OTAHKIANS HOPE TO SALVAGE FINALE OF THREE ROAD GAMES

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team entered this week in great shape regarding a top-four Ohio Valley Conference finish.

But heading into today's 4 p.m. contest at Tennessee-Martin -- which concludes a three-game road swing for Southeast -- the Otahkians' position in the league is being threatened.

By losing at Tennessee Tech Tuesday and at Murray State Thursday, the Otahkians have dipped to 7-5 in OVC play. They are still in fourth place -- finishing in the top four is important, because it means a first-round home game for the conference tournament -- but Tennessee-Martin and Murray State are closing in fast.

In fact, UTM's Skyhawks are just 1 1/2 games behind Southeast at 5-6. They can pull even on the loss side with the Otahkians by winning today.

"Our destiny was in our hands and it still is, if we can go to Martin and win," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen following Thursday's 62-61 loss to Murray State, which is now just two games behind the Otahkians. "This is a huge game for us. We really need to salvage something out of this week."

The Otahkians, who are 12-10 overall, have suddenly found the going rough on the road after a sizzling conference start away from the Show Me Center.

Southeast won its first four OVC road games, but the Otahkians have since dropped three straight away from home, although two of those setbacks were against Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky -- the league's top two teams.

UTM, which lost at Southeast 79-66 on Jan. 13, is 11-11 overall. The Skyhawks are coming off an 89-59 pasting of Eastern Illinois Thursday.

The Skyhawks, a young, guard oriented squad, are led by Kelly Pendleton, the OVC's fourth-leading scorer at 16.7 points per game. Pendleton is also the league's third-best 3-point shooter, hitting 47 percent from long distance.

Tracy Webb is the Skyhawks' only other double-figure scorer on the season as she averages 10.1 points per game.

T.J. Barker is another UTM shooting weapon as she hits 44 percent from 3-point range to rank fifth in the conference.

"They have good perimeter shooters and Pendleton is an outstanding scorer," Arnzen said. "If you let them get in a comfort zone they'll blister the nets. The key is to get out on them."

Following today's contest, the Otahkians will finish up the regular season with three straight OVC home games, including two against the conference's bottom two teams (Morehead State and Eastern Illinois).

So a win today would definitely set the Otahkians up nicely to finish at least fourth in the OVC and secure a home berth for the opening round of the league tourney.

"If we win (today), we're in pretty good shape again," said Arnzen. "But if we lose, then Tennessee-Martin is basically tied with us and then it's really going to be tight."