~ Southeast will play the first of two preseason games tonight.

Southeast Missouri State's women begin their two-game exhibition schedule today when Southern Illinois-Edwardsville visits the Show Me Center for a 5 p.m. tipoff.

The Redhawks will also host Christian Brothers Nov. 12 before opening the regular season Nov. 18 at nationally ranked Texas Tech.

"We're ready to get on the floor," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said. "They've really been working hard in practice, and it's probably time we play against somebody other than ourselves."

Southeast returns six seniors who all saw considerable action from last year's team that went 22-8 overall and 14-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play for the program's best Division I season.

Smith said today's starting lineup will probably be an all-senior one, but it doesn't mean that's the way the regular season will be.

"We've got some good competition at several positions," Smith said.

The Redhawks return six of their top eight scorers, led by OVC player of the year Tatiana Conceicao, a senior forward who averaged a team-high 17.6 points per game last year.

Southeast has seven returning players and eight newcomers, the latter group featuring two junior college transfers and six freshmen. Many of the 15 figure to see action today.

"We want to see a lot of people, and we want to reward the kids who have worked hard," Smith said.

SIU-Edwardsville, a Division II program, was 13-18 last year, but Southeast had trouble with the Cougars during an exhibition game, winning 69-63.