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Eastern Illinois (11-4, 2-0 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (4-13, 1-3 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, January 14, 2012
Tip-Off: 5:30 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Site: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series Record: Southeast leads 16-13 (0-2 in 2010-11)
Coaches: Ty Margenthaler (4-13 overall, 4-13 at Southeast); Brady Sallee (125-105 overall, 125-105 at Eastern Illinois)

Media Coverage
Redhawks Radio Network: ESPN 1220 AM (KGIR), flagship; 930 AM (KWOC); 1470 AM (KMAL). Erik Sean, Play-by-Play; Jess Bolen, Color Commentary.
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Video Streaming: KFVS12.com; OVCSports.tv

Quick Hits
About Eastern Illinois – The Panthers are off to an 11-4 start and sport an unblemished 2-0 mark in OVC play. EIU leads the league in scoring defense (59.7 points per game) and ranks second in scoring offense (71.7 points per game). Percentage wise, the Panthers are the most efficient team in the league, hitting a conference-best 42.1 percent of its shots from the floor while holding opponents to only 37.9 percent shooting (second in the OVC). Eastern Illinois has won its last four games and is 5-4 on the road this season. EIU also boasts the best rebounding margin (+8.0 per game) in the OVC. Individually, three Panthers are averaging double-digit points in Ta'Kenya Nixon (14.5 points per game), Mariah King (13.7 points per game) and Sydney Mitchell (10.9 points per game). King also paces EIU with 7.7 rebounds.

Last Season (Eastern Illinois 68, Southeast 43 – Jan. 8, 2011 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.; Eastern Illinois 74, Southeast 49 – Feb. 5, 2011 in Charleston, Ill.) – The Panthers controlled both of last season's meetings en route to their fourth and fifth consecutive victories over the Redhawks, their longest winning streak of the all-time series. Southeast opened the first meeting by scoring the first seven points at the Show Me Center, but EIU took control with an 18-0 run over a nine-minute stretch. The Redhawks got off to another good start at Eastern Illinois, grabbing a 14-8 lead with 11:41 left in the first half, but EIU opened the second half on a 17-4 and outscored Southeast 48-23 in the second half after the teams were tied at 26 at the break. Brittany Harriel averaged 16 points per game in the two meetings, tallying 15 and 17 points, respectively, against the Panthers.

Harriel Heats Up – Junior forward Brittany Harriel has been an offensive catalyst as of late. The Cincinnati, Ohio native has recorded four double-doubles in her past five games. This coming after notching only two double-doubles in her first two seasons. Harriel willed the Redhawks to a tight, 56-52, win over Longwood on Dec. 20 with 18 points while tying a career-high with 13 rebounds. She scored nine of Southeast's last 10 points and went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe to help secure the victory. Two games later, Harriel began her current streak of three-straight double-doubles. She poured in a career-high 26 points to go with 12 rebounds as the Redhawks nearly erased an 11-point deficit in the second half against Murray State on New Year's Eve. In Southeast's win over Jacksonville State on Jan. 2, the junior scored 12 points and corralled a team-high 11 rebounds. During this span, Harriel is averaging 13.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game..

Double Trouble – Southeast has gotten big nights out of several sources this season. Perhaps no trend underscores this fact more than that four different Redhawks have recorded double-doubles this season, including two returners posting their first career double-doubles. Senior guard Bianca Beck began this when she scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against Samford on Nov. 26 for the first double-double of her career. Junior center Courtney Shiffer also had her first such performance with 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds against Lindenwood on Dec. 3. In the last five games, junior forward Brittany Harriel notched four double-doubles while sophomore forward Patricia Mack posted the third double-double of her career. Harriel's double-doubles came against Longwood (Dec. 20 – 18 points, 13 rebounds), Murray State (Dec. 31 –26 points, 12 rebounds), Jacksonville State (Jan. 2 – 12 points, 11 rebounds) and Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 7) while Mack poured in a career-high 15 points and hauled in 11 rebounds in the conference opener against Morehead State on Dec. 28.

Home is Where the Heart is – While teams playing better at home is certainly expected, the Redhawks' differences between the Show Me Center and everywhere else. Southeast is 3-3 in its six home games and averaging 60.5 points while allowing 58.0 points per game. In its 11 other games, the Redhawks have a 1-10 record and are scoring 46.2 points while allowing 65.7 points per game. The shooting percentages are vastly different as well with Southeast hitting 38.2 percent of its shots, 27.8 percent of its three pointers and 70.9 percent of its free throws when playing at the Show Me Center. Those numbers drop to 29.8 percent field goal shooting, 20.7 percent from beyond the arc and 67.4 percent from the charity stripe in games on road or neutral courts. Bailie Roberts (10.8 points per game), Brittany Harriel (10.7 points per game) and Karley Evans (10.2 points per game) are all scoring in double figures at home this year, but nobody on the Redhawks is scoring double-digits per game away from their home venue.

Gotta Get to 60 – One trend that is carrying over from last season is the Redhawks' need to hit the 60-point mark in games. The Redhawks are 2-12 when scoring less than 60 points and 2-1 when breaking that barrier. A year ago, the Redhawks went 5-2 on the seven occasions that they scored at least 60 points. Conversely, Southeast is 5-32 when it scores less than 60 points and 1-19 when it scores under 50 points since the start of the 2010-11 season.

Running Point – Senior guard Bianca Beck has moved on from a junior year that saw her struggle at the point. Through 16 games, Beck has dished out a team-best 61 assists and a team-leading 1.30 assist to turnover ratio. The senior has also been a pleasant surprise on the glass, ranking fifth on the team averaging 4.1 rebounds per contest. On New Year's Eve, the St. Louis, Mo. native dished out a career-high nine assists. She recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Samford on Nov. 26. This is a welcome sign after a 2010-11 campaign that saw her commit 78 turnovers against only 44 assists. She has also scored in double figures five times this season, surpassing her total from a year ago and tying her career high in scoring (13 points) on three separate occasions.

Welcome Back – One of the main trouble spots for the Redhawks last year was a lack of depth in the post. That situation appears to be rectified thanks to the healthy return of Patricia Mack. Through 17 games, Mack is averaging 5.4 rebounds per game in only 15.9 minutes per contest, the best per minute rebound ratio on the team. She posted her first double-double since Feb. 2, 2010 against SIU Edwardsville when she tallied a career-high 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Southeast's conference opener against Morehead State on Dec. 28. That outburst is an exclamation point on the sophomore's strong play of late. Since scoring only two total points and averaging 3.6 rebounds in the first five games of the season, Mack is averaging 4.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 61.5 percent from the field. Mack got injured in the second game of the 2010-11 season, cutting her sophomore season short after a promising freshman campaign in 2009-10 where she averaged 5.4 rebounds per contest and posted two double-doubles.

Bringing Back the D – Southeast cleaned things up defensively in its last two contests against Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky. The Redhawks' defense yielded only 50.0 points per game in those two games, holding the Gamecocks to 29.7 percent shooting and 1-for-17 from three-point range on Jan. 2. Last Saturday, the Redhawks held the Colonels to 52 points and 2-for-11 shooting from long range. This was a welcome sign after the unit struggled in the recent games prior, allowing an average of 72.3 points per game in the previous six games. In the first nine games of the season, Southeast led the OVC in scoring defense at 59.7 points per game.