Jan. 8, 2002

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- If close counted in basketball then the Southeast Missouri State Otahkians would own victories over Tennessee Tech the last two times the teams have met at the Show Me Center. Southeast built a first-half lead which it extended to 12-points in the second half before Tech mustered a valiant comeback and clipped Southeast 80-77 on Tuesday.

Last season, Southeast lost a heartbreaker to Tennessee Tech when the Golden Eaglettes went the length of the floor in three seconds to score a bucket and win 80-79. In that game a year ago, Southeast had a 13-point advantage in the second half.

This time, Southeast (8-4 overall, 1-1 OVC) looked hot early building a 5-2 early lead before junior forward Lori Chase drew her second foul of the half a mere 2:27 into the first half. Although the junior was forced to go to the bench, Southeast extended its lead to 11-4 at the 15 minute mark.

Tech (9-5, 2-1) would battle back and claim its first lead of the game on a made three-pointer by Andrea Brown. The Golden Eaglettes would lead by as many as two with eight minutes to play before Southeast once again regained the lead. Tiffany Melis scored six straight points to regain the lead for the Otahks and Southeast went into the locker room with its largest lead, eight, on a Veronica Benson turnaround in the lane.

In the first frame, Southeast shot an impressive 59.3% from the field and 66.7% from long range while Chase was on the bench. Tech struggled, shooting only 35.7% from the field and 38.5% from three-point range. Benson had 14 at the half to lead all scorers.

Southeast looked like it might put the game away early in the second half, as out of the lockeroom Pam Iversen and LaShelle Porter each scored a bucket to push the advantage to 12 at the 19:22 mark. Southeast would hold a double-digit advantage until the first media timeout of the second half.

Tech would then use a 13-3 run over the next five minutes to tie the game at 50 on Leah Bird's free-throw which completed a three-point play. The game would be nip-and-tuck the rest of the way.

Behind the play of two-time OVC Player of the Year Janet Holt Tech finally took the lead at the 7:22 mark and built a nine-point advantage with 2:33 to play. Southeast would not fold, however Chase and Iversen coverted on free-throws after the Otahks played solid defense on Tech's end.

A Porter three-pointer, only her second on the season, brought Southeast to within two points with a 1:00 to play. After exchanged free-throws and buckets, a Chase desparation three-pointer once again brought Southeast within one-point at 78-77 with only nine seconds to play. Following two clutch free-throws by Jennifer Wilhelm with 5.5 seconds on the clock, LaShelle Porter drove the length of the floor and got a three-point attempt off, but it clanged off the front of the rim and sealed the victory for Tech.

The win for Tech snapped a four-game home winning streak for Southeast.

Holt had a fabulous game, scoring 28 points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out six assists and collecting four steals while committing only one turnover. Holt was 9-19 from the field, 1-3 from three-point range and an impressive 9-10 from the charity stripe.

Southeast put three scorers in double figures, with Benson and Chase leading the way with 19 apiece. Chase, despite playing only those two minutes in the first half, finished 4-4 from three-point range in the game. Last season Chase hit four three-pointers for the entire season.

Pam Iversen chipped in 13 points, four rebounds and five assists. The game marked the fifth straight games in double-figures for Iversen.

"I thought it was a great game tonight," Coach Ed Arnzen said. "They just converted in the last five minutes a little bit better than we did and they hit all their free throws. I was happy that we outrebounded them (37-29) and that we committed only 12 turnovers. We may have just been a little tired late in the game."

There will be no rest for the Otahkians as league #1 Eastern Kentucky, a team that beat Tennessee Tech last week, comes to the Show Me Center on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.

Game Notes: Tennessee Tech defeated Southeast for the 20th time in the 24 games in the team's series ... Southeast lost for the first time this season when they scored more than 70 points in a game ... the Otahkians are now 8-1 this season when scoring 70-plus points ... Lori Chase fouled out of the game, the first time this season any Otahkian has been disqualified ... Pam Iversen is only 20 rebounds away from moving into 9th place on the SEMO career list.