UTM ENDS OTAHKIANS' SEASON

The Southeast Missouri State Otahkians battled fiercely, but could not deny the Tennessee-Martin Lady Skyhawks, who defeated Southeast 68-63 in a first-round matchup of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at the Show Me Center on Tuesday.

The Otahkians (14-13, 9-7), seeded fourth and winners of the two previous meetings with the fifth-seed Lady Skyhawks( 13-15, 6-10), held leads of as much as eight points in the first and second halves, but could not put away Tennesee-Martin.

A Veronica Benson layup at 3:54 of the first half staked the Otahkians to their biggest lead at 27-19, but Tennessee-Martin fought back, sparked by the play of reserve sophomore forward LaShanta Morrow who scored eight points in the final 2:41 of the half. Morrow finished with 16 points.

"We couldn't guard her tonight," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "She got the ball in the high post and was quicker than anybody that we put on her. That was a major factor."

Tennessee-Martin's 13-1 run to close out the half wiped out the Otahkian lead and sent the visitors into the intermission with a 32-28 advantage.

As the second half opened, Southeast mounted a charge of its own. Benson capped an 18-6 run, scoring the final four points on a steal for a layup, followed by two free throws that put the Otahkians up 46-38 at the 14:10 mark of the half.

Benson, a 5-7 junior guard, had a stellar performance, leading the Otahkians with 21 points on 9-of-17 field-goal shooting along with eight rebounds and three steals.

Southeast held the lead for the last time, 48-47, with 8:43 left when Tennessee-Martin's leading scorer Kelly Pendleton started to take over the game.

Pendleton, who scored 15 of her game-high 23 points in the last nine minutes of the game, hit a 3-pointer to put the Lady Skyhawks into the lead 50-48.

Southeast managed to tie it at 52, but could never take the lead.

A 3-pointer by T.J. Barker put Tennessee-Martin ahead for good with 3:28 left.

The Lady Skyhawks added two 3-pointers and a conventional three-point play down the stretch to nail down the win.

The Lady Skyhawks will advance to the semifinal round against No. 1 seed Tennessee Tech in Nashville on Friday.

Southeast's Lori Chase, selected to the All-OVC first team, chipped in with 14 points and Tiffany Melis netted 10.

On her all-conference choice, Chase said," It would be more exciting if we would have won tonight, but it's a great honor, nevertheless, to know that all my hard work has paid off."

The Otahkian inside game, which they felt gave them an advantage going in, was a non-factor as they were able to muster only eight points from the post players.

In particular, the Lady Skyhawks held starting center Pam Iverson who had a big game with 20 points and eight boards in the previous meeting, to only five points and four rebounds.

"They played a soft man (defense) and gave us the outside shot, took away the pass to the post and we didn't capitalize on it," said Arnzen. "We didn't shoot the ball well enough from the outside to make them come out of it. It was a tough loss, but you've got to give credit to UT-Martin. They stepped up and hit the big shots when the game was on the line."