Two of the hottest women’s basketball teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, Eastern (16-8, 11-1 OVC) and Morehead State (18-7, 11-2 OVC), will face off Thursday at 5 p.m. in Lantz Arena.

The Panthers are currently on a program record 11-game win streak, which started on Jan. 2 and included a two-point win against the Eagles.

Morehead State has tied its program record with a current five-game win streak. Its last loss was against Eastern.

Despite already having beaten the Eagles, Eastern is not overlooking one of the hottest teams in the OVC because it is playing its best basketball right now.

“They’ve settled into who they are as a team

and you can see it with what they are doing defensively and in the way they are running offense right now,” Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said.

Sallee said the Eagles are much sharper than they were on Jan. 16, when they last played each other, but thinks the improvements are not just their opponents’.

“They are playing at a high level, but at the end of the day, I think we are too,” Sallee said.

The Eagles will be a hard team to play against, Sallee said, especially with all the weapons they have.

Junior guard Chynna Bozeman has been scoring at will of late, putting up marks of 30 and 37 points in two of her last five games.

From past experience against her, senior guard Ashley Thomas knows that Bozeman is a difficult player to defend.

“Some people are three-point shooters, some people drive it and she does both,” Thomas said. “She scores in a lot of different ways so that’s the challenge of guarding her.”

The key is to guard Bozeman straight up and be there when she catches the ball, Thomas said, because you can never predict when she will put up a shot.

Senior guard Dominique Sims said she knows how Bozeman gets open and the Panthers’ defense cannot let that happen.

“When you get caught up on a screen and you don’t communicate, that’s how you get caught up and she shoots the three,” Sims said.

Sallee said the team will not focus on just stopping Bozeman because there are plenty of other weapons on the team.

“Believe me, they are way, way better than just Chynna Bozeman,” Sallee said. “That’s when they get you – when Tiffany Hamilton and all those kids get going, it makes for a tough night.”

As far as preventing Bozeman from scoring 30-plus points against his defense, Sallee said that all Eastern can do is just try to keep her from an offensive explosion.

Overall, Sallee said the scouting report on Morehead State indicates it will try to take and make many three-pointers, but Sallee said his defense will focus inside.

“I don’t know that game planning to keep them from (shooting threes) is a smart way to go about it but you have to be able to guard their dribble penetration and not let them get the easy ones and not let them get free throws,” Sallee said.

With the Eagles’ multi-faceted offense, Sims said the Panthers will try not to change their game plan.

“They are really hot right now, but we just need to stay disciplined and guard like we’ve been practicing,” Sims said. “I think it’s all about toughness. If we out-tough them, then I think we have a good chance at a ‘W.'”

Both Sims and Thomas said today’s game is a big one for the team, despite having many games left.

However, Thomas said the team is trying not to get too excited.

“I think we try to keep it on an even keel – not too high, not too low – and just realize that it’s just another game,” Thomas said.

As for getting the team pumped up, Sims and Thomas said the fans help them stay pumped consistently when they play at home. Both women hope many fans come out to support the team.

“This is a big game for us, so we just need to go out there and play hard,” Sims said. “The fans always help us stay more focused and get us more hyped for the game.”

And for the result of the game, Sallee said his team knows what to expect from the Eagles, but the game will be all about the top two teams in the OVC going at it.

“At the end of the day, you throw that ball up in the air and let a lot of good players go at it, and that’s what Thursday’s game is going to be,” Sallee said.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944

or admcnamee@eiu.edu

Freshman forward Sydney Mitchell passes the ball on Monday afternoon in Lantz Arena. Eastern will face Morehead State at 5 p.m. today.(Amir Prellberg / The Daily Eastern News)

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