Box Score
EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - The Panthers pulled out a 65-62 victory in a nail biter of a regular season finale.
Abby Wahl put up the game high 15 points for the Panthers in a defensive battle.
Taylor Steele put up 14 points and was the second leading scorer for the Panthers, and came down with six rebounds. The Panthers as a team shot 44% from the field. The Panthers finish the regular season with an 18-11 record (12-6 OVC), as SIUE ends with a 3-25 record (1-16 OVC). This is the 375th win in
Matt Bollant's career.
The Panthers started strong against SIUE scoring 17 points. Washington got off to a hot start as she scored 7 early points against the Cougars. Washington also tallied four rebounds in the first. She did a ton for the Panthers at the start of the game. Wahl put up 4 points as well. Wahl was the second leading scorer for Panthers in the first quarter. SIUE couldn't score on the sensational defense of the Panthers. Panthers led 17-11 at the end of the quarter.
Eastern only managed four rebounds in the second quarter, which hurt the scoring of the Panthers. EIU had four turnovers as well and were only able to score 14 points. SIUE scored 15 points and shot 56% on the quarter. The Cougars doubled the rebounding of the Panthers in the quarter.
SIUE went on a cold streak that allowed Eastern to run away with a victory, but wasn't able to pull away in their struggles. The Panthers scored 13 points in the quarter, but added four more turnovers on the day. Steele put up the bulk of the points with 4 in the third quarter. SIUE put up 16 points, but the Panthers led at the end of the quarter. EIU led 44-42 heading in to the final quarter.
The Panthers let SIUE back into the game in the fourth quarter. The Cougars scored 20 points in the final quarter to pull them within three points in the final minute of play. Steele was huge for EIU at the end of the game as she made a clutch layup and free throws to pull the win out for the Panthers. Eastern won the game 65-62 and will move on to play in the OVC Tournament next week. EIU will be paired up against Jacksonville State.