The Eastern women’s basketball team is into the part of its schedule where it begins to play teams for a second time.

The Panthers will play in Cape Girardeau, Mo. On Saturday against Southeast Missouri, a team they beat by 20 points on Jan. 26.

The two teams went back and forth in the Jan. 26 game before Eastern went on a run to put the Redhawks out of the game.

The Panthers will hope for a similar result this time, but playing a team a second time is not easy. 

“They say it’s difficult to play a third time, but it’s just as difficult the second time,” Eastern head coach Lee Buchanan said.

Buchanan said the Panthers will have to be careful going into the game, knowing they’ll need just as solid an effort as the first time they played the Redhawks.

The game was only two weeks ago, meaning the players from both teams are familiar with each other; however, the Redhawks will have a player they didn’t have the first time — Courtney Shiffer, who was recovering from a concussion.

“She’s a big post player, who has had really good games against us in the past,” Buchanan said.

Last season, Shiffer scored a team-high 13 points in a 74-48 loss to Eastern. 

Shiffer is a six-foot-one senior from Freeport.

Also, the Redhawks shoot the ball well, as they did to take a lead early in the second half of the Jan. 26 game.

“We have to be there on the catch,” Buchanan said.

But the game will all be about adjustments, Buchanan said — adjusting to what happened in the first game and adjusting based of what the Panthers think the Redhawks will be adjusting to.

“It’s difficult to play a team a second time because they know your personnel and you know theirs,” Buchanan said.

The Panthers will see Bailie Roberts and Brittany Harriel again. Roberts led the Redhawks in scoring on Jan. 26 with 14 points. 

Harriel scored 13 points.

Buchanan said he is confident his team will come out and play with energy because they didn’t have a game Monday, as they typically do.

Instead, the Panthers got a real day off on Sunday after returning home from Edwardsville. 

Since the players didn’t have practice or classes on Sunday, they could recoup and relax.

“We looked a little bit refreshed (on Monday),” Buchanan said of the Panthers first practice this week.

Saturday’s game is set to tipoff at 3 p.m. in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].