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Championship Game Photos | Panthers in Nashville Photos (by Sandy King)
NASHVILLE – Eastern Illinois women's basketball rallied in the final minute to send the game to overtime, but was outscored 21-17 in the extra 10 minutes and lost to Austin Peay, 69-65, in double OT in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game Saturday afternoon.
Rachel Galligan led all scorers with 24 points on 12-of-15 shooting and broke the EIU single-season scoring record (with 582 points). She was named to the OVC All-Tournament Team for the second year in a row. However, she was the only Panther to score in double-figures.
Eastern (24-9) shot 45 percent from the field compared to APSU's 36 percent clip, but committed a season-high 25 turnovers. The Lady Govs (17-15) only had 13 turnovers.
Lindsey Kluempers and Galligan both connected on clutch field goals in the final 30 seconds of regulation, allowing EIU to send the game to overtime tied at 48-48. The Panthers had the final possession of the first OT but could not capitalize. Austin Peay hit a pair of 3-pointers early in double OT.
Ashley Herring led the Lady Govs with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. April Thomas and Emily Pollock both finished with 13 points. Eleven of Pollock's career-high total came in overtime. All three players were named to the OVC All-Tournament Team, with Thomas claming the MVP award after she scored 25 points in APSU's semifinal upset of top-seeded Murray State Friday.
“Austin Peay showed that they were a great basketball team during this tournament,” EIU head coach Brady Sallee said. “In a tournament like this upsets happen and we were one of them. It stings to be on the other end of that, but congratulations to Austin Peay. We ran into a hot basketball team that had a lot of confidence.”
Galligan finished the three-game OVC Tournament with 74 points on 28-of-39 (.714) shooting from the field. She made her first 10 shots of the game Saturday.
“To do what [Galligan] did in these three games and really here at the end of the season, and take the beating that she took, I have a lot of respect for [her],” Sallee said. “There is no doubt that if she is not the best that has come through Eastern Illinois, I would like to shake the hand of the person who is.”
The back-and-forth affair featured 14 ties and 12 lead changes. Neither team led by more than six points during regulation.
Austin Peay allowed EIU to push the game to overtime by going 1-of-6 at the free throw line in the final minute of regulation. Trailing 47-43, Kluempers drilled a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining, ending a field goal drought of six minutes and 13 seconds. After Herring made 1-of-2 at the line, Galligan scored over the top of a triple team to tie the game.
Eastern scored the first four points of the first overtime on field goals by
Megan Edwards and Kluempers. But APSU battled back and tied the game at the 1:03 mark after Pollock came away with a steal and went all the way in for a layup.
The Panthers had the ball with seven seconds remaining in the first OT, inbounding the ball in front of their own bench. Austin Peay's Nicole Jamen deflected the inbounds pass intended for Galligan, causing a scramble for the ball. Galligan retrieved it on the 3-point line and hurried a jump shot. Kluempers grabbed an offensive rebound and got the ball to Edwards in the corner, but her shot was also rushed and did not hit the rim.
Pollock scored the first five points of double OT, hitting only her fifth 3-pointer of the season. Herring also connected on a triple a minute and a half later. Galligan scored on EIU's first possession of double OT, but the Panthers didn't score again until Edwards made a free throw with 55 seconds remaining. However, the Lady Govs had already gone up by 10 points, the biggest lead of the game.
Ashley Thomas and Edwards both connected on a 3-pointer in the final 20 seconds, but APSU continued to maintain a multiple-possession lead. The Lady Govs kept EIU in the game with a 7-of-14 showing at the free throw line in double OT.
Eastern opened up its six-point lead in the second half thanks to a 9-2 surge. Thomas and Edwards both connected on a 3-pointer during the spurt. But APSU outscored the Panthers 8-2 during the six-minute field goal drought.
The game started out as a low-scoring affair, with EIU leading 10-7 at the midpoint of the first half. Herring and Thomas both had to go to the bench for the final five minutes of the half with two fouls apiece. The Panthers were unable to capitalize, scoring only two points during that stretch.
The overtime game was only the second in the history of the OVC Tournament championship game. Eastern Kentucky and Southeast Missouri also played in a double-overtime affair in 2005.
Austin Peay became the lowest seeded team to win the tournament.
Eastern would need an at-large berth to the WNIT for its season to continue. The WNIT field will be announced on Monday, March 16. The Panthers have lost in the tourney title game each of the last two seasons.
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