Eastern’s women’s basketball will start its journey to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament against Western Illinois on Thursday. 

Western Illinois beat UT Martin 78-72 on Wednesday afternoon at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament where Eastern awaits.  

As the three seed, Eastern got a one game bye and had to wait to see who their opponent was. Sophomore guard Lalani Ellis said she wasn’t worried about either team. 

“Well, whoever wins is going to get the worst whooping ever,” Ellis said. 

Western Illinois has beaten Eastern this year. Western Illinois was able to stop Eastern’s ten game winning streak when they played on Jan. 30. Eastern’s head coach Marqus McGlothan said there is no use in looking at the past. 

“No use right now crying over spilled milk for us,” McGlothan said. “You know, we lost that game, but it’s a whole new season once they come in the postseason, so we got to make sure we take care of business.” 

Eastern is being led by the OVC player of the year senior forward Macy McGlone and OVC defensive player of the year senior guard Kiyley Flowers.  

On the other side, Western Illinois is led by All-OVC first team member, sophomore guard Raegan McCowan.  

McCowan and McGlone were two of the best players in the OVC all year as they combined for nine of the 16 OVC players of the week.  

McCowan is averaging 21.3 points and 7.8 rebounds a game compared to McGlone averaging 17.7 points and 11.6 rebounds a game.  

However, McCowan is not upset about not winning player of the year. She said McGlone is a great player, and she is excited to play McGlone in their next game. 

“I think Macy [McGlone] is an incredible player,” McCowan said. “I think she’s a great player, but I will say I’m very excited to play her tomorrow and the whole Eastern team.” 

Eastern has not played since Saturday, while Western Illinois just played a competitive game. McCowan said that she thinks that will be the difference in their game. 

“They’re going to be kind of coming out in my opinion cold turkey tomorrow, so I think honestly for us that’s something that we have the upper hand on,” McCowan said. 

Eastern on the other hand has the better conference statistics. Eastern leads the OVC in points allowed with only 55.5 in conference play. Western Illinois, however, is seventh with 68.1.  

Eastern leads the OVC in blocked shots, field goal percentage allowed, blocked shots and assists in conference play, and Western Illinois leads in defensive rebounds per game and free throw percentage. 

Eastern is undefeated at home and only lost in the OVC when playing on the road. The OVC Tournament is played on a neutral site but Eastern will be looking to perform better away from home. 

 “Right now we’re on a neutral court,” McGlothan said. “So, for us it’s just taking care of business [and] having some confidence. Our band will be there and things like that, so it won’t feel like a typical away game. It’s just going to feel like a neutral court.” 

The winner of this game will go onto the semifinals to play Lindenwood on Friday and keep its hopes alive of playing in the NCAA Tournament.  

Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.