The Eastern women’s basketball team clinched a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference

tournament with a 49-48 win over Southeast Missouri Saturday.

With the game tied at 48, Eastern senior forward Sabina Oroszova was fouled by Redhawk junior Erin Bollman and sent to the free throw line with nine seconds remaining in the second half.

She missed the first free throw, but hit the second to give the Panthers a one-point lead.

Even though Oroszova gave the Panthers a late lead, she was not happy she missed that first free throw.

“I had the responsibility to go to the line, and I know I can make the shot,” she said. “It was like, I was a little nervous, so I missed it, but then I needed to get my head back into the game to make the second one to win the game or get the lead.”

On the next play, Southeast Missouri sophomore Brianna Mitchell drove to the basket and attempted a layup, but could not convert.

“I feel like we did a really good job of just staying there with our hands up,” Oroszova said. “We just got a big rebound and just kept the ball, so that was really important.

All week Eastern coach Debbie Black talked about defense, and her team held the Redhawks to just 26.8 percent shooting from the floor, including 1-of-9 from three-point range.

“It’s funny how that all comes back to be true,” she said. “It’s why you start to harp on defense and that’s why they start believing you how important that is.”

The Panthers held the Redhawks to just 7-of-30 from the floor in the first half.

Alece Shumpert hit a 3-point shot to give Eastern a four-point advantage with a minute remaining on the play prior to the Redhawks tying the game on Mitchell’s four made free throws in the final stretch.

Shumpert was held scoreless through the first 30 minutes but stepped up when she needed to, Black said.

“I think Alece came out a little bit tentative (Saturday),” Black said. “I think what she did do is step up at the end when we really needed her too. She made big shots for us. She didn’t let the first (30 minutes) affect her. That is big for a kid who really hasn’t played that many minutes.”

Shumpert finished the game with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting and 2-of-5 from three-point range.

Oroszova, on the other hand, led the Panthers in scoring with 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. She also corralled 15 rebounds and had six blocks.

The win places the Panthers at 7-7 in the conference, and they currently are in seventh place. Eastern is 1.5 games ahead of Austin Peay, who is 6-9 in conference play and. Austin Peay does have the tie-breaker over the Panthers.

Eastern also has a chance at the sixth seed with Morehead State currently at 7-6 in the conference. In order for that to happen, the Panthers would need to beat either Tennessee-Martin or Southern Illinois Edwardsville in their final two games, and Morehead State would have to lose its final three games.

The Panthers will play Tennessee-Martin at Lantz Arena Wednesday and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in Edwardsville Saturday.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].