MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Eastern Illinois women's basketball snapped their two-game skid with a 51-45 road win over the Milwaukee Panthers. With the win, EIU is now 7-2 overall on the season.
"It was a battle, and we knew it was going to be,"Â said head coach
Matt Bollant. "They're big and physical, they're good on their home court. They just beat Green Bay and Loyola on their home court. We know they're good here, and we knew it was gonna be a battle, and I'm really proud of our players. I thought we defended, we rebounded, and we did the right things to get that win."
It was a slugfest from the opening tip, as
Lariah Washington accounted for all five of the game's points in the first 7:51 of the game until Milwaukee was able to get on the board with a pair of free throws. The two teams combined for 11 turnovers and just 20% shooting from the floor in the first period, as Milwaukee did not hit their first field goal until there was 1:41 remaining in the period. EIU responded with buckets from
Lyric Johnson and
Hannah Purcell to take a 9-4 lead into the second quarter. Up 13-11 with three minutes gone in the second period, EIU used a 9-2 capped by a
Taris Thornton driving layup off a pass from
Miah Monahan to up their lead to nine. Milwaukee closed the gap to 22-16 at halftime.
Eastern Illinois continued to find some offensive momentum early in the third quarter, as back-to-back buckets by
Morgan Litwiller and
Macy McGlone gave EIU a double-digit lead. EIU continued to keep Milwaukee at arms' length as a converted and-one by Washington made it 30-22. Milwaukee then began to make their run, using a 6-2 run to cut it to 32-28 going into the fourth quarter. EIU upped the lead back to seven to start the final period, but an 8-0 Milwaukee run put EIU in a hole for the first time in the contest at 36-35. Eastern Illinois would not go quietly into the night however, as Washington found Litwiller for a big three-pointer to give EIU the lead right back, after which McGlone came up with a steal at the other end and Thornton converted the and-one to make it 41-36. Milwaukee clawed their way back to within two at 43-41, but would not get any closer as despite going without a field goal for the last 5:08 of the ballgame, EIU made their free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.
In a tough and defensive battle, Washington was once again EIU's leader on offense, scoring 19 points and going 9-of-11 from the free throw line and getting three steals and a team-high four assists. Her nine made free throws are a season high. McGlone scored five points and led EIU on the glass with 10 rebounds, while Litwiller, Thornton, and Monahan each scored seven. Litwiller grabbed five rebounds and Thornton had four. Making her first career start, Johnson scored four points and recorded five rebounds. Despite not scoring,
Julia Bengtson also contributed with four rebounds.
EIU outscored Milwaukee 26-14 in points in the paint and outrebounded Milwaukee 40-33. EIU is now 7-0 on the season when either tied or leading in rebounds.
Following finals week, EIU will host the Central Michigan Chippewas on Sunday, December 18. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 PM CT.