Take a deep breath and then exhale, because the lights are out in Lantz Arena, and unless you have punched a ticket to Nashville, you will not be seeing the women’s basketball team again.

If you have punched your ticket, or are like me and have media credentials, then you have to sit in anticipation until you get to see them play in live action as early as March 2.

Sure the Panthers have two more regular season games, but they are on the road and we are all more likely to be following along with those online or on the radio.

Sitting back and waiting for March 2 to roll around will force you to think about your final impressions of the team as it nears its bus trip to the Music City.

Take your impressions from the month of February as Eastern has gone 6-0 this month, and won its last seven games overall. At the end of January, the coaches and players were saying: “Be your best in February.” This is impression month.

The first impression the team has left us is they are working as a fully functioning team.

During the Panthers’ seven-game winning streak, 10 different players have scored points, and three different players have led the team in scoring in at least one game.

The Panthers are also playing like a team by sharing the ball. Every player has had her moments during this seven-game winning streak. For example, freshman guard Jordyne Crunk sank a game-tying three-pointer with 59 seconds left in Thursday’s overtime win over Tennessee-Martin.

The second impression the team has left us is they are completing head coach Brady Sallee’s checklist, and it is resulting in W’s.

If you have ever talked basketball with Sallee, you know three of his big keys to winning games are rebounding, free throws and post play.

In the last seven games, the Panthers have outrebounded their opponents five times. They tied one game, 37-37, and lost another by three. In the last seven games, the Panthers have grabbed a combined 60 more rebounds than their competition and they are outrebounding teams by an average of 8.5 boards per game. Three of the five times the Panthers outrebounded their foes it was by double digits.

The Panthers have scored 139 points (an average of 19.9 per game) from the free throw line in the past seven games, shooting 81.7 percent from the stripe. The Panthers average 24.3 free throw attempts per game – having never taken fewer than 22 in one of the past seven games. Their opponents have never taken more than 19 attempts.

Eastern is getting excellent post-play from sophomore forward Mariah King. She is averaging 16 points per game in the last seven games, having scored over 20 three times. In the last three games, she has been the team’s leading scorer, putting up 18, 22 and 23 points, respectively.

The third impression the team has left on us is they go deeper than just a good starting five.

The Panthers go eight deep of players completely capable of stepping up into important roles for the team.

In the last seven games, Crunk is averaging 8.3 points per game, topping her career-high twice – first 16 points, then 17. Junior forward Hillary Held is averaging 3.6 points per game in the last seven as the Panthers’ first post-player off of the bench. Freshman guard Jessica Parker is only averaging 1.9 points per game, but is playing good minutes (an average of 11.9 per game).

The fourth impression the team has left on us is they are the hottest team in the Ohio Valley Conference right now, and they have already played in a championship-caliber game.

Thursday’s overtime thriller against Tennessee-Martin is a testament of that. Sallee said before Thursday’s game, his team and the Skyhawks were the two hottest in the conference. Eastern maintained that title with the win. Plus, no team has a longer win streak right now than Eastern.

The fifth and final impression the team has left us with is they are a team that just plain, old and simply wants to win. They wont accept anything else.

Eastern has players right now that Sallee says are “putting it on the line for each other.”

Just look them in the eye or talk to them and you will pick up on that. You can see an uncanny will to win in everyone’s eyes. This might be the best impression we are left with as they hit the road for the rest of the season, including Nashville.

Yes, there is always something to improve on, but right now the impressions the women’s basketball team has left us with are all good and no bad.

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