Until her 14-point effort in Saturday’s 55-49 victory against Tennessee Martin, Eastern women’s basketball senior guard Ellen Canale had gone five straight games without scoring in double figures.

However, to say that Canale was in a slump would not be correct, according the Eastern head coach Brady Sallee.

“The thing with (Canale) is she can impact a game in a multitude of ways,” he said. “Clearly, she can put the ball in the basket, but for her, she understands that she helps us be successful by defending the way she does.”

Throughout the majority of the season Canale has been assigned to guard the opponent’s top scoring guard. During the team’s 70-52 victory against Morehead State on Jan. 17, Canale guarded Eagles’ sophomore guard Chynna Bozeman, who entered the game averaging a team-high 15.1 points per game.

While Bozeman finished the game right around her average with 15 points, she shot only 31 percent (6-of-19 from the field, including 3-of-11 from beyond the arc), below her season average of nearly 36 percent. And many of Bozeman’s 15 points came with the game clinched and Canale resting on the bench. While Canale is still second on the team with 10.3 points per game, she has raised her game in many other aspects. Her defense has always been a factor, but she’s averaging 5.8 rebounds per game this season, up two from her career average entering the season.

She has also had two games with 10 or more rebounds, and she entered the season with only one in her career.

Kish sees extended minutes

During last Saturday’s victory against UT Martin, freshman guard Madeline Kish logged four first-half minutes, playing in the first half of a game for the first time this season.

Sallee said that the reason for playing Kish was because he is confident in her shooting ability and wanted to get her in the game if the team was having trouble shooting early on.

“(Kish) has been steadily learning what we’re doing. She’s got the ability to shoot the basketball,” Sallee said. “We made the decision after (last Thursday’s loss at Murray State) that if the opportunity came, and we weren’t getting some shots to fall for us that we could go to (her).”

Sallee said that while Kish did not get any shots off in her four minutes of action, he was pleased with what he saw out of her.

He said that she was able to hold her own and played hard, and he hopes to be able to use her as more production out of his bench.

Around the league

While the Panthers look to take care of business this week against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State, first-place Murray State has Thursday off before playing host to last-place UT Martin on Saturday.

The Skyhawks held Eastern to 15 first-half points before falling 55-49 last Saturday.

UT Martin remains winless in conference play but lost by only two points to the Racers when the teams met in Martin, Tenn., on Jan. 5.

Third place Tennessee State and five place Morehead State, two teams behind Eastern in the standings, will play each other on Thursday in Morehead, Ky.

Tennessee State currently has the same record as the Panthers at 7-2, but lost to the Panthers 83-45 on Dec. 4.

Tennessee State beat Morehead 72-68 on Jan. 5 and is currently riding a four-game winning streak. However, Morehead State enters Thursday’s contest 10-0 at home.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].

OVC Standings

Team / OVC / Overall

Murray State / 8-1 / 13-6

Eastern Illinois / 7-2 / 13-7

Tennessee State / 7-2 / 11-9

Austin Peay / 7-3 / 11-10

Morehead State / 6-3 / 12-9

SE Missouri / 5-4 / 9-10

Eastern Kentucky / 3-7 / 6-13

Tennessee Tech / 2-7 / 4-16

Jacksonville State / 1-8 / 4-15

Tennessee Martin / 0-9 / 2-18