Brady Sallee was too late.

By the time he was named women’s basketball coach at Eastern, Courtney Slaughter was already picked over.

At the time, Slaughter, a Dolton native, was one of the more underrated recruits in Illinois.

Sallee knew when he arrived in Charleston that time was short. Sallee attempted to call Thornwood High School, Slaughter’s alma mater, but the 5-foot-7 junior already committed to playing at Jacksonville State.

“She was one of the recruits that slipped through the cracks,” Sallee said. “I would have loved to have her in one of our uniforms.”

While Sallee looks back at the one that got away, he’ll see plenty of Slaughter and the rest of the Gamecocks tonight at Lantz Arena.

Sallee got a bird’s-eye view of what kind of talent Slaughter is. In Jacksonville State’s 67-60 victory against Eastern last year, Slaughter posted a career-high with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

“She’s got one of the best 1-2 dribbles in the league,” Sallee said. “The first thing we must do is stop dribble penetration. Her quickness will kill you. We’re gonna have to use a lot of different people on her.”

Even though Sallee plans different defensive looks against Slaughter, Ellen Canale will draw most of the responsibility in limiting Slaughter.

It will be up to Canale to carry out Salle’s game plan of “banging (Slaughter) around a little bit.”

“She’s very quick and athletic,” Canale said. “She brings aggressiveness to that team. The quick girls have an advantage on me because I’m not as fast. It’s fun playing someone as athletic as she is. I thrive on that.”

Slaughter has continued her strong play from last season (13.2 ppg) to this season (14.0 ppg), where she has taken a leadership role on a Gamecocks (6-16, 3-10 OVC) team decimated by graduation.

Going into the season, Jacksonville State had to adjust to the losses of two of its top four scorers from last season. With the graduation of Rebecca Haynes (13.6 ppg) and Anne-Marie Healy (11.2 ppg), most of the burden has been put on Slaughter and LaTonya McKinney.

“Courtney is playing real well,” Jacksonville State coach Becky Geyer said. “She’s the person leading our team. She has a real savvy for the game that can’t be taught.”

With Eastern (7-14, 4-8 OVC) favoring the half-court press most of the season, their defense may be forced to shift gears against a Jacksonville State team that relies on four guards with quickness.

As many guards as Jacksonville State uses, it will give the Panthers a chance to get rebounding opportunities that could result in second-chance points.

Jacksonville State ranks last in the Ohio Valley Conference with a minus-7.9 rebounding differential.

“A lot of our rebounding relies on Rachel (Galligan) having great (rebounding) games,” Sallee said. “We really struggle when the other team’s (big players) are athletic.”

Sophomore guard Ellen Canale and freshman forward Marie Baker fight for the ball during a tumble at practice on Wednesday afternoon at Lantz arena. (Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

(more…)