OTAHKIANS FIGHTING TO STAY ALIVE

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will take one more stab at trying to get back into the hunt for a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Otahkians will play Tennessee Tech today and Middle Tennessee State Monday (both 5:30 p.m. tipoffs) in their final home games of the season.

After that, it will be on the road to wrap up the campaign against Tennessee-Martin and Eastern Illinois.

With only four games remaining, the Otahkians are still in last place in the 10-team OVC. Only the top eight squads in the final standings qualify for the league tournament.

The situation is not hopeless for the Otahkians, but they will certainly have to close the regular season with a rush if they hope to compete in the conference tourney.

"We've got to make something happen right now," said Southeast coach Ed Arnzen. "All four games we have left are extremely crucial for us."

Southeast is 5-17 overall and 3-11 in OVC play. They'll need to finish ahead of two teams in order to qualify for the league tournament.

The Otahkians probably have a realistic chance of catching only three squads, and even those hopes are slim. Southeast is 1 1/2 games behind Middle Tennessee and a full two games behind both Murray State and Tennessee-Martin.

Tennessee Tech, today's foe at the Show Me Center, will certainly be a rugged challenge for the Otahkians. The Golden Eaglettes are in third place in the OVC with a 9-5 record (they are 12-10 overall).

Diane Seng, a 6-foot-2 freshman center, averages 21.4 points per game to lead the Golden Eaglettes.

The Otahkians did give Tech a good game earlier in the season before losing 75-68 in Cookeville, Tenn.

"We played them well over there and hopefully we'll have a good performance against them," Arnzen said.

Monday's opponent, Middle Tennessee, has struggled most of the season despite being the preseason pick to win the OVC.

The Lady Raiders, 7-18 overall and a ninth-place 5-10 in the OVC, lost to Southeast 74-73 in overtime in Murfreesboro, Tenn., earlier in the season.