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Cape Girardeau, Mo. (March 3, 2003) - The Southeast Missouri State Otahkian basketball team will open up the OVC Tournament at home for only the third time ever as they play host to the Panthers of Eastern Illinois University Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Show Me Center.

Southeast is coming off a season-ending win at Tennessee State Saturday night 81-72. The win secured the No. 2 seed for the Otahks in the OVC Tournament. Junior guard Kenja White had another strong game as she had 21 points on 6-11 shooting. She was 7-11 from the free-throw line. The win secured second place in the conference and it is the the highest-ever finish for a Southeast team in the OVC.

The Otahks are being led by White's 13.6 points per game. She is third on the team in three-point percentage with a 30 percent average. Senior forward Lori Chase is second in scoring and first in rebounds with 13.3 and 6.0 per game marks. She is second in three-point percentage with her 33 percent mark. Junior forward Carina Souza is fourth in scoring with a 12.0 per game average, as she, White, and Chase are the only Otahks to start every single game this season.

Junior forward Yashika Sidbury is fourth in scoring with 10.7 points per game and continues to lead the team in free-throw shooting averaging 85 percent from the line and is first in three-point shooting with a 39 percent mark.

Southeast leads the overall series 10-6, and has won the last four meetings in a row, including the series sweep this season as they beat the Panthers at home 74-59 and at Lantz Arena 82-64. In the last ten meetings, Southeast has won nine of the last ten games.

EIU is being led on the season by Lauren Dailey. The junior guard from Terre Haute, Indiana is scoring 13.1 points per game on the season and averages 3.8 rebounds per game. She has started 26 of the 27 games the Panthers have played, and is averaging 29. miuntes per game.

Senior center Brooke Gossett is averaging 9.9 points per contest while grabbing five boards per contest. Freshman guard Megan Sparks leads the team in minutes as she averages 30 per game, while scoring 11 and pulling down 4.6 boards per game.

As a team, the Panthers are averaging 62.3 points per game, while giving up 72.2 points per contest. They are shooting 42 percent from the field and 29 percent from behind the arc. They average 72 percent from the free-throw line.

Southeast's next game could be in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. at the Gaylord Center.