Jan. 2, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State junior guard Ashley Lovelady (Elkhart, Ind./Mineral Area CC) was picked as the Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, the conference announced this afternoon. This is the first honor for Lovelady and she is the second Southeast player to win the award this season, joining fellow classmate and two-time winner Missy Whitney.

The 5-7 Lovelady averaged 13 points and three assists a game during the Holiday break while extending her streak of double-digit scoring games to six. She opened the break with a game-high 17 points in a home win over Samford on Dec. 19. Three days later, Lovelady added 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals at Buffalo. She finished 2006 with 12 points, five assists and two steals Dec. 28 against Martin Methodist.

Lovelady is second on the Redhawks in scoring (12.4 ppg), assists (2.4 apg) and steals (1.0 spg) on the year in addition to ranking third in the OVC in minutes played (32.8 mpg).

Southeast returns to OVC play tonight at Eastern Kentucky with a start time of 4:15 p.m., while returning to the Show Me Center on Thursday evening with a conference matchup against Eastern Illinois starting at 5 p.m.