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MURRAY, Ky. - Eastern Illinois (9-13, 7-10 OVC) fell to the Murray State Racers (12-10, 9-8 OVC), 69-52. The Panthers were undone by a 5-point third quarter. The Panthers were led in scoring by Lariah Washington, who finished the game with 13 points. The Racers were led by Katelyn Young, who finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. The Panthers will finish the road trip against Austin Peay on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m.

QUICK STATS

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER
The Racers struck first in the game, going on a 6-0 run to start the game. The Panthers were forced to fight the uphill battle from the beginning. Katelyn Young was all over the boards early on. Parker Stafford and Wahl battled with her in the post. Wahl played a great inside-out game against Young as she nailed a 3-point jumper and made a layup to give her 5 points early. Hughes managed to nail both of her outside shots to give her 6 points. The Panthers kept the ball protected: finishing the quarter with no turnovers. The Racers led at the end of the quarter, 20-19.

Kira Arthofer drew a foul early in the quarter to give the Panthers the chance to take the lead. Arthofer nailed both to give EIU their first lead. Wahl continued to attempt outside jumpers as she hit her second 3-pointer of the game. Murray State's Macey Turley responded quickly with a 3-pointer of her own to pull the Racers back within one. Stafford, Wahl, and Grace McRae all found themselves playing significant time in the quarter to adjust to the rebounding imbalance that the Racers had taken. The Panthers were able to hold the Racers to only 17% from beyond the arc: an uncanny comparison to their usual 31%. Eastern Illinois major issue continued to be rebounding. At the end of the quarter, Murray State out-rebounded the Panthers 24-13. The Racers held the lead heading into halftime, 34-30.

Coming out of the break, Murray State made three consecutive shots to put the Racers up 10 points and forcing Matt Bollant to take a quick timeout. Neither team could get their offenses going, as the Panthers scored just 2 points off a pair of Washington free-throws in the first half of the third quarter. The Panthers scored their first field goal off a Taylor Steele layup with three minutes left to go in the quarter. The Panthers' offense found nothing doing and finished the quarter scoring only 5 points. The Racers had run away with the lead, 51-35.

The Panthers came out chipping away at the Racers' lead early in the fourth quarter. Washington managed 5-quick-points as the Panthers began to up the aggression on offense. The lead was too much to overcome, however, as the Panthers fell 69-52.