Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: Sports

Eastern junior forward Maggie Kloak attempts a shot against Morehead State on Saturday at Lantz Arena. The Panthers battle for first-place in the league today against Murray State at 5:15 p.m. in Murray, Ky. (Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News)

Eastern women's basketball head coach Brady Sallee does not need to get his team motivated to face Murray State.

After last season's 69-58 loss to the Racers in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship, a loss that ended the Panthers' season and cost them a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the team has plenty of motivation. Senior forward Rachel Galligan, who scored 23 points in last year's loss, said the team has made a point to not look ahead throughout the season, but now that Murray State is up next on their schedule, they can finally start to get excited.

"Obviously, a lot of us have looked forward to this game for a long time," she said.

The Panthers and Racers enter today's game (5:15 p.m. in Murray, Ky.) in a first place tie in the OVC with records of 6-1, and the winner will control their own destiny the rest of the season.

"You go into it and you're going to have two first place teams playing in the middle of January," Sallee said. "It's a marquee game."

Eastern will have several factors working against them that they will need to overcome against the Racers. Its 2-6 record away from Lantz Arena combined with the fact that the Panthers have not won in Murray since 2002 will be a factor. Additionally, the Panthers will have to deal with three dynamic Murray State scorers, two of which are averaging more than 20 points per game in senior forward Ashley Hayes (21.1) and senior guard Amber Guffey (21).

"They've got some dynamic scorers and can really scare the heck out of you," Sallee said. "But at the end of the day both teams can put the ball in the basket. It's going to come down to which team plays defense and who rebounds."

Junior forward Maggie Kloak, who is coming off a career weekend where she scored a combined 38 points in home victories against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State, said the team enters every game just looking to be 1-0 at the end of the night. Still, she said the Murray State game has added importance.

"Murray State is a big game for us," Kloak said. "We've got a chip on our shoulder after last season, but this is a new season and we've got to work hard."


Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

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