along with eight assists, five rebounds and three steals against just one turnover.

"She's a great point guard," Margenthaler said.

Following Saturday's game, Southeast entertains SIU Edwardsville (11-11, 5-5) on Monday in an unusual 11 a.m. tipoff as part of the "Classroom on Court" program that invites students from area schools to the game for an educational field trip.

SIUE pulled away late to beat the Redhawks 78-65 on Jan. 28 in Edwardsville, Ill.

"It's a huge homestand. We need to win both games," Margenthaler said.