THE LATEST LINE: SE SOFTBALL FINALLY HAS NCAA BERTH

It wasn't for a lack of success that Southeast Missouri State University's softball team had previously failed to gain a spot in the NCAA Division I Tournament.

Since making the move up to the Division I level eight years ago, the Otahkians have dominated the Ohio Valley Conference and that is generally enough to make the NCAA tourney.

But the OVC softball champion always had to qualify through an NCAA play-in series -- which usually just so happened to be against one of the nation's top teams. The Otahkians failed to win four of those series.

It would be akin to the OVC basketball champ having to beat North Carolina or UCLA or somebody like that just to get into the `Big Dance.'

SEMO coach Lana Richmond admitted that it was sometimes frustrating, to win all those OVC titles but still being left out of any team's ultimate goal -- the NCAA Tournament.

But the frustration ended last weekend. For the first time, the OVC Tournament champion would gain an automatic berth because the league's power rating had risen significantly.

So the Otahkians took out their frustrations on the rest of the OVC as they romped to the tourney title, winning four games by a combined 26-3.

And now the Otahkians are NCAA bound. They'll find out where and who they'll play when the pairings for the 48-team field are announced next Sunday.

In the meantime, the Otahkians are trying to stay sharp as they anxiously await their first-ever Division I tourney berth.

After all those near-misses, it's most certainly a deserving one.

And it's also something that just might became a habit for the Otahkians, since they've won the past four OVC regular-season titles and the last four OVC tourney crowns.

* The Otahkians' softball title is just the latest in a long string of successes for SEMO's women's sports program that has taken over as the power of the OVC.

Despite being in the OVC for just eight seasons, SEMO's women have quickly risen to elite status in the conference. They've now won the OVC Women's All-Sports Championship five straight times, which is quite an accomplishment.

* Guard Nathan Owen, who recently announced his attentions to transfer out of the SEMO basketball program, has narrowed his college choice to two schools.

The Cape Central product said he will decide soon on either Truman State in Kirksville or Georgetown in Kentucky. Truman State made the Division II Final Four this year while Georgetown is a perennial NAIA national power.

* The Los Angeles Clippers were one of the NBA's worst teams this season -- but don't blame Cairo (Ill.) product Tyrone Nesby.

An undrafted rookie forward out of UNLV, Nesby averaged nearly 13 points per game since March 27 and he was named by Sports Illustrated as the NBA's biggest rookie surprise.

Another fairly local product, Carbondale's Troy Hudson, also finished the season strong for the Clippers.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian