MARTIN, Tenn. - The Eastern Illinois Panthers (7-9, 5-6 OVC) fell to the UT Martin Skyhawks (9-3, 8-1 OVC), 70-50. The Panthers battled against the Skyhawks for the entirety but were unable to get the offensive push late in the fourth quarter.
Abby Wahl was dominant per-usual on offense as she finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Lariah Washington was also a massive factor in the rebounding category as she finished with nine boards and 8 points.
Karle Pace was missed on offense, but
Jordyn Hughes stepped up off the bench and scored 7 points and grabbed four steals in Pace's absence. The Panthers will stay on the road and take on SEMO on Saturday, Jan. 30.
QUICK STATS
- The Panthers eclipse 20 turnovers for the fourth time this season.
- Abby Wahl was the only Panther to score in double-digits.
- The Panthers held the NCAA's leading scorer to 19 points; the first time she hasn't scored 20 or more points this season.
- This is only the fifth game that the Panthers were outscored in the paint.
- The Panthers tied the Skyhawks with 11 bench points; this is the eighth time the team has scored over double-digit points.
- The Panthers out-rebounded the Skyhawks by ten rebounds.
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER
Eastern Illinois started with some tenacious defense against the Skyhawks.
Morgan Litwiller and Wahl made back-to-back 3-point attempts to put the Panthers up 6-0 early on in the game. After the two quick threes from the Panthers, both teams went cold from the field. The Skyhawks couldn't buy a basket; going into the second half of the quarter, the Skyhawks had gone 0-5 from the floor and turned the ball over three times. UT Martin broke out the 1-3-1 zone, and the Panthers struggled mightily; the Skyhawks forced eight turnovers in the first quarter and held the Panthers to just the 6 points on the quarter. The Panthers trailed the Skyhawks, 9-6.
Washington snapped the Panthers 8 minute drought as she hit a tough layup early in the second quarter. The Panthers continued to struggle against the 1-3-1 zone while the Skyhawks offense started to warm-up. Eastern Illinois finished the quarter with an additional eight turnovers putting their total on the game to 16. At the media timeout, UT Martin was up 24-12, and the Panthers couldn't overcome the defensive zone. The Panthers were held to just 12 points on the quarter, while UT Martin scored 23. Hughes led the Panthers in scoring with 5 points in the first half. The Skyhawks led going into the half, 32-18.
Wahl started strong coming into the second half of basketball with 6-quick-points. Washington followed suit with 4 points of her own, as the Panthers couldn't afford to let UT Martin run away with the game. The Panthers continued to look to Wahl to lead the offense as she went back and forth with the Skyhawks. Wahl finished the quarter with 13 of the Panthers' 21 third-quarter points. EIU outscored the Skyhawks, 21-17 in the quarter, but UT Martin held the lead heading into the fourth quarter, 49-39.
The Skyhawks and Panthers kept it close at the start of the fourth quarter. UT Martin made most of their shots as they went 4-5 going into the second half of the final quarter. The Panthers were unable to overcome the deficit created in the second quarter. The benches cleared as the freshman of EIU received some necessary playing time. EIU fell to UT Martin, 70-50. The Panthers will take the lessons learned from this game to Cape Girardeau, Mo., and face the Southeast Missouri Redhawks on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m.