Anything is possible in a conference basketball tournament.

The Eastern women’s basketball team defeated top-seeded Southeast Missouri in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament last season.

The Eastern men’s basketball team won the conference tournament in 2001 on a goal-tending call.

Then there are the buzzer-beaters, the magic plays and the excitement of possibility of making the NCAA Tournament.

With the Eastern women’s basketball team, it seems likes they’ve already been through that.

Now, they haven’t been through the buzzer-beater in a conference tournament, but Eastern knows how to get the job done.

Eastern rallied to force overtime against Murray State earlier this season. Although the Panthers lost that game, they showed they have the heart, determination, and will to play in close games.

This senior-laden class knows how to execute. A lot of that was seen last season. They went 4-1 in overtime games last season. Two of those games went to double overtime. But even in the overtime loss, Eastern junior guard Ashley Thomas made a 3-pointer to send it to double overtime. Two days before against Jacksonville State in double overtime, Eastern senior forward Lindsey Kluempers slid in for the game-winning shot, and Eastern senior forward Rachel Galligan blocked Jacksonville State’s last shot.

Eastern senior guard Megan Edwards made a 3-pointer at Eastern Kentucky to force overtime.

And the Panthers defeated Conference USA regular season champion Southern Methodist 71-65 at home in overtime this season.

Eastern (22-8) has the experience and the right factors to be the conference tournament champions. But if they don’t win it, it’s not the end of the world.

As Eastern senior guard Ellen Canale said in her blog on Dennews.com, the legacy that is 2008-2009 Eastern women’s basketball team does not live and die with winning an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship this weekend, but it sure wouldn’t hurt.

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