Issue date: 3/5/09 Section: OVC Tournament Guide

Eastern junior guard Dominique Sims attempts to block a Tennessee Tech player as she drives to the basket during Tuesday night's first round Ohio Valley Conference Tournament game in Lantz Arena. (Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News)

The Eastern women's basketball team may experience déjà vu Friday.

The Panthers travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Tennessee State in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at 2 p.m.

The last time they made the trip to Nashville was on Saturday in an 89-79 victory in the Gentry Center.

While Friday's game will be in the Sommet Center, it is only a 10-minute drive for the Lady Tigers. Still, Eastern head coach Brady Sallee sees the quick turnaround as a positive.

"I think it's an advantage for us in that maybe we don't have to do a whole lot because we're familiar with them," he said. "We know the game plan. We're focused more on resting. A well-rested team is just as important as anything else."

Senior forward Rachel Galligan said she is not worried about the fact that the Lady Tigers will be playing so close to home, and believes enough Eastern fans will make the trip and keep TSU's home-court advantage at bay.

"It helps this year that we got the fan bus approved so we'll have 50-something students, the band and the cheerleaders there," Galligan said. "So we're going to have people down there too, and our crowd is pretty rowdy with the Blue Crew and everyone."

The Lady Tigers took care of Southeast Missouri Tuesday night in Nashville to advance to the tournament's semifinals. This will be Tennessee State's fourth consecutive game in Nashville.

But the fact that the game is in the 18,500-capacity Sommet Center as opposed to the Gentry Center, which holds 8,000 less fans, makes the home-court advantage less of a factor, according to Sallee.

"The arena itself will really neutralize the crowd," he said. "It's such a big place, neither team is really used to playing in that kind of atmosphere."

With all the hype of the OVC Tournament, the home-court advantage and the familiarity of the opponent set aside, one thing Sallee knows for sure is that Tennessee State is a dangerous team.

"At the end of the day they've got kids who can flat play and (senior guard Kendra) Appling, (sophomore forward Jasmine) Smith and (senior forward Tiffany) Jackson are as good as anybody in the league."

The Panthers and Lady Tigers faced each other in last season's OVC Tournament first round, with the Panthers coming out victorious in Lantz Arena.

Galligan said she thinks last year's experience also gives the team a boost.

"Anytime you've been through something once and know what to expect, that works to your advantage," she said. "We're a veteran group, almost all of us have experienced the whole atmosphere and build-up. I think that works to our advantage."

The winner of Friday's contest will face either top-seeded Murray State or fifth-seeded Austin Peay in the OVC Tournament Championship at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Panthers lost to Murray State four straight times, including in the OVC Tournament title game last year, but did beat Austin Peay in both of their meetings this season.


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

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