There’s no breathing room for the Eastern women’s basketball team this week.

The Panthers play two of the top teams in the league on Thursday and Saturday, and if the Panthers play their cards right they can sit on the top of the Ohio Valley Conference.

If not, it’s not the end of the world.

Eastern will play league-leading Southeast Missouri at 5 p.m. on Thursday in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Eastern and Southeast Missouri are the top two teams in the league.

Even Morehead State coach Mike Bradbury said they are head and shoulders above everyone else.

The Redhawks have won close games like the Panthers.

And this is the biggest game the Eastern women’s basketball team will play in the league this season.

It’s the battle of No.1 vs. No. 2.

The last times these teams met, Eastern came out on the short end and lost 55-51.

“This is what February is about,” Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. “In order to survive, you’ve got to be playing your best basketball.”

Then the Panthers play Murray State at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Murray, Ky.

But Murray State is not an easy game either. The Racers have lost some close games, but finished second in the conference last season. They are fourth through today’s standings, but the Racers have some of the top players in the conference including junior guard Amber Guffey, senior forward Shaleea Petty and junior forward Ashley Hayes.

Eastern was able to slip past the Racers on Jan. 3. It was the first game for the Panthers before the start of the spring semester and it was a part of Eastern’s six-game winning streak. The Panthers led by six points with 18 seconds left in the game, 60-54. But the Racers didn’t give up and managed to cut that lead to three points before the end of the game.

These games have an added degree of difficulty because they are on the road, but the Panthers do have a solid 7-1 conference road record.

It’s going to be more difficult on the road for any type of shooter. The backdrop can change the way a shooter looks at the basket or the facilities and where the locker rooms are located.

With the level of play and the parity in the OVC, there aren’t going to be many blowouts. The play is going to leave you on the edge of your seats. Eastern’s remaining games are going to be the type of grind-out, gritty, dirty work that is expected in college basketball.

You can’t expect to hold your breath for the Panthers to win both games this week. If they do win both games it will help in terms of seeding for the tournament. But ultimately it will be the conference tournament – the games that decide the OVC’s representative in the NCAA Tournament – where the excitement builds.

That’s where the shortness of breath and the fist-clenching, teeth-chattering action will begin.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.