Southeast's comeback from .500 mark to OVC co-champions a remarkable feat

When the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team lost at Eastern Illinois on Jan. 5, the Redhawks were 6-7 overall, 3-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play -- and their highly anticipated season appeared ready to fall apart.

But the Redhawks refused to collapse -- and look at them now.

They're OVC co-champions.

Saturday's 87-72 win over Jacksonville State at the Show Me Center completed a remarkable finish to the regular season for Southeast, albeit with a minor hiccup in the form of Thursday's home loss to Samford.

Still, the Redhawks (19-8, 16-4 OVC) ended with 13 victories in their final 14 games, including 12 straight prior to Thursday's setback.

And that red-hot streak has resulted in the program's first conference title since the university moved up to Division I and joined the OVC in 1991-92.

What an incredible accomplishment for head coach B.J. Smith, his assistants and their players as they finally got over the proverbial hump after coming so close last season.

The Redhawks actually had a better league record a year ago -- 14-2 in a 16-game schedule -- but finished behind 15-1 Eastern Kentucky, and then lost that double-overtime heartbreaker to the Colonels in the finals of the OVC tournament.

This time the records at the top weren't quite so dominant, meaning Southeast was able to make up for its slow start.

Major kudos to everybody associated with the Redhawks' program, which has put together the best collective record of any OVC team since Smith took over four years ago.

While winning the OVC regular-season title is a major feat -- even though Southeast had to share it with hated rival Tennessee Tech -- now the Redhawks begin chasing their ultimate goal: an NCAA tournament berth, which goes to the conference tournament champion.

Southeast should carry a healthy does of confidence into the eight-team event that begins Tuesday night with a first-round home contest, then continues Friday and Saturday with the semifinals and finals in Nashville, Tenn.

Winning the three games required to emerge as tournament champion sure won't be easy, especially since the Redhawks will likely meet Samford -- which has beaten them twice -- in the semifinals and, if they get past the Bulldogs, could square off with Tennessee Tech a third time for the title. The squads split their two meetings.

But the way the Redhawks rebounded to save their season, I sure wouldn't bet against them adding a second OVC championship banner to their collection.

n

While the OVC tournament begins Tuesday, the league will also hand out all of its individual postseason awards later in the week.

And there should be some interesting races involving Southeast's women.

Senior center Tatiana Conceicao is the reigning conference player of the year, and she is no doubt again on the short list of candidates for that honor.

Tennessee Tech senior center Emily Christian has, like Conceicao, had an impressive season. In fact, Christian leads the league in scoring and ranks third in rebounding, while Conceicao is second in scoring and sixth in rebounding.

Since Tennessee Tech and Southeast tied for the regular-season championship, Christian probably rates as the favorite.

Austin Peay senior forward Ashley Haynes, who has had a remarkable season with an amazing 20 double-doubles -- she is among the nation's top rebounders -- also figures to be in the mix.

As for OVC coach of the year, Smith certainly should be in the running.

Sure, the Redhawks were expected to be good this year -- they were picked second in the preseason poll, behind Tennessee Tech -- so their conference finish is no great surprise.

But the way Smith and his staff guided the Redhawks after their disappointing start -- when they were 3-3, it didn't look like there was any way they could get to first place -- should theoretically work in his favor.

Austin Peay's Andy Blackston will likely get his share of consideration -- deservedly so -- since the Governors finished fourth despite being selected last in the preseason poll.

n

Talk about weird.

Southeast's men and women both began their long streaks -- one positive and one negative -- on the same date, Jan. 7 at Murray State.

The women beat the Racers, marking the first of their 12 straight wins. The men lost to the Racers, marking the first of their 12 straight losses.

Then, Thursday night at home against Samford, the women ended their winning streak by losing to the Bulldogs, while the men snapped their losing streak by upsetting the Bulldogs.

Like I said, weird.

n

I don't know what kind of timetable Southeast's administration has in mind, but the university should make an announcement as soon as possible -- like early this week -- to finally end all the speculation surrounding the job status of men's basketball coach Gary Garner, whose contract expires this year.

That's basically all Redhawks fans are talking about these days, and the sooner a decision is made public, the better for everybody involved.

n

Hearing KGIR Sports Huddle hosts Erik Sean and Jess Bolen raving the past few weeks about the brand-new, roomy, state-of-the-art pressbox at Capaha Field, I really looked forward to Southeast's baseball team beginning its home schedule so I could check out the facility.

After attending the first game of Saturday's home-opening doubleheader against Jackson State -- I missed the nightcap to cover Southeast basketball -- I have to say I was totally impressed.

The pressbox is something special, without a doubt the best in the OVC. It's got just about everything imaginable, including two televisions with satellite hookup, a restroom, a kitchen area with refrigerator, a couch -- and plenty of working area for media and game-day personnel.

Although plenty of people deserve praise for making the pressbox a reality, Bolen -- chairman of the Capaha Field Improvement Committee and the longtime Capahas' manager -- is the person primarily responsible for getting things off the ground and seeing the project through.

No wonder Bolen and his wife, Mary -- they both put in so much time and effort with the project -- looked almost like proud parents as they showed off the facility Saturday.

The Bolens deserved to feel that way.

n

The Dugout Club, the new fundraising organization for Southeast baseball that was started by former Cardinals' all-star catcher Tom Pagnozzi, certainly had a rousing kickoff Friday.

Not only was Pagnozzi in Cape Girardeau most of the day, two other ex-Cardinals -- pitchers Todd Worrell and Danny Cox -- joined Pagnozzi for an evening reception hosted by Dalhousie Golf Club.

n

Special congratulations to Jackson High School senior Kamden Rampley for his amazing recent accomplishment.

Rampley finished off an undefeated wrestling season last weekend by winning the Class 4 state title at 215 pounds, putting his final record at 54-0.

And what was really neat is that Rampley became part of only the 12th father-son combination to ever capture a state championship in Missouri, his dad having finished first in 1977.

I'm sure the entire family couldn't be prouder.

n

Also congratulations to Gene Bess of Three Rivers Community College. By beating Forest Park Wednesday night, he became the first college basketball coach on any level to ever win 1,000 games in a career.

The 70-year-old Bess, a graduate of Oak Ridge High School, entered the weekend with a mind-boggling 1,000-258 record in 36 years at the junior college in Poplar Bluff.

n

I raved in last week's column about the incredible shooting exploits of Duke senior guard J.J. Redick -- yet I wasn't even smart enough to spell his name right.

I mistakenly added an extra d to Redick -- oops.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian. He also made a financial contribution to the Capaha Field Improvement Committee last year.