SURPRISE -- OTAHKS BACK IN FIRST

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team has been the surprise of the Ohio Valley Conference so far this season -- and Saturday night the Otahkians no doubt opened even more eyes.

The Otahkians erased a 10-point first-half deficit and used an 18-3 second-half run to stun OVC powerhouse Tennessee-Martin 75-55 at the Show Me Center.

Southeast improved to 12-4 overall and 7-2 in OVC play. And the Otahkians now own sole possession of first place in the league after Tennessee Tech's upset loss at Tennessee State Saturday night.

UTM, which advanced to last year's OVC Tournament championship game, fell to 11-5 overall, 6-2 in the conference. Tech is also 6-2 in league play.

"This is a great win for us and it's been a great week," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen, whose squad was picked eighth out of 10 teams in the OVC's preseason poll.

The Otahkians swept a three-game homestand in the past week, having also beaten Austin Peay and Murray State.

"We have defended our home turf perfectly so far, which is big," Arnzen said. "It's nice to be in first place right now, but there is still so much of the conference season left to play."

Paula Corder led the Otahkians offensively with 20 points while Pam Iversen scored 17 and Tajuana White added 16.

"Beating a team like Tennessee-Martin shows that we're for real," said White.

UTM got 16 points and 14 rebounds from Zabrina Harris, the OVC's leading scorer who had been averaging nearly 20 points a contest.

But Harris got into second-half foul trouble and saw only limited action over the final 20 minutes.

"We double teamed her and tried to frustrate her," said White.

Said Arnzen, "Harris is such a good player. She's 6-feet without an ounce of fat on her. She's a load and when she gets the ball in the low post it's difficult to stop her."

Southeast led 5-2 early and the contest was later tied 8-8. But UTM used a 10-2 run to go ahead 18-10 and the Skyhawks went on to open up a 26-16 lead.

The Otahkians answered with a 9-0 run to pull within 26-25, but the Skyhawks later went back on top by eight points. Corder's 3-point play with six seconds left in the first half allowed Southeast to pull within 38-33 at the intermission.

"I thought a big key was right before the half when Paula got the basket and free throw," Arnzen said. "That cut it from eight to five and that's a big difference."

Corder's 15-footer with 14:30 left in the second half put the Otahkians ahead 43-41 and marked Southeast's first lead since the opening moments of the game.

UTM recovered to go back on top 47-43 before Southeast began to take control of the game.

Rusty Sowers drilled a 3-pointer with just over eight minutes remaining to put the Otahkians ahead 48-47. They would not trail again.

By the time Iversen hit a basket and free throw at the 4:18 mark to complete an 18-3 run, Southeast had a 61-50 lead and UTM was in serious trouble.

The Skyhawks were able to close within 61-55, but the Otahkians scored the game's last 14 points -- including the final 12 from the free-throw line.