Women remain in hunt

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team has a chance to avenge two early-season losses this week.

If the Redhawks are successful, they could be in line to earn a first-round home game for the eight-team Ohio Valley Conference tournament. That reward goes to the top four finishers.

"That's what we're shooting for," sophomore wing Lauren Sharpe said.

Southeast (15-12, 10-6) is tied for fourth place with Morehead State. Both squads are two games behind third-place Tennessee State.

The Redhawks play at TSU (16-11, 12-4) today, followed by a Saturday contest at sixth-place Austin Peay (13-14, 9-7) in the regular-season finale.

TSU still has a game remaining with second-place Eastern Illinois, while Morehead State has contests left at first-place Murray State and last-place Tennessee-Martin.

Morehead State swept both meetings with Southeast, which would give the Eagles a potential tie-breaker.

Southeast lost to TSU earlier, but if the Redhawks can even the head-to-head series, they'll win a potential tie-breaker since they already have beaten the top two teams in the league -- Murray State and Eastern Illinois.

So if Southeast wins out this week and either Morehead State loses one of its remaining games or Tennessee State falls to Eastern Illinois, the Redhawks will earn a tournament home game Tuesday night.

"We need a little help, but the main thing is it doesn't matter if we don't take care of our own business," Southeast coach John Ishee said.

TSU and Austin Peay both beat Southeast at the Show Me Center in early December, TSU winning 59-55 and Austin Peay prevailing 61-50.

The Redhawks competed in both games without senior wing Sonya Daugherty, their second-leading scorer and one of their top all-around players.

TSU has overcome the loss of Obiageli Okafor, a second-team all-conference forward last year who suffered an Achilles tendon injury before the season started and is out for the entire campaign.

But the Tigers returned plenty of talent, led by 5-foot-7 senior guard Kendra Appling, a first-team all-conference selection as a junior.

Appling is averaging 18 points to rank third in the OVC and is the league's No. 6 3-pointer shooter at 37.7 percent. She led the Tigers with 22 points in the earlier meeting against Southeast.

Tiffany Jackson, a 6-0 senior forward, is the OVC's No. 5 scorer at 16 points a contest.

TSU also has received strong play from 6-0 sophomore forward Jasmine Smith, a transfer from Louisville.

Smith, who became eligible at the semester, is averaging a double-double -- 11.1 points and 10.1 rebounds -- in 16 games.

"It's impressive what they've done after losing an all-conference player," Ishee said of the Tigers. "But they're a really talented team.

"They have a great player in Kendra Appling, and the transfer has really helped them. They're quick and athletic and deep. They can beat you inside and outside."

Austin Peay, Saturday's opponent, has been among the OVC's biggest surprises after the Governors were picked ninth in the preseason poll.

"We've got two big challenges this week," Ishee said.