The sense of urgency is now for the Eastern women’s basketball team. With six games left in the season and the Panthers two games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Ohio Valley Conference, Eastern knows the door to its postseason is slowly closing.

The Panthers begin their knock at the door for the postseason tonight at Austin Peay – a team that already owns a 74-62 victory over the Panthers in Charleston.

The final six games include three at home and three on the road. With the way the Panthers (7-16, 4-10 OVC) have been playing this season, neither venue seems to be a solution for Eastern’s chances of making the OVC Tournament.

Eastern coach Brady Sallee estimates the Panthers need “four or five wins” to have a chance at the final playoff spot. He should know, as the Panthers finished 9-11 last season, earning the eighth playoff seed.

“I think we realize the season is winding down,” Sallee said. “The team knows we need multiple wins to have a shot. They desperately want to keep playing.”

For the Panthers to have a legitimate shot at making the OVC Tournament, they must play better on the road, where they have a 1-10 record.

“You contemplate all the different scenarios in your head,” said sophomore forward Rachel Galligan, “but the bottom line is we have to win.”

The task looks to be difficult against an Austin Peay (8-15, 7-7 OVC) team that outrebounded the Panthers 49-28 in the teams’ first meeting.

Not only were the Panthers punished on the boards, it was also a forgettable game for Galligan, who finished with eight points and four rebounds in 31 minutes.

In the first meeting, the Lady Governors double-teamed Galligan at a high rate, forcing the 6-2 sophomore to kick the ball out to her teammates on the perimeter.

Although senior guard Meggie Eck, freshmen guards Ashley Thomas and Jessica Huffman combined to make six of 14 3-pointers, it was Austin Peay’s 23-5 advantage in second-chance points that dashed any comeback hopes for the Panthers.

“If we go through another night like that,” Sallee said, “we’re in trouble. They did a good job of pushing Rachel away from the basket and extending her out towards the free throw line. It wasn’t anything Rachel hasn’t seen before, it’s just that they did it better than other teams.”

Galligan “honestly couldn’t remember the first game” so she turned to her father who was happy to recite the details.

“It was just an off night,” Galligan said. “I can’t allow that to happen.”

While the Panthers have faced a litany of difficulties throughout the season, Sallee says one of the more frustrating issues has been the lack of a third and fourth scorer.

Besides Galligan (17.5 points per game) and Huffman (17.7 ppg), the Panthers’ other options remain question marks.

“The consistency of someone doing it night in, night out is what hurts,” Sallee said. “Consistency is always a buzz word with a young team, especially this one.”