Nov. 28, 2003

Box Score

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - After a back-and-forth fight with the Bowling Green Falcons, the Southeast Missouri State Othakians lost the battle 70-60, thus dropping their second game in a row.

The game started out slow as neither team could seem to find the basket. Senior guard Sarah Costello put Southeast on the board first draining a three-pointer with 4:17 off the clock. It could possibly be the longest time it has taken either team to score in women's Division I history. Southeast went on to spread their lead to as much as seven, but saw it disappear with a seven-point unanswered run by Bowling Green.

In the eighth minute, senior guard Kenja White re-energized the Southeast offense with a shot from downtown. Then as the squad went to the other side White made an excellent defensive play, making a diving steal to set up the offense again. The squad then went on a seven point unanswered run will a jumper in the paint by senior Carina Souza. Southeast then stretched its lead to 13 before BGSU added five more unanswered points. Guard Sami Jo Cotton ended their streak just before the buzzer as she nailed a three pointer, putting Southeast up 36-27 at intermission.

After starting out cold, Southeast shot extremely well to average 44.4 percent from the field and from behind the line. The squad netted eight three pointers, to account for 24 of their 36 points in the half. Leading the offense at the half was Sami Jo Cotton with three from downtown for nine points.

Starting the second half turnovers really hurt the squad as they committed five early and saw their lead disappear as the Falcons tied the score at 39. With 8:35 left to go, senior point guard Sarah Costello fouled out of the game, leaving only one point guard for the Otahkians down the stretch. Southeast was able to regain the lead, but lost it for good with 5:56 on the clock. The Falcons took over from their as they went on a ten point unanswered run to pull ahead 57-53. BGSU stretched their lead to ten down the stretch with free throws, to top Southeast 70-60.

Kenja White led the Otahkians with 16 points, while teammate Sami Jo Cotton was close behind with 13. Cotton also came up big on the board, bringing down six. Teammates Chandra Brown and Kenja White followed with five a piece. Leading the way in assists were point guards Sarah Costello and Jessica Aebi, with 5 and 4 respectively.

Southeast will be back in action tomorrow, Nov. 29 against the loser of the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi/Prairie View game.