Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team seeks OVC winning streak

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team hopes there's enough electricity in the air to record its second Ohio Valley Conference victory Saturday night when Tennessee State visits the Show Me Center.

That key component was lacking Monday night in Murray, Ky., when the Redhawks saw their game against the Racers canceled due to a power outage on the Murray State campus.

Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said the lights went out while some of his players were on the court warming up.

"It's the first time it's happened to me in either my playing days or coaching days," Margenthaler said. "We were looking forward to the game coming off a win. The good thing was it was a close trip home and it wasn't a big deal on our part."

The trip included an 11-point win over Austin Peay -- Southeast's first OVC win of the year -- two days earlier. The Murray State game has been rescheduled for Feb. 19.

On Saturday, the Redhawks will be paired up against a TSU team that also is 1-1 in OVC play. The Tigers have lost to the SEC's Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi, and are 4-11 overall. Southeast, which also has faced a difficult schedule that has included the likes of Missouri, Arkansas and Missouri State, enters at 5-10.

Tennessee State enters the game fifth in the OVC in scoring at 66 points per game but is last in field goal percentage at 35.2 percent. Southeast is 11th in scoring among the 12 conference teams at 62.7 points per game, but ranks one spot ahead of the Tigers in shooting at 37.1 percent.

Defensively, Southeast ranks fourth at 69.9 points, while TSU is 10th at 75.1.

Redshirt junior forward Chelsea Hudson leads TSU in both scoring (16.9 points per game) and rebounding (7.3). Junior guard Rachel Allen (11.9 ppg) is the only other Tiger to average in double figures. Allen, who led the Tigers with 22 points in an OVC-opening loss to Eastern Illinois, is among the conference assist/turnover leaders at 1.4.

The EIU loss was the fourth straight for the Tigers, who snapped the skid with a 78-76 win over Jacksonville State in overtime their last time out. Hudson scored 30 points in the win.

The Tigers lead the league in steals in 10.5 per game. Freshman I'mani Davis averages two steals per game to tie for the league lead, while Allen, freshman Jayda Johnson and Hudson also rank among the leaders.

"They're real aggressive and take chances," Margenthaler said about the TSU defense. "We have to do a real good job of taking care of the basketball and limiting our turnovers."

Sophomore guards Olivia Hackman and Kara Wright both average 10.2 ppg for Southeast. Patricia Mack (9.1) is not far behind and is third in the conference in rebounding at 9.7 boards per game. She has averaged 15 rebounds in OVC action.

"They're a good rebounding team, so we have to rebound the ball," Margenthaler said. "We have to give them one shot and out. That will benefit us."

Senior guard Jordan Hunter broke loose for a season-high 19 points in the Redhawks' 75-64 win over Austin Peay, and Margenthaler hopes Hunter and her teammates can maintain the winning touch.

"We have a chance to get two in a row," Margenthaler said. "I've talked to our players a lot about how important it is to get ahead a game and get on top of the league instead of chasing. That's important to do."