Tuesday’s home game against Oakland City offers a different feeling for the Eastern women’s basketball team because it is not a conference game.

Oakland City, a Division-II team, comes to Lantz Arena at the start of a four-game home stretch for the Panthers; however, Eastern head coach Lee Buchanan said there’s less pressure on the Panthers because it does not count as a conference game.

“Every conference game is so important,” Buchanan said. “You have no margin for error.”

The Oakland City game is not an Ohio Valley Conference game. Instead, it’s a game against a lower division team in the middle of an important month of basketball.

The importance of the game, Buchanan said, is to keep the Panthers’ momentum going. The Panthers have seven of their last eight games, including four in a row.

“You want to be as sharp as you can possibly be, so you’re peaking around March,” Buchanan said.

A loss to Oakland City would interrupt the Panthers’ momentum.

But every team has these games, Buchanan said. Murray State traveled to New Orleans to play a non-conference opponent on Wednesday.

“Everybody has one of these games, but most people play them at the beginning of the season,” Buchanan said.

Murray State beat New Orleans by 13 points. Buchanan said the Panthers will not overlook Oakland City.

“They’re not coming up here to lose,” Buchanan said. “You have to go play.”

Oakland City averages 73 points per game. It is 13-10 this season with three players averaging double figures in points each game.

“When you score 73 points, you’re doing something right,” Buchanan said.

But Eastern, as a Division-I basketball program, has a distinct advantage.

“We’re bigger and faster, but we should be — we’re Division-I,” Buchanan said.

To counter the Panthers’ size and strength, Buchanan said he expects Oakland City to play more zone defense to try to make Eastern shoot outside shots.

Shooting from the outside is not something the Panthers are afraid of, though. It does not scare Oakland City, either, Buchanan said.

“They’ve shot as many 3’s as we have in 23 games,” Buchanan said.

To win, the Panthers will have to focus on themselves, Buchanan said, and make sure they’re sharp and playing their own game.

Buchanan said it’d be disrespectful for his team to show up careless for a game against a lower division team.

“They’re a college basketball team,” Buchanan said. “You don’t want to have a hiccup. If we go out and play bad, that’ll be more disappointing than anything else.”

The Panthers played Oakland City last season. They won by 61 points, 93-32.

Tuesday’s game is set to tipoff at 7 p.m. in Lantz Arena.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.