Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball has few questions remaining in the closing weeks of the season.

Five teams — Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Southeast Missouri State, Morehead State and Tennessee-Martin — have secured places in the conference tournament.

Four teams, Tennessee Tech, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State and Murray State, are competing for the final three slots.

The determining factor of what team will not make the OVC Tournament seems to be the outcome of Thursday’s game between the two teams currently tied for eighth place, Tennessee State and Murray State.

Both teams are 2-10 in conference play and will meet at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.

Tennessee State defeated Murray 78-70 in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 6.

“We’re fighting,” Murray State head coach Eddie Fields said. “We’re really fighting for a place in the conference tournament. It’s really a must win for us as well”

The Tigers realize the advantage Murray has getting to play on its home court.

“It will be extremely tough,” Tennessee State head coach Valencia Jordan said. “Since they’ve been in that new arena, we have not played well for whatever reason, but what is important is that we understand the importance of the game.”

Fields knows his team needs to take advantage of playing at home.

“We think it’s an advantage,” Fields said. “We really need to play well. When they beat us at their place, they did really well on the offensive boards and shot their free throws well.”

Fields also said his team’s playoff hopes probably rest on the result of Thursday’s game.

“If they beat us, we probably won’t get in (to the OVC Tournament),” Fields said.

Barring a barrage of upsets in the coming weeks, the rest of the teams in the conference will not worry about qualifying for the tournament, but will worry about where they will be seeded.

After a pair of losses last week to Murray and Tennessee-Martin, Eastern fell from one game out of fourth place to three games out, eliminating the Panthers from contention of hosting a home tournament game.

With three games remaining on the their schedule, the Panthers can only tie Morehead State and Tennessee-Martin, both 7-6 in the OVC for fourth place. Eastern loses the tiebraker against both teams.

Eastern must now jockey for position to determine who they will face in the first round of the OVC Tournament, but it will not be an easy task.

The Panthers must face first-place Austin Peay, who is undefeated in OVC play this year.

Eastern must play Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech on the road with the notable handicap of being the only team in the OVC without a road victory this season.

Facing a probable road game in the first round of the OVC Tournament, Eastern head coach Linda Wunder addressed how her team would prepare for it.

“When you’re the underdog going into a game in the tournament, you have to sell your team on the idea that any team can win on any given night,” she said.