OTAHKS, SKYHAWKS PIT FAST OVC STARTS

Thursday's win over Murray State, coming on the heels of Tuesday's heart-breaking overtime loss to Tennessee Tech, was nice.

But Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach Ed Arnzen believes that for the Otahkians to have had a successful homestand this week, they need to beat Tennessee-Martin today at the Show Me Center.

The contest will be a matchup of teams who are high in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. UTM, 7-4 overall, is 2-0 in league play and just one-half game behind leader Tennessee Tech. Southeast, 8-6 overall, is 3-1 in the conference, which also puts the Otahkians only a half-game out of first place.

"We really need this game to make it a good homestand for us," said Arnzen, whose squad rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat Murray State 74-66 Thursday. "If we can win it, it will have been a good week for us."

In the Skyhawks, the Otahkians will be facing a young team that has no seniors and was picked only sixth in the league's preseason poll, one spot behind Southeast.

But UTM has a strong recent tradition in the OVC, having finished at least third the past three seasons, including a tie for the championship two years ago.

The Skyhawks have not yet been at home for an OVC game, yet they have already posted two victories, winning at Murray State and Eastern Illinois.

Kelly Pendleton, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, is the Skyhawks' only double-figure scorer as she averages 16.4 points per game to rank fifth in the conference.

UTM, however, utilizes a lot of players and four others are averaging at least seven points per game, including 5-8 junior guard Tracy Webb (9.5 ppg), who is the OVC's No. 2 rebounders with 9.2 a contest.

Pendleton and 5-9 sophomore guard T.J. Barker rank second and third in the league in 3-point shooting, at 49 and 48 percent, respectively.

"They've got a lot of young kids, but they have a good club," Arnzen said. "They shoot the three well and they're a quick team, with very good guards."

Southeast has two double-figure scorers in junior guard Veronica Benson (13.4 ppg) and sophomore forward Lori Chase (12.0 ppg). Benson is the OVC's eighth-leading scorer while Chase ranks 14th.