Otahks face big task in SMS

Beating Henderson State was nice, but B.J. Smith knows his Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball team will need a much stronger performance in its second game of the season.

The Otahkians, fresh off Friday's 85-55 rout of Division II Henderson State, hit the road to take on perennial powerhouse Southwest Missouri State in a 7:05 tipoff tonight in Springfield, Mo.

"We showed a lot more signs, but we're not there yet. We're not very consistent yet," said Smith, the Otahkians' first-year coach. "We'll have to play a whole lot better against Southwest Missouri."

But Smith welcomes the challenge of facing an elite program in front of a big, hostile crowd. The Bears annually draw well at the Hammons Student Center and Saturday's game against Missouri attracted 6,836 fans.

"I'm excited. There should be a big crowd and they have obviously had a very established program," Smith said. "It's a win-win situation for us. We get to play a program that's considered one of the best around and we get to play in front of a great crowd."

SMS is off to an 0-2 start in its first season under coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson as the Bears have lost to Tulsa 81-80 and Missouri 68-52. Last year, the Bears went 16-13 and lost in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament. Two seasons ago, SMS advanced to the Final Four.

Jennifer Lingor, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, led the Bears in scoring last year at 13.1 points per game and she is averaging 11 points so far this season.

The Bears' top scorer is 5-9 freshman Sarah Klaasen (16.0 ppg), followed by 6-1 junior Meg Tierney (12.5 ppg).

While Smith knows an upset would be a great building block for his first Southeast team, he's not over-emphasizing the game.

"It's a great opportunity for us, but I told the girls this is not the end of our season one way or another, win or lose," Smith said. "Basketball is a long season. It's a marathon, not a sprint."

Southeast benefited from a balanced scoring attack during its season-opening victory Friday as all nine players who saw action scored at least seven points.

Leading the way for the Otahkians was senior guard LaShelle Porter with 13 points. Junior center Carina Souza scored 11 points while senior forward Lori Chase, junior guard Yashika Sidbury and junior guard Sarah Costello all added 10 points.

"Offensively, I thought we were a lot better, but we had too many breakdowns defensively," Smith said. "We've got a long way to go, but if we keep working, I think we'll become a good basketball team."

Following tonight's game, the Otahkians will participate in the four-team Wisconsin-Green Bay Tournament this weekend. They'll play the host squad, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year, Friday night and then face either Miami or Quinnipiac on Saturday.