Maggie Kloak. Ashley Thomas. Dominique Sims.

These three Eastern women’s basketball players look to be the key figures on next season’s team.

While Eastern will graduate five seniors, including four starters, Kloak believes the team can compete and be near the top of the Ohio Valley Conference again.

“People might think, graduating these seniors, that we won’t have a great team,” Kloak said. “I believe in the team we’re going to have next year.”

Kloak, who will be a senior forward, will see the ball down in the post for Eastern’s offense next season.

Samford head coach Mike Morris said last season that Kloak was one of the top five post players in the league.

However, Kloak has to fill a lot of work left by Eastern senior forward Rachel Galligan.

Galligan is the school’s leading scorer with 1,891 points. She is also the school’s fourth leading rebounder and ultimately one of the best forces ever on the block.

But, Kloak is using the instruction from Galligan and from every senior to make herself and the rest of the Panthers better.

“They’ve taught us a lot about basketball,” Kloak said. “A lot of the hard work that they’ve put in has been passed onto us.”

The Panthers finished second in the OVC for two straight season and made the OVC Tournament Championship game two seasons in a row.

Sims, a red-shirt junior guard, averaged 8.6 points a game, 4.5 rebounds and finished the season with 88 assists, 39 steals and 14 blocks.

She earned All-OVC Newcomer honors last season while averaging 9.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Thomas should be another starting guard for the Panthers next season. She has come off the bench for the past two seasons but started a lot as a freshman.

Her back injury slowed her at the end of this season and the beginning of her sophomore season.

Thomas started 27-of-29 games her freshman season, playing almost 30 minutes a game and averaging 9.7 points a game. Thomas made clutch shots and will be a vital member of the defense as well.

Freshman guard Pilar Walker will handle point guard duties. Walker was the primary backup to senior guard Megan Edwards for most of this season.

Freshman forward Chantelle Pressley also looks to be a possibility for the starting lineup. Pressley often was the first substitute for senior forward Lindsey Kluempers.

Other Panthers to figure into the mix off the bench include junior guard Lauren Sturtevant, freshman guard Madeline Kish and junior forward Marie Baker. The Panthers will also return sophomore guard Jerika Carpenter.

Next year’s recruiting class includes two forwards and three guards who earned honorable mention recognition from BlueStar Basketball. Forwards include Whitney Young’s Mariah King (6 feet, 2 inches) and Chesterton’s (Ind.) Morgan Palombizio (6 feet). Guards Ta’Kenya Nixon and Bianca McGee could also play a factor out of Michigan City, Ind., and guard Kelsey Wyss (5 feet, 10 inches) could make a difference out of Bishop Luers in Hoagland, Ind.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].