Two glaring weaknesses stood out to head coach Brady Sallee after last Sunday’s 93-89 win against Chicago Odyssey: half-court defense and shot selection.

The Panthers will have one more chance in the exhibition season to correct those deficiencies in tonight’s game against Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis.

While Eastern’s new motion offense looked to be in mid-season form, its defense tended to give up easy shots in the half court.

The most glaring statistic from Sunday’s game is the Odyssey’s 50 second-half points and 47 percent shooting.

“I thought we had some breakdowns,” Sallee said. “A lot of times, we lost sight of our man and they got easy scores.”

The full-court press remains the Panthers’ staple on the defensive end. But Sallee knows that in order to compete for an Ohio Valley Conference championship, the best teams are the ones that are able to control the game in the half court.

“It’s fun to press,” he said. “We’re not going to hold people in the 50s all the time, but in order to be at the top of our conference, we have to get stronger all around defensively.”

Coming into Sunday’s game, Sallee said he hadn’t mentioned shot selection to his team all season.

That changed at the end of the game when Sallee lamented about some of the poor shots the Panthers were taking.

Even though Eastern shot 47 percent, there were times the Panthers looked to rush their shots without working the ball for an open look.

“I like to shoot between 17 and 22 three-point shots a game,” Sallee said. “But, I want points inside as well. The best way to sum it up is by getting balance. The more balanced we are, the better our offense looks.”

Indeed, the Panthers had four players in double figures, while holding a 42-24 points in the paint advantage.

Like last Sunday’s game, Sallee isn’t sure what starting lineup he will use against UMSL. In that game, sophomore Rachel Galligan came off the bench to score 21 points and grab 10 rebounds.

As effective as Galligan was against the Odyssey, the Panthers would like to use more four-guard sets on offense.

With talented freshman like Jessica Huffman and Ashley Thomas along with sophomores Ellen Canale and Megan Edwards, it would seem to be a logical choice to put all four on the floor.

“This is an important game for us,” Sallee said. “The goal is to see some progression before we face Bradley. That’s what I’m looking for.”

Note: Canale sidelined with mono

The Panthers improved depth will be put to the test early as Ellen Canale will be out for at least 10 days.

Watching practice from the sideline Thursday night, the sophomore guard is suffering from mononucleosis.

She said she hopes to be back by Nov. 20, meaning she will miss tonight’s exhibition game and the first three games of the season against Bradley, Illinois-Springfield and Illinois-Chicago.

“It’s hard to sit here and watch,” Canale said. “But, if it’s gonna happen, I’d rather be out now than later in the season.”

She is coming off a freshman season in which she started all 29 games and averaged 7.2 points per game.