CHARLESTON, Ill. (Interstat) — A surging Southern Indiana squad looks to rebound from a rare stumble when it visits struggling Eastern Illinois in an Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball matchup Saturday at Lantz Arena. The Screaming Eagles (18-8) enter with the conference’s second-best overall record but are coming off a 64-39 road loss to Western Illinois on Thursday, their lowest scoring output of the season. Prior to that defeat, they had won three straight and six of their last eight. Eastern Illinois (4-24) seeks any positive momentum, having lost five consecutive games and 16 of its last 17. The Panthers fell 74-70 to Morehead State on Thursday, a narrow defeat in a season filled with blowouts. Southern Indiana won the first meeting this season handily, 73-57 at home on Jan. 22. A key to reversing that result for the Panthers will be containing Screaming Eagles’ guard Chloe Gannon. The standout has scored in double figures in seven straight games, averaging 13.9 points per contest in that span. She posted 11 points in the January win over Eastern Illinois. The Panthers will counter with guard Ava Stoller, who is coming off a 20-point, 4-assist performance against Morehead State. She has been a bright spot, scoring 16 or more points in three of her last six games. Southern Indiana’s defense, which allows just 60.2 points per game, will be tested by a Panthers’ offense averaging a league-worst 56.5 points. Conversely, the Screaming Eagles average 69.3 points offensively and will face an Eastern Illinois defense allowing a conference-high 75.8 points per game. The game is a critical opportunity for Southern Indiana to solidify its conference standing before a road trip to Morehead State next Tuesday. For Eastern Illinois, it represents a chance to play spoiler and find a rare conference victory at home in the season’s final stretch. Tip-off is set for Saturday afternoon.