Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, ILL -- Eastern Illinois women's basketball pulled off their third overtime win of the season, defeating the Tennessee State Lady Tigers 78-70. With the win, the Panthers move to 10-10 overall on the season and 5-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
EIU started hot, responding to a TSU first bucket with a 10-2 run to take an early 10-4 lead. Led by seven first quarter points from
Morgan Litwiller, the Panthers went up 19-10 before a TSU three-pointer cut it to 19-13 at the end of the first quarter. Back-to-back buckets by
Taris Thornton followed by a
Miah Monahan three-pointer upped EIU's lead to 26-15. Two made TSU free throws were followed by six more Panther points to widen the gap to 32-17. However, the Lady Tigers would respond with a 13-4 run to close the half, making EIU's lead 36-30 at halftime.
TSU would extend their run early in the third, scoring the first eight points of the period to go up 38-36. Not to be outdone,
Lariah Washington would give the Panthers the lead right back with nine straight points. EIU kept the Lady Tigers at arms' length throughout the remainder of the period, as another Washington bucket gave the Panthers a 56-45 lead going into the fourth quarter. After the two teams traded buckets to start the period, TSU would make yet another big run, using a 7-0 spurt to cut the lead to 58-54. A
Kira Arthofer converted and-one opportunity put EIU back up by seven, but five more TSU points made it a two point contest. The Lady Tigers would ultimately take a 68-66 lead with 1:37 to go in regulation, before another Washington basket tied it at 68. Both teams had opportunities to win it in the final 1:18 of regulation, but could not capitalize, and the game went into overtime.
Litwiller found
Abby Wahl in the lane who made the layup to get the scoring started in overtime. The teams would go scoreless for the next three minutes before two Washington free throws made it 72-68. An Arthofer jump shot then upped the lead to six with 54 seconds to go. Arthofer followed up that bucket with a steal, and EIU made their free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice. TSU did not score a point in the overtime period until there were nine seconds remaining.
Washington finished with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds, for her first double-double of the season and fourth of her career. She also became the 27th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
Wahl scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Litwiller scored 11 points and recorded seven rebounds and four assists. Arthofer had 10 points, six assists, and four steals. Monahan had a career day, scoring a career high 11 points.
The Panthers outscored the Lady Tigers 44-28 in the paint and outrebounded TSU 49-35. The team also shared the ball efficiently once again, recording 20 assists on 27 made baskets.
With the win, the Panthers improve to 3-0 in overtime games this season.
Up next, the Panthers will host the SIUE Cougars in the third COVID makeup game of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 pm CT.