Women’s basketball players Lauren Daily and Pam O’Connor have reached milestones together.

On Dec. 7, guard Lauren Daily became the 16th player in Eastern’s history to score 1,000 career points. Thirteen days later center Pam O’Connor joined her as No. 17. Not unusual for the duo which scored their 500th point two years before, they’re the only pair of teammates to reach that level in their second year.

“They have a special connection on the floor,” Wunder said. “I think half of Lauren’s assists were to Pam.”

That connection started when Daily, a senior, and O’Connor, a red shirt junior, came to Eastern in head coach Linda Wunder’s first recruiting class. Daily hails from West Vigo High School in Terre Haute, Ind. There she earned all-conference honors in three sports and led her basketball team to a sectional title.

O’Connor attended Fenton High School in Woodale, where she earned 10 varsity letters and became the 12th player in IHSA history to score 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming to a new program,” Wunder said. “I recruited them to lay a foundation here.”

At the beginning teammates doubted the freshman and Wunder was worried about jealousy between the team, but Daily and O’Connor proved they belonged on the court.

“I didn’t know if I would play in college,” O’Connor said. “I just always hoped to play as long as I could.”

O’Connor started every game averaging 13.2 points per game on the way to breaking the freshman points record at Eastern (357). She was also named to the OVC All-Freshman Team. Daily drained 30 three’s and set a freshman free throw percentage record (81 percent).

Despite the strong contributions from the freshmen, the Panthers had a losing season.

“They were the type of players coaches love to coach,” Wunder said.

With a year under their belt, the two made another attack on the record books by becoming the first pair of teammates to score 500 points by their sophomore year. Daily drained 57 three pointers, second all time at Eastern, while O’Connor scored double figures in every game and was selected for the second team All OVC.

Their effort as the top two scorers was once again not enough to carry the team into OVC contention.

“We developed a great floor chemistry in that time and became best friends,” O’Connor said. “We always seem to be on the same page.”

The pair’s junior year looked bright when O’Connor was named to the preseason All OVC team, but a knee injury forced her to red shirt and take a year off and watch from the bench.

“It’s hard to sit out and watch,” O’Connor said, “but I took it as a learning experience. That’s all I could do.”

Daily pushed on and led the team with 13.1 points per game and an All OVC honorable mention. O’Connor had to sit by and watch another shot at OVC contention slip by.

“I don’t think they care about the records,” Wunder said. “They want to carry the team on their back and take them to the next level. I think Lauren’s feeling a sense of urgency since it’s her last year.”

At the beginning of this year, Daily was voted to the preseason second team All OVC and O’Connor returned from her injury to help lead the Panthers.

“Now that Pam’s back she’s better, smarter and more determined,” Wunder said.

Although the Panthers have had a shaky start, O’Connor is confident of their chances to give Daily the shot at the conference title she’s been waiting for.

“We’ve lost a lot of close games and some people look at our record and forget us. We’re an entirely different team than the beginning of the season,” O’Connor said. “We’re about to win a bunch of games.”