OTAHKS HOPE TO START WITH A BANG IN OVC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will experience what is supposed to be both ends of the Ohio Valley Conference spectrum over the next three days as the Otahkians begin OVC play on the road.

Today, the Otahkians will take on Tennessee State in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at the Gentry Center. The Lady Tigers were picked in the preseason to place eighth in the nine-team OVC.

Then Saturday, the Otahkians will move on to Clarksville, Tenn., to play Austin Peay in a 1:30 p.m. tipoff. The Lady Govs have been tabbed for a second-place league finish.

But for Southeast coach Ed Arnzen, whose squad was picked fifth in the preseason poll, it's not so much a matter of who the Otahkians are playing. He is just hoping they can get off to a strong conference start.

"It's always important that you get off to a good start in the league," said Arnzen. "Any time you go on the road, you know it's going to be tough, no matter who you play."

The Otahkians are coming off a miserable performance Tuesday night in which they were dominated at home by Arkansas-Little Rock 76-55. That snapped a three-game Southeast winning streak and dropped the Otahkians to 5-5.

"That was not a good performance at all by us," Arnzen said. "Now we just have to regroup and get ready to start the conference, which is the most important part of the season."

Today's opponent, TSU, is just 2-8 and the Lady Tigers already have an OVC defeat on their record, having lost at Murray State on Dec. 7.

The Lady Tigers are led by senior forward Angela Hassell, the OVC's third-leading scorer at 19.4 points per game.

"Tennessee State has virtually the same club as last year," said Arnzen. "They'll be tough to beat at home."

Austin Peay is 5-7 and the Lady Govs have a 1-0 OVC mark after posting an impressive win at Murray State on Dec. 10.

The Lady Govs are led by a pair of sophomore guards who took the OVC by storm last year as freshmen in helping lead their squad to a surprising berth in the league tournament finals.

Brooke Armistead, last season's OVC Freshman of the Year, is the conference's second-leading scorer at 20.4 points per game. Classmate Paige Smith (13.2 ppg) is the league's ninth-leading scorer.

"Austin Peay is very guard oriented and their inside players are good enough," Arnzen said.

Added the coach of this first conference road trip, "You always want to win them both, but if we could get out and get a split, we'd be in pretty good shape."