Feb. 18, 2002

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- It was only fitting that Coach Ed Arnzen won his last game at the Show Me Center. The coach, who won his first game at the Show Me Center against SIU-Edwardsville by a 77-55 margin back on November 25, 1987, won his last game over Eastern Illinois on Monday by a 79-51 margin.

The win was also was a little bit of retribution for the coach and team after EIU spoiled a special game last season. On the 10-year reunion on the National Title runner-up finish, Eastern handed Southeast what Coach Arnzen called "his worst loss ever as a coach."

"I joked around before the game that this game was the last home game for our three seniors and a senior citizen," Arnzen said. "I don't want this to sound cliche but the win was just great to keep our team momentum going. I'll probably think back about it in a couple of weeks and then it'll mean more to me. It's just nice for our seniors."

Early on Eastern Illinois (6-19, 5-9 OVC) matched Southeast Missouri (15-11, 7-8) blow-for-blow. The Panthers hit their first four shots, two each from Kayla Bloemer and Pam O'Connor, the reigning OVC Player of the Week. But Southeast stuck close thanks to 10 first half points from senior center Pam Iversen and used a 17-5 run to open a 31-15 lead with only 5:52 to play in the half. In all, the Otahkians closed the half on a 32-14 run to lead by 20, 44-24 at intermission.

The second half was more of the same for Southeast, as 22 points was the closest EIU could pull to at any point, and the Otahkians led by as many as 32 before winning 79-51.

"This was a big win," Coach Ed Arnzen said. "We needed to keep the momentum going and we needed to take care of business at home, and we did both. We are really playing well right now. I really want us to get to Louisville (for the OVC Final Four)."

The second half did see one exciting moment as Iversen attempted her first three-point shot in her four-year career.

"I just kept inching back towards the line," Iversen said with a smile. "The coaches said if we got up big in a game they would let me shoot one." Unfortunately the shot did not go in. "It was a lot of fun out there tonight," Pam continued. "I really didn't think about it being my last Show Me Center game until I got here tonight."

Iversen scored a game-high 16 points, leading five Otahkians in to double figures. Lori Chase added 14, Andrea Koeper scored a career-high 11 points on 4-4 shooting, Tisa Thomas reached double figures for the second straight game with 10 and Veronica Benson scored 14.

EIU was led by 13 from O'Connor and 12 from Lauren Dailey who has held to only 2-7 from three-point range. EIU shot 41.7% for the game as compared to Southeast's 53.1%.

Benson, also in her last Show Me Center game, was pleased with the victory. When asked if the win felt good Benson emphatically replied, "Yes it is!"

"Excellent," said the other senior, Cindy Bates. "We wanted to win for Coach Arnzen but we also did it for ourselves. That's our team motto this season, 'do it for the team.'"

The win secured a fifth place finish in the OVC for Southeast. They will travel to either Morehead State or Austin Peay next Tuesday for the first round. If Southeast defeats APSU this weekend and Morehead State win outs, the Otahks will travel to Clarksville to battle the Lady Govs. If Southeast loses on Saturday or Morehead loses one of its two remaining games (at Murray State and at Tennessee-Martin), then Southeast would make the seven-hour trip back to the Bluegrass State.

The Otahkians challenge Austin Peay at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Game Notes: Junior forward Lori Chase recorded a career-high 5 assists ... Chase needs only 13 points to move into sole possession of 10th place on the SEMO all-time scoring list ... Chase started her 62nd consecutive game, a team-high amongst active players ... as a team, Southeast had a season-high 25 assists ... Southeast forced a season-high 28 turnovers by an opponent and also limited the Panthers to 48 field goal attempts, another season-low for an Otahkian opponent ... all 10 players scored tonight, marking the second time this season the Otahks had reached that mark, the other was versus Eastern Kentucky on January 10 ... five Otahkians were in double figures, the first time since the IPFW game on January 23 ... Iversen needs only 12 rebounds to move into 3rd place on the SEMO all-time list ... she now has 110 block in a career, only six away from being the SEMO career leader ... the 15 victories topped Southeast's victory total (14) of last season ... with the win Coach Ed Arnzen is guaranteed a winning-season, his 14th in 19th seasons as Southeast coach.