Issue date: 2/26/07 Section: Sports

Freshman guard Ashley Thomas looks to pass during Eastern's 49-70 loss at Samford on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Samford Sports Information)

Not only did Samford close out Seibert Hall, but the Bulldogs also closed-out the Panthers' season.

Eastern's 70-49 loss on Saturday eliminated any chance of the Panthers making back-to-back trips to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Even if the Panthers were able to pull out the victory, Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay won its last game to remove any hope the Panthers might have had.

Saturday's game in Birmingham, Ala., was a microcosm of the kind of season the Panthers had against the top four teams in the conference, in which they finished with an 0-8 record.

Sophomore Rachel Galligan's jump shot put the Panthers (10-19, 7-13 OVC) up 25-21 with 3 minutes 11 seconds left in the first half, but then the Panthers went cold.

Samford (17-12, 12-8) went on a 24-4 run near the end of the first half and continued in the early second half.

While the Bulldogs offense was heating up, the Panthers continued to make mistakes, forcing shots and making turnovers.

After an Ashley Thomas layup cut Eastern's deficit to 30-27, the Panthers would go 8:06 until the next basket by Ellen Canale helped cut Samford's lead to 45-31.

"They were playing our screens a little more physical," said Eastern head coach Brady Sallee. "They did a real good job of closing out on us. It was a situation where we're used to getting to the free-throw line, but didn't. It was frustrating."

During that eight-minute stretch of futility, the Panthers went zero for seven shooting and had six turnovers.

Samford capitalized on the Panthers' miscues, led by Veronica Pike (24 points), Megan Wilderotter (12) and Monica Maxwell (10).

"I thought Wilderotter did a good job on defense," Sallee said. "They're a veteran team and they played like it."

The Panthers had a difficult time feeding the ball in the post to Galligan. The 6-foot-2 forward finished with 10 points on only three of 10 shooting.

"(Samford) did a good job of pushing her off the block," Sallee said. "When we did get it to her, they did a good job in double-teaming her."

The backcourt - most notably Jessica Huffman - struggled against a Samford team that's held Eastern to 29 percent shooting (29 for 99) in both games.

The Bulldogs have done an even better job on Huffman., in her two games against Samford, she finished with eight points on two of 15 shooting and 11 turnovers.

"They clearly had her number," Sallee said.

With the season over, like most young teams, the Panthers have struggled to find an identity. Even when Eastern's defense picked up towards the end of the season, it was the offense that went in prolonged scoring droughts.

It's little nuances like that which Sallee hopes gets corrected with maturity.

-For complete box score click here.

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