Box Score

Richmond, Ky. (January 13, 2003) - The Southeast Missouri State Otahkian basketball team found themselves down by only one point at the half, but a 43-point second half capped off an 11-point victory for the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky, Monday night, 88-77. Southeast moves its overall record to 8-5 (2-1 OVC) while EKU moves to 11-4 (4-0 OVC).

Eastern started the game on fire. The Colonels had amassed a 15-point victory at the 13 minute mark of the first half, 19-5. During that stretch, Southeast had only shot 3-19 from the floor. However, they finished the first half shooting 13-16 from the floor and were only down by one point at the half, 45-44.

Freshman guard Tiffanne Ryan led the Otahks in the half with eight points and four assists. Eastern Kentucky sophomore center Miranda Eckerle led all scorers with 15 points on 7-12 shooting from the field.

The second half started much like the first half did. Southeast got the score to within one twice in the first ten minutes and then finally tied the game for the first time since the start with just under eight minutes left. From that point on, Eastern's Teresa McNair and the Colonel full-court press took effect. They forced 30 Southeast turnovers on the night on 21 steals. McNair had nine of those steals.

Southeast could not consistently break the press and fell behind late, eventually losing 88-77. The Otahks were led by a strong night from junior guard Kenja White. White had 18 points and seven rebounds, while tallying four assists and four steals. Senior forward Lori Chase had 12 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard LaShelle Porter had 10 points of her own.

The Otahks shot 43 percent from the field on the night, but it wasn't enough to counteract the 52 percent shooting from the Colonels.

The Otahks will now come home and play host to two conference games this week. Murray State will be at the Show Me Center on Saturday night for a 5:30 p.m. start and Tennessee-Martin will be here for a 7:00 p.m. start on Monday.