Jan. 23, 2002

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- Senior center Pam Iversen recorded her third straight double-double and sixth of the season as the Otahkians blistered the nets for 58% shooting from the field and cruised past IP-Fort Wayne by a score of 86-67 on Wednesday night at the Show Me Center.

Southeast (12-6) shot out of the gate quickly, taking a 14-2 lead only five minutes into the game behind six points each from Iversen and junior forward Tiffany Melis. Melis hit two big three-pointers in the run to help Southeast to the lead.

IPFW (4-15) would battle back to close the defecit to 28-19 with 9:00 to play before the half, but that would be the last time the Mastodons would be at a single-digit defecit the rest of the night. The Otahkians would use a 14-5 run to push the lead to 18 with just under four to play before the half and led 46-32 at the break when Melis nailed her third three-pointer of the half just before the buzzer.

Southeat would lead by as many as 24 in the second half before winning by the final margin of 86-67.

IPFW's sophomore guard Amy Gearlds led all scorers with 32 points. Her outstanding performance saw her shoot 11-20 from the field, 6-11 from three-point range, grab five rebounds, dish out three assists and record a game-high seven steals in 37 minutes.

Iversen led Southeast with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Lori Chase added 16 points and 10 caroms, making it the first time since February 1, 2001 that Southeast had two players record a double-double in the same game.

Melis added a season-high 16 points on 4-6 three-point shooting. The four made three-pointers were a career-high for Melis and brought her career total to 61, which moved her into 5th place on the SEMO career list. LaShelle Porter added 12 points and Tisa Thomas 10 to round out the double-figure scorers. The game marked the first time since January 20, 2001 that Southeast had placed five players in double figures in the same game.

Southeast shot 60.6% in the first halt and finished the game at 58.2%. The Otahks also hit 5-8 (62.5%) from deep and 17-21 (81%) from the line. IPFW shot 37.9% from the game, becoming the fourth straight Southeast opponent to shoot below 35% in the second half, as the Mastodons hit on only 34.3% of their second half attempts.

Southeast will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in an important OVC battle with Austin Peay. The game will follow the men's battle which starts at 1:00 p.m. At halftime of the men's contest, Iversen will be honored for scoring her 1,000 career point which she accomplished last Saturday versus Murray State.

Game Notes: Southeast recorded a season-high 22 assists ... the Otahkians scored 46 first-half points, a season-high ... Iversen now has 1,025 points, which ties her for 11th place on the SEMO career list; she needs only five points to take over sole possession of 10th place on the SEMO career list ... Iversen also has 99 career blocks, one shy of becoming the third Otahkian to swat 100 shots in her career ... Iversen also only needs six rebounds to reach the 700 career mark.