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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Fresh off splitting its season-opening weekend against a pair of 2008 national postseason qualifiers, Eastern Illinois women's basketball hits the road for a rubber game with in-state rival Bradley Wednesday evening.

 

Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. at Ramsey Gym on the campus of Illinois Central College in East Peoria. The contest is playing on the east side of the Illinois River due to construction on Bradley's campus. Robertson Fieldhouse, home to the BU women for 32 years, was torn down in May.

 

Eastern (1-1, 19-13 in 2007-08) and Bradley (1-0, 12-18 in 2007-08) have squared off each of the last two seasons, with the home team winning in blowout fashion. The Panthers opened their 2007 campaign with a 92-75 victory against BU in Charleston. The Braves returned the favor in Peoria last season, routing EIU 83-57.

 

However, Rachel Galligan did not play in last year's game. It was the first of five games that the two-time First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference performer missed with a broken toe. In 2007, Galligan scored a game-high 25 points against Bradley.

 

Renee Frericks was the star of last season's game in Peoria, connecting on a school-record eight 3-poitners en route to finishing with 26 points. Entering the contest, she had yet to score for the year after accounting for only nine points as a freshman.

 

While Frericks lit up the Panthers, Monica Rogers and Skye Johnson are the more accurate barometers of their team's success.

 

Rogers, a Forsyth, Ill., native who transferred to Bradley from Hampton after the 2005-06 season, scored 19 points off the bench in the Braves' season-opening win against Loyola Saturday. She played in only 12 games last year after suffering an Achilles tendon injury Jan. 13. Bradley was 6-6 in the 12 games she played, 6-12 when she did not.

 

Johnson, meanwhile, was named the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league with 82 steals. She also averaged 9.5 points per game and recorded 13 points and six steals against Loyola in the season opener.

 

In Galligan's absence last season, Maggie Kloak and Julie Lipperd both played well, combining for 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and an 8-of-9 showing at the free throw line. Kloak made her first career start that night and it was that game that ignited a streak in which she scored in double-figures in six straight contests.

 

Bradley outscored Loyola 46-28 in the second half Saturday to rally back from an 11-point halftime deficit. Eastern will be in search of a better second-half effort Wednesday after blowing a 14-point lead in its loss to Illinois Sunday. The Panthers have scored 75 of their 127 points this season before halftime.

 

The Braves were tabbed eighth (of 10 teams) in the MVC preseason poll.

Eastern is in search of its first non-conference victory in a true road game since defeating IUPUI in overtime in December 2005.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID