Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Winter Sports Guide

Eastern freshman forward Mariah King looks to make a pass during practice Monday afternoon in Lantz Arena. King is one of five freshmen on this year's team.(Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News)

Eastern freshman guard Kelsey Wyss looks to pass during practice Monday afternoon in Lantz Arena. Wyss is from Hoaglund, Ind.(Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News)

Eastern head coach Brady Sallee is "cautiously optimistic" about the season ahead for the women's basketball team after, last season, the Panthers made it to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship for the second consecutive season, only to be upset by Austin Peay.

Despite losing five seniors from last year's team, Sallee said he's excited because this season is the next step for the Eastern program.

"We've got a little bit to prove whether we can truly build a program or whether we just had a couple of good teams there," Sallee said. "The challenge excites me a little bit and I think we've got a lot of answers on this team."

Like Sallee, the players are ready to get back on the court and start playing again after a long offseason.

"It's a long offseason that we have and actually getting to play some other teams instead of beating up on each other is going to be fun," senior forward Maggie Kloak said.

Kloak, along with the rest of a five-player senior class, have the task of replacing a successful senior class from last year, which included the program's all-time leading scorer, but senior guard Ashley Thomas said she's not feeling the pressure.

"I don't think that there is an added pressure but I think there is a different mindset for our program now," Thomas said.

Thomas said the team expects to finish in the top two teams of the conference because that's what the tradition has been over the past few years.

"I think (finishing in good standing) is something that we're more worried about than we have been in the past," Thomas said.

The Panthers were picked to finish fourth in the OVC this season by the coaches receiving one of 19 first place votes.

With the success of the last season's 24-9 team, Sallee knows there are big questions regarding this season's squad.

"I think the big question for me is can we continue to run the system the way it's been run the past few years. I think we can," Sallee said.

Sallee said he thinks Kloak, Thomas, and senior guard Dominique Sims can step into roles left void by last season's team; however, he said this team is going to win differently than the last.

Graphic by Adam Larck/The Daily Eastern News

Women's Basketball Schedule
Date	Team	Time
11/7/2009	Illinois-Springfield (Exhibition)	6 p.m.
11/13/2009	@ #3 Ohio State (WNIT)	4 p.m.
11/15/2009	Bowling Green/Chicago State (WNIT)	TBA
11/20/2009	TBD (WNIT)	TBA
11/22/2009	TBD (WNIT)	TBA
11/24/2009	@ SMU	7 p.m.
11/27/2009	@ IPFW	6 p.m.
11/29/2009	Brescia University (Ky.)	4 p.m.
12/3/2009	@ Tennessee State	5:30 p.m.
12/5/2009	@ Austin Peay	5:15 p.m.
12/9/2009	Western Michigan	5:30 p.m.
12/12/2009	Indiana State	4 p.m.
12/20/2009	@ Illinois-Chicago	3 p.m.
12/22/2009	Illinois State	5:30 p.m.
12/30/2009	@ Miami (Ohio)	6 p.m.
1/2/2010	Jacksonville State	4 p.m.
1/4/2010	Tennessee Tech	5:30 p.m.
1/9/2010	Southeast Missouri State	2 p.m.
1/14/2010	@ Eastern Kentucky	4:30 p.m.
1/16/2010	@ Morehead State	1 p.m.
1/21/2010	Murray State	5:30 p.m.
1/23/2010	UT Martin	4 p.m.
1/28/2010	@ Tennessee Tech	5:30 p.m.
1/30/2010	@ Jacksonville State	2 p.m.
2/4/2010	@ SIU Edwardsville	7 p.m.
2/6/2010	@ Southeast Missouri	5:30 p.m.
2/11/2010	Morehead State	5 p.m.
2/13/2010	Eastern Kentucky	4 p.m.
2/18/2010	@ UT Martin	5:30 p.m.
2/20/2010	@ Murray State	TBA
2/25/2010	Austin Peay	5:30 p.m.
2/27/2010	Tennessee State	4 p.m.

"I think the worst thing this team could do is try to be last year's team," Sallee said. "We're going to win games a little differently this year. We're going to be successful a little differently, but we've got to play to our strengths, not to other teams' strengths."

Sallee said this team is more athletic than the last, thus it will be able to defend a little bit differently than it did last year.

A big part of this, according to Sallee, is because of a talented freshmen class that is coming in this year. In fact, Sallee said from a talent standpoint, this year's freshmen might be the most talented he's had.

With this in mind, Kloak and Thomas know they need to take big leadership roles to show the freshmen the ropes.

"We have a ton of new freshmen coming in, so the most important thing is to lead them right now and show them what kind of program we have and how we play," Kloak said.

While a brand new season is ahead, Sallee is warning the fans to expect something a little different than last season.

"The people that want to come out and expect to see a carbon copy of what we were the past two years aren't going to see that, but I think they're going to see good basketball," Sallee said. "And that's what ultimately we're at."

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.

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