In the teams’ first meeting, Eastern (12-8, 8-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference) defeated Tennessee Tech (8-11, 3-6 OVC) 79-68.

But even in defeating the Golden Eagles, Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said he thinks Tech might feel like it let one get away.

“I’m sure they felt that they let one get away when they played us here – and they’re going to want to even that match-up,” Sallee said.

Sallee said his players have their work cut out for them, especially against two of the OVC’s top six scorers in sophomore guard Tacarra Hayes (16.5 points per game) and freshman guard Kellie Cook (12.8 ppg).

“The thing that they have the ability to do is be really explosive, and if Tacarra Hayes and the Cook kid get going they can put up a lot of points,” Sallee said. “They’ve shown the ability that they can just flat out out-score people.”

Eastern witnessed that explosiveness first hand on Jan. 4, when Hayes and Cook put up 22 points a piece against the Panthers.

Senior forward Maggie Kloak said the defense let Tech’s guards drive too much against them on Jan. 4.

“I think our defense is going to be huge,” Kloak said. “We know we can make baskets on offense – we have 12 players who can get out on the court and do that for us – that’s not our problem. Defense is going to be big this road trip.”

Hayes was named the OVC Player of the Week Monday, after posting a school-record 39 points in a win over Austin Peay.

“Hayes has a really good offensive game,” Sallee said. “She can shoot and she pulls up and has a very quick release to it. She’s got a dribble-drive turnaround fade away that is pretty much seen in the NBA. The deeper she gets, the better it is.”

Sallee said Tech’s offense is going to offer a big test to his defense in that Eastern cannot get caught up in trying to stop Hayes, as her teammates can score well.

“You have to be able to guard her as much one-on-one as you can so that you can rebound and keep the other ones from killing you too,” Sallee said. “If you get caught up in stopping Tacarra Hayes, they’ve got enough weapons that they can beat you with.”

Eastern’s defense will be working to stop all of the Golden Eagles’ weapons, Sallee said.

“To be honest, I don’t know that I have a game plan that can shut them both (Hayes and Cook) down,” Sallee said. “I think you have to keep them from exploding and understand that good players are going to score some points.”

Tech has one of the best home records in the OVC at 6-2, and senior guard Dominique Sims said she understands that every time they enter the Golden Eagles’ gym, it is not an easy task to walk out with a win.

“Every time we come in their gym – just the aroma from their fans –they’re a tough team to play in that aspect,” Sims said. “They play really well at home, so we just have to be disciplined, so we have to remember what we are there to accomplish in order to do it.”

To prepare for a tough four-game road trip, Sims said the team is working on the most important things.

“We are basically just resting our bodies right now, getting ready for this long road trip,” Sims said. “We play some pretty big competition. (Thursday), we worked on our rebounding and got a lot of shots up. Obviously, that’s important for us.”

Sallee said he hopes the team remembers its mindset from the two-game road trip from Jan. 14 to Jan. 16, when the Panthers won two games.

“We are going to have to go on the road like a couple weeks ago and mentally be really, really good and have a certain amount of toughness in us that just refuses to lose,” Sallee said. “If we can go down there with that type of attitude, then we will give ourselves a chance.”

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected]