Box Score

Cape Girardeau, Mo. (March 4, 2003) - The Southeast Missouri State Otahkian basketball team won a squeaker tonight in the first round of the Women's OVC Tournament as they defeated the Panthers of Eastern Illinois, 79-76. They now move on to the semi finals of the Tournament in Nashville on Friday at 2 p.m. where they will meet Tennessee Tech.

Eastern had as much as an 11 point lead in the first half but Southeast chipped away at the advantage to be down by only six at the half. Southeast shot only 38 percent in the first half from the field and was only 1-9 from behind the arc. They made only 11-20 shots from the charity stripe. Senior forward Lori Chase had 11 points in the half.

Southeast was down by six at the half, and by 13 with 13 minutes left in the game but chipped away at the lead for five minuets, before using an 8-0 run to tie the score at 66. They then would take a quick lead before Eastern tied it up again at 72. Southeast eventually had as high as a five point lead and held out for a three point victory. They made seven free throws in the last 45 seconds of the game.

Southeast was led on the night from junior guard Sarah Costello's 16 points. She was 5-8 from the field and 6-7 from the free-throw line with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Chase and junior forward Carina Souza had 14 points apiece while junior guard Kenja White had 13 and junior forward Yashika Sidbury had 10. Souza had a game-high 10 rebounds.

The 14 points for Chase put her into third place all-time on the Southeast scoring list as she now has 1,470 career points passing Virginia Blissett and trailing only Otahk legends Gray C. Harris and Pat Colon.

After making only 2-8 from the free-throw line in the first half, Souza was clutch in the second canning 8-10 from the line helping the Otahks to 32-45 from the charity stripe on the night. Both were OVC Tournament records as they set the marks for attempts and made free-throws in a game.

Southeast went 1-17 from behind the three point arc for a season-low 6 percent. However, the one made trey, extends the team's streak of games with at least one to 152. The Otahks led the points in the paint battle 42-26 over the Panthers as well as out rebounding Eastern 45-31.

Southeast now travels to Nashville to compete in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament to be held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center at 2 p.m. on Friday. They will take on Tennessee Tech, while top seed Austin Peay will take on No. 4 seed Tennessee-Martin at noon.