Sports digest 4/24/02

AREA

OTAHKS' BASKETBALL SQUAD SIGNS SEVENTH PLAYER

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball program landed a junior-college guard Tuesday as its seventh player of the spring signing period.

Signing a national letter of intent with the Otahkians was 5-foot-7 Natasha Starks from Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College. Starks averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 assists while shooting 41 percent from 3-point range this year for a team that went 32-3 and finished seventh in the nation.

"Natasha is a very explosive offensive player," said first-year Otahkian coach B.J. Smith. "She is the type of player that on any given night can lift up a team and carry it by herself."

Southeast softball team at home today vs. SIU

Southeast's softball team steps outside the Ohio Valley Conference today to play a 3 p.m. doubleheader with Southern Illinois at the Southeast Softball Complex.

The Otahkians are 12-23 and the Salukis are 26-14. Earlier this season, SIU swept a doubleheader from Southeast in Carbondale, winning 1-0 and 7-1.

Senior catcher Jennifer Cobin has been hot offensively for the Otahkians, leading the squad in conference play with a .340 average.

Following today's action, the Otahkians finish the regular season Saturday, hosting OVC foe Tennessee-Martin. Southeast is in fourth place in the OVC and the top six finishers qualify for next week's league tournament.

Chaffee reschedules rained out tournaments

Chaffee High School has rescheduled its baseball and softball tournaments, rained out last weekend, for Friday and Saturday.

The Red Devils Baseball Classic will retain an eight-team field, but has added Woodland and Notre Dame to replace Senath-Hornersville and New Madrid County Central. Play, which begins with Dexter and Shawnee at 3:30 p.m. Friday, will be held at Harmon Field in Chaffee, Mo., and Scott City Ballfield in Scott City, Mo. The championship game will be held Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in Chaffee.

The Lady Devils Softball Classic will be held just Friday and has been scaled back from eight teams to four -- Advance, Scott City, Chaffee and Delta. The semifinals will be held at 4 p.m. at Frisco Park and third-place and championship games will follow at 6.

ELSEWHERE

HOCKEY

The sale of the Ottawa Senators to an investment group for $116 million was put on hold. The team issued a statement saying the sale to OSHC 2001 Limited Partnership, originally announced in January, was called off "at least for the present."

Senators owner Rod Bryden said he is working with the NHL "to implement an alternative sale."

Tennis

The men again will get more money than the women at Wimbledon. Prize money is increasing 5 percent across the board to $12.7 million overall, the All England Club announced, and that translates into a larger dollar gap between the sexes.

That discrepancy had narrowed the past two years because Wimbledon gave the women higher percentage increases.

-- From staff, wire reports