This week is perhaps the most important week for the Eastern women’s basketball team.

The Panthers have already secured a quarterfinal spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament set to start on March 4.

A top-four league finish is already guaranteed with Eastern’s current 13-5 record in the OVC. The Panthers will host a first-round tournament game because of their top-four ranking.

But this week will be crazy, as weeks leading up to the conference tournament usually are. Austin Peay and Tennessee-Martin have been eliminated from the tournament and Morehead State and Tennessee Tech are battling for the eighth spot.

What is still up for grabs are the rest of the tournament seedings.

Despite the pressure of the last week of the regular season, the Panthers have to worry about how they play. Winning out would be the best possible option for Eastern, but the Panthers could also benefit from some extra help from other league teams.

The Panthers obviously want to finish better than fourth because it will look better historically. However, there is a more logical reason for Eastern to want a better seed.

If Eastern wins its first round game as a No. 4 seed, and Southeast Missouri does the same as a No. 1 seed, the Panthers would have to face the only team that has beaten them twice this season in the semifinals of the tournament.

Eastern plays Jacksonville State on Thursday and Samford on Saturday.

The Gamecocks and the Panthers have had some classic games lately. Eastern lost a double overtime game last season in Charleston, 103-98. The Panthers answered this season with an 83-81 double overtime win in Jacksonville, Ala. Samford beat Eastern 86-80 in Birmingham, Ala., earlier this season.

It is important to win out against Jacksonville State and Samford. If Eastern does, the Panthers will move to 15-5 in the conference.

This final week will determine whom the Panthers play in the quarterfinal round and potentially the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Even with two games remaining for Eastern and Samford, who is in second place, there are still multiple scenarios for how the seeding will work.

If Samford loses both of its games and Eastern wins both of its remaining games, Eastern will be ahead of Samford and at least in third place. Samford plays at SEMO and Eastern this week. Samford could potentially fall to fourth place.

But the other factor in this equation is third-place Murray State. The Racers have split the season series with Eastern and Samford. The Racers play at Tennessee Tech and against Tennessee-Martin. If the Racers win both games, they will move to 15-5 in the conference.

And if Eastern did win both of its remaining games, it could potentially play Murray State in a semifinal game.

At this point in time, the conference tournament schedule could change several times in the next seven days.

One thing is for certain, however. SEMO has clinched at least a share of the regular season title. The Redhawks are 12-2 in the conference, and their only losses have come to Tennessee State and Murray State.

The only way SEMO would not win the title outright is if it lost its next two games and Samford won its next two games.

Regardless of the confusion of the next few weeks, Eastern will play in the OVC tournament for the second time in three years.

The Panthers just don’t know if they will be playing the fifth, sixth or even seventh seed.

It’s a crazy process that is natural around the end of February and the beginning of March, but the Panthers can rest easy knowing their season will extend past Saturday’s game and the end of the regular season.

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