The Eastern women’s basketball team isn’t exactly flying high into the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

The team is guaranteed one of the top two seeds in the tournament, but by the looks of the last three games, you probably wouldn’t guess that. It has lost two of its last three games after coming into this three-game stretch with an undefeated conference record.

The difference in the three games was a combined 14 points with the Panthers’ lone win coming by one point against Tennessee Tech.

To be fair, I’m not just looking at the statistics in these last three games to come to a conclusion about the current state of the team. I have to offer some perspective.

Eastern is the No. 2 team in the conference and has been challenged this past week, playing Tennessee-Martin last Saturday, Tennessee Tech last Monday and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Saturday.

Tennessee-Martin is the No. 1 team in the conference, and Eastern lost in overtime on the road to them last Saturday after having beaten them earlier this season. Tennessee Tech is the No. 4 team in the conference and Eastern came from behind to win by one point on the road. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville is the No. 3 team in the conference.

No other team in the OVC had to go through that Murderer’s Row schedule (road vs. Tennessee-Martin and Tennessee Tech, then home vs. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville).

Eastern just played three of the top four team in the conference (the fourth being Eastern) and barely lost two of the games.

As much as the team hates to lose, they should be looking at this three-game stretch as being a blessing in disguise.

My biggest question about this Eastern team prior to the three-game stretch was, “Does Eastern know how to win close games?”

The Panthers just hadn’t been in any tight games. Knowing they were going to be a top seed in Nashville for the OVC Tournament, I knew they’d have to play in some close games.

So I think it’s good that Eastern played in these hard-nosed, close games before going to Nashville – there aren’t any do-overs in Nashville.

Yes, Eastern lost two of the three close games. The Panthers can’t hide from that, but they can learn from their mistakes and from the losses.

It’s like the question about if a college basketball team is going to be undefeated going into the NCAA tournament, would it be best for them to lose a game – to experience the feeling and the game?

Well, Eastern wasn’t going to be undefeated but it is going to benefit them from having been in these games.

In the three games, only a few plays separated the Panthers from a win or loss.

The Panthers had a three-point lead over Tennessee-Martin with eight seconds to go in the game, but Tennessee-Martin hit a Hail Mary three-point shot from 35 feet away.

The Panthers didn’t have a great offensive game against Tennessee Tech or Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; however, they beat Tennessee Tech by one by shutting them down on defense with a few seconds remaining in the game.

Against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, the Panthers were down by eight early in the second half and fought back to trail by three points with a little over 20 seconds to go. The Panthers put the pressure on the Cougars and Eastern junior forward Sydney Mitchell nearly caused a turnover to give the Panthers the ball back and a chance to tie the game.

The referee had a tough call on the play, which looked about 50-50 for who touched the ball last. If the referee would’ve called it Eastern’s ball, I’m sure you wouldn’t have heard gripes about it from the Cougars just as you don’t here Eastern griping about it this week. The call was that close.

So if you’re harshly judging Eastern on its last three games, lighten up. Yes, there are reasons to worry and clear-cut reasons why the Panthers lost those games, but no OVC team has had to go through the stretch Eastern just went through.

Knowing the players and coaches on this team as well as I do, having covered them for three years, you should expect the Panthers to learn from the last three games and be a better team because of it.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7942 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.