The Eastern women’s basketball season ended the same way many of its games ended.

After playing Southeast Missouri close for the entire game, the Panthers were unable to hang on to a second half lead.

The Panthers (6-22) led by as many as 13 points but could not put the Otahkians away and eventually lost 79-76 to make a first round exit in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

“We simply don’t know how to close out a game,” Eastern head coach Linda Wunder said.

Second half collapses were no stranger to Eastern this season. Of the Panthers’ 22 losses, they led at halftime in six of them and were down by one in two. Those are eight games that could have gone in the other direction, but Eastern could not keep its grasp on it.

Junior guard Lauren Dailey, who was the Panthers’ leading scorer with 13.1 points per game, said the youth can take part of the blame for their late minute struggles.

“I think it has to do a lot with experience,” she said. “Having a young team, it was difficult for us to close out some games.”

Maybe those games could have gone Eastern’s way with the assistance of junior center Pam O’Connor. A torn anterior cruciate ligament and a fractured patella kept the Panthers’ leading scorer from a year ago out for the entire 2002-2003 season.

“When you lose a player like Pam, it’s tough,” Wunder said. “How do I know what we missed when we didn’t have her?”

The loss of O’Connor was just one of the team’s many downs during a frustrating season. During a stretch in the middle of the season, the Panthers lost nine games in a row and 12 of its first 13.

Eastern also struggled away from Lantz Arena, winning just one game on the road.

Despite the hardship, Eastern has a lot to look forward to next year. The surprise season by freshman guard Megan Sparks gives Wunder a solid player to look to in the future. Sparks broke out for 11.3 points per game and 4.6 rebounds.

“I thought Megan could contribute this year, but I didn’t know she could do that much,” Wunder said. “I think the pleasant surprise was her ability to score in many different ways.”

The Panthers will return four of their five starters next season but will lose two of their inside players in centers Brooke Gossett and Kayla Bloemer.

Gossett was third on the team in scoring with 9.7 points per game and was named OVC Player of the Week twice this season.

She played in all 106 games of her career and is only one of four players to record 750 points, 65 blocks and 450 rebounds.

Bloemer played in all 28 games for Eastern this season averaging 11 minutes and just over three points per game.

Dailey said she will miss the seniors for more than just reasons on the court.

“Brooke is more of a motherly figure on the team and Kayla is one of the comedians on the team,” she said. “We will miss them both on and off the court.”