Dec. 14, 2003

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - After stretching their home record to 2-0 on Saturday evening as they blew past the Lady Muleriders of Southern Arkansas, the Otahkians are geared up to make a play for a perfect 3-0 home record. Southeast will host the Northern Illinois Huskies on Monday, Dec. 15 to continue non-conference action. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Show Me Center.

Scouting Southeast... The Otahkians (3-3) are coming off a decisive victory over Southern Arkansas. Southeast jumped out to an early lead as they ran-up the score to 14-0 before SAU answered back with a two-point field goal. Southeast went on to increase the spread to 26-points at the half as they went to the lockers dominating with a 49-23 lead.

Southeast continued their dominance throughout the second half as they topped SAU, 84-57. Leading the pack was senior Kenja White for her fourth consecutive game. After her season-high performance of 21-points against Prairie View A&M, White pumped-in another 17 versus the Lady 'Riders. Junior Chandra Brown also had an excellent performance as she chipped-in 15-points, 3 rebounds, and one block.

On the season the talented Otahks are being led in scoring by White and Brown. White is averaging 13.3 points per game, while Brown is adding another 11.2 per game. Brown is also leading the team on the glass is she is bringing down an average of 5.8 boards per game.

On the defensive side, White is topping the team with ten steals, while guards Brandi Russia and Sarah Costello add nine and eight respectively. Dishing out the assists is senior point-guard Sarah Costello. She assisted her teammates with five assists in the last three games, as she is averaging four per game.

As a team, Southeast is outscoring their opponents 415 to 388 on the season.

Scouting Northern Illinois... The Huskies (3-2) come into the match-up off a tight win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 55-53. NIU allowed their 12-point lead to be trimmed to single digits with a couple minutes left to play. The squad played solid defense down the stretch to close the game up by two. With the win, NIU snapped a two-game losing streak after losing to Western Illinois and No. 13 Kansas State.

Sophomore center Joi Scott scored a game-high 16 points, while senior forward Lindsay Secrest added another 12. Forward Jennifer Youngblood was strong in the paint for the Huskies as she brought down 11 defensive and 2 offensive rebounds. The squad shot 54.5 percent from the field while limiting their opponent to only 35.5 percent shooting. Topping the scoring ranks for the Huskies is Secrest averaging 11.6 per game, while Scott and Youngblood are chipping in 10.4 and 7.8 per game respectively. Youngblood is dominating the team in rebounds, averaging 8.8 per game with Scott coming in second, averaging 4.2 per game. As a team, the squad is being out rebounded by their opponents by an average of 6.2 boards per game.

On the defensive side, the Otahkians need to watch out for the speedy hands of Stephanie Raymond who is leading the way with ten steals. On the offensive side, guard Monique Davis is providing her teammates with three assists per game.

After five games, NIU is being narrowly edged out in scoring by their opponents, 299 to 297.

Up Next... After finishing off their two-game home stand, the Otahkians will hit the road again for a four-game away series. First on the agenda, Southeast will head to Nashville, Tenn. to take on the Lady Bisons of Lipscomb University, Dec. 20, at 7:00 p.m. The Otahkians will then travel to take on in-state rival, Southwest Missouri State University on Dec. 23 at 7:05 p.m. in Springfield, Mo. These two games will be followed up by trip to the UT-San Antonio Classic over the New Year's holiday.