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Southeast Missouri (5-17, 2-7 OVC) at Eastern Illinois (17-4, 8-0 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m., CT
Location: Charleston, Ill.
Site: Lantz Arena (5,300)
Series Record: Southeast leads 16-14 (Southeast is 0-1 vs. EIU in 2011-12)
Coaches: Ty Margenthaler (5-17 overall, 5-17 at Southeast); Brady Sallee (131-105 overall, 131-105 at Eastern Illinois)

Media Coverage
Redhawks Radio Network: ESPN 1220 AM (KGIR), flagship; 930 AM (KWOC); 1470 AM (KMAL). Kelly Campbell, Play-by-Play;
Live Stats: EIUPanthers.com
Video Streaming: OVCSports.tv

Quick Hits
About Eastern Illinois – The Panthers are flying high in conference play as the Ohio Valley Conference's only undefeated team. EIU is 17-4 overall and an unblemished 8-0 against OVC foes. Eastern Illinois has won 10 in a row, seven of which have been by 10 points or more. The Panthers are the league's top defensive team, yielding only 59.1 points per game, and their scoring average of 73.2 points per game is the second best figure in the OVC. EIU shoots a league-high 42.9 percent from the field and allow a league-best 36.1 percent figure defensively. Eastern Illinois is also the league's top rebounding team, boasting a rebounding margin of +9.2 per game. Three Panthers are scoring in double figures, led by Ta'Kenya Nixon's 14.4 points per game. Mariah King is scoring 13.2 points per game and Sydney Mitchell contributes 11.5 per contest. King also leads the Panthers with 7.5 rebounds per game and scored 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting against the Redhawks on Jan. 14. All three players are shooting better than 50 percent from the field in OVC play, helping the Panthers shoot 44.9 percent against league foes (second in the league).

Roberts Coming On – Bailie Roberts has put together two consecutive career nights in different ways. Last Saturday, the junior led the Redhawks with a career-high 19 points on a career-best 8-of-16 shooting from the floor in a road contest at UT Martin. While she still tallied 10 points in Monday's win over Austin Peay, Roberts made her presence felt more on the glass. The Maryville, Tenn. native pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for her third career double-double and the first such performance since her freshman year. The junior has scored double figures on a team-best 13 occasions this year and leads all active Redhawks with 31 double-digit scoring efforts in her career.

Shiffer Gets Going – Junior center Courtney Shiffer has hit her offensive stride recently. The Freeport, Ill., native has scored in double figures four times in her last seven games after doing so only three times in the first 15 games of the year. In that span, she is shooting 45.1 percent (25.8 percent in the first 15). In her last four games, Shiffer is shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and is averaging 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, up from her previous season average of 5.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in the first 18 games of the year.

Working Overtime – Southeast put a scare into preseason OVC favorite Tennessee Tech on Jan. 21, leading most of the way before falling just shy, 60-57, in overtime. That game marked the Redhawks' first overtime game in nearly three years. The last time Southeast went to overtime was an 80-74 loss at Austin Peay on Feb. 28, 2009. The last time the Redhawks won an overtime game was on Feb. 2, 2008 when it dropped UT Martin, 58-51.

Harriel Heats Up – Junior forward Brittany Harriel has been an offensive catalyst as of late. The Cincinnati, Ohio native has scored in double figures seven times and recorded five double-doubles in her past 10 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 a 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. She made it three straight with 11 points and 11 rebounds at Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 7 and tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds in Monday's contest against SIU Edwardsville. She also scored a team-high 12 points at Tennessee Tech on Jan. 21 while chipping in 15 points in a win over Austin Peay on Jan. 30.

Consistent Roberts – Since day one, no Redhawk has provided more offensive consistency than junior Bailie Roberts. The Maryville, Tenn., native leads the team with 13 games of 10 or more points, leading to her team-best 9.8 points per game scoring average. She also ranks second on the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.

Need the D – Southeast has been inconsistent defensively since the tail end of its non-conference schedule. In the first nine games of the season, Southeast led the OVC in scoring defense at 59.7 points per game and did not allow any opponent to score 70 points. In the next six, the Redhawks allowed 72.3 points per game while allowing 70 or more points three times. Southeast picked it up in the next five games, allowing fewer than 60 points three times and yielding 58.2 points per game in that stretch, but allowed 88 points at UT Martin on Saturday. Southeast recovered from that outing to win against Austin Peay on Monday, allowing 60 points and holding the Lady Govs to only 33.3 percent shooting in the second half (39.6 percent overall).

Offensive Slump – After a promising start to conference play, the Redhawks have fallen victim to a prolonged offensive slump. Southeast averaged 66.0 points per game and shot 42.1 percent from the field in its first three league games while both Bailie Roberts and Brittany Harriel tied for the team scoring lead with 13.3 points per game. Its lowest point total in that span was 57 points. The Redhawks hit a collective funk in the next five games (all losses), averaging 46.0 points while shooting only 30.0 percent from the field. The Redhawks managed to pull out of that funk on Monday, scoring 69 points (their second best total of the year) in a victory over the Lady Govs.

Road Troubles – Southeast is looking to make up some ground in the league standings down the stretch and it will have to do so on the road. Five of the Redhawks' last seven games are on the road, where they are 0-10 this season. Southeast is looking to snap a 14-game road losing streak that dates back to a 64-57 win at Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 10, 2011.