Box Score

Cape Girardeau, Mo. (February 8, 2003) - A seven-point halftime deficit did in the Otahks tonight as the Lady Colonels of Eastern Kentucky, behind Katie Kelly's 24 points, stopped Southeast's 11-game home winning streak and defeated the Otahks 81-75 in front of nearly 2,000 fans at the Show Me Center. Southeast now falls to 13-7, 7-3 in the OVC as EKU moves to 15-6, 7-2 in the conference.

Eastern came out of the box on fire. They scored the games first six points and cruised to an early 10-1 lead, forcing a Southeast timeout. The lead jumped to 13 at 19-6 with 13 minutes left. Southeast trimmed it to two twice in the half at 23-21, and 29-27, but couldn't get any closer before the end of the first frame.

Southeast was dominated on the boards by the bigger Lady Colonels. EKU had 27 rebounds to Southeast's 13 at the half. The Otahks were shooting fairly well at the half, but couldn't overcome the size issue and were down seven at the break.

The teams exchanged baskets for most of the second half. Southeast cut the lead to just one twice at 60-59 and 64-63. They were in the game the entire second half, but clutch free-throw shooting led EKU to the six-point victory.

Southeast was led on the night by junior forward Yashika Sidbury. Sidbury had 15 points on 5-8 shooting from the field and 3-5 from behind the arc. She made 2-3 free-throws. Junior forward Carina Souza, freshman guard Tiffanne Ryan and junior guard Kenja White had 14, 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Lady Colonels got 24 points from Kelly. She was 7-10 from the field and a huge 10-11 from the free-throw line. Teresa McNair added 21 points and nine rebounds and Miranda Eckerle had 16 points. Eastern made 26-29 free-throws on the night. They were only 1-4 from behind the arc, but 14 steals and clutch shooting sealed the deal.

Southeast outshot the Lady Colonels 46 percent to 43 and outscored Eastern in the second half 39-38, but couldn't pull out the win. Twenty-five percent from behind the arc and only 59 percent at the line led to Southeast losing its first home game since late last season.

Southeast got three long-range bombs from Sidbury to extend its streak to 144 games with at least one three-point basket made. With the loss, the Otahks move a half game behind the Lady Colonels in third place. League leader Austin Peay was victorious again tonight and moved to 10-0 in the league to retain first place.

Southeast now looks to Monday night where they will play host to the struggling Eagles of Morehead State. Morehead won tonight at Eastern Illinois and will be looking for a bit of revenge after the Otahks handed Morehead a 20-point defeat on the Eagles' home court last month. Tip off is slated for 7:00 p.m. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a limited edition Otahkian team poster designed by Coach Smith.