Woman at home in opening round

Southeast Missouri State's women look like one of the favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament -- but their coach doesn't want players or fans to get too far ahead of themselves.

That's because B.J. Smith professes to be plenty worried about tonight's first-round game against Samford -- even though the Redhawks crushed the visiting Bulldogs 85-49 in their regular-season meeting.

The second-seeded Redhawks (20-7) and seventh-seeded Bulldogs (13-14) square off at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center, with the winner advancing to Friday's semifinals in Nashville, Tenn.

"This time of the year, what you've done in the past doesn't do you any good," Smith said. "For us, this is our biggest game. If we don't win it, we can't accomplish what we're trying to get done."

Southeast, which has already posted its first 20-win season on the Division I level and compiled its best OVC record (14-2), has its sights set on winning the OVC tournament for the first time and gaining its first NCAA Division I tournament berth.

The Redhawks reached the OVC tournament finals for the only time during Smith's first season at Southeast in 2002-03, but they fell well short as Austin Peay romped 85-61.

Last year, the Redhawks made it to Nashville for the second straight season, but their campaign again ended at the hands of Austin Peay with a 72-55 semifinal loss.

Smith firmly believes this is the best chance Southeast has had to capture the tournament title since he took over the program.

"We've got more talent than we've had, we're playing defense better than we have, and we're truly a team," Smith said. "I feel like this is our best shot."

Even though Southeast beat Samford badly on Jan. 29 at the Show Me Center, Smith doesn't believe his players will overlook the Bulldogs, a squad he considers dangerous because of their patient style of play.

"They run that Princeton offense, just like their men do, and that's tough to play against," Smith said. "They play very hard, they run that motion, they back cut you to death. They're a very dangerous team.

"Our seniors have really done a good job of not letting us overlook people. Some of the games where I was worried about that, we came out and really played well. You always worry about overlooking a team, but I think we'll be ready to play."

His players agree.

"You can't overlook anybody," senior forward Chandra Brown said. "What we did against them the last time doesn't matter."

Added junior guard Tiffanne Ryan, "Now the real season starts. This is what it's all about. We want to get to the NCAA tournament, and we're not going to take any team lightly."

Although the Redhawks fell one game short of winning their first OVC regular-season championship, Smith believes they'll use that as motivation for the tournament.

"We're disappointed we didn't win the conference, but I think it has motivated us," he said. "I think our desire to win the conference tournament is even higher than it might have been."

Noteworthy

Southeast junior Tatiana Conceicao won the OVC newcomer of the week for the ninth time this season. Conceicao averaged 20 points and 8.5 rebounds in victories over Murray State and Tennessee-Martin.