More than once this weekend, Eastern head coach Brady Sallee mentioned how rare it is to win games on the home courts of Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State; and yet, his team did.

Coming into this weekend, anyone associated with the women’s basketball team could have told you how gigantic the team’s two road games were.

In playing the previously top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, three opinions of Eastern’s women’s basketball team could have formed:

A) With losses to both EKU and MSU, the Panthers are a good team that’s just not up to the same level as the Lady Colonels or Eagles.

B) In splitting the weekend – with a win and a loss against either team – the Panthers are right in the thick of things in the OVC.

C) By sweeping the weekend clean with two wins, the Panthers establish themselves as a conference favorite for the remainder of the season.

Reflecting on the weekend, the appropriate opinion of the Panthers would be ‘C’.

At 10-8, 6-1 in the OVC, Eastern swept its two weekend match-ups by going on the road and winning grinding games that tested its toughness, depth and composure.

Although nobody on the team will tell you themselves, I believe what the players did this weekend is an accomplishment to be proud of.

Numerous times, both Sallee and his players said their wins against EKU and MSU are just two more win in an otherwise long season.

“Every game in conference is big,” freshman guard Ta’Kenya Nixon said following Eastern’s 60-50 win over EKU.

“Just another opportunity to go 1-0,” Sallee said Thursday.

Not only did these games slingshot Eastern into first place in the league, but they also extended Eastern’s winning streak to five games.

However, Eastern refuses to focus on its current win streak and its present position in the OVC standings. The Panthers are still focusing on one game at a time.

“We don’t really look at this win like it boosts our confidence. we look at like ‘OK, we got that one and now we need to focus on the next game’,” senior guard Dominique Sims said following the EKU contest. “We are always looking toward the future.”

“As far as being in first place right now, it doesn’t matter a whole heck of a lot,” Sallee said following Saturday’s 62-60, win over Morehead State.

The results speak for themselves.

Face it, Eastern is on a five-game winning streak, but the team is doing it because it has its mind in the right place.

Playing on a game-by-game basis has proved to be the right thing to do. If Eastern rids its minds of this hot streak and its first place position in the OVC standings, then what it has to play for is very simple.

The Panthers are playing chess. They are working hard to win one match-up at a time and they know they cannot say “checkmate” yet.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.