Eastern Illinois women's basketball competed closely with Tennessee Tech for three quarters, but a late Golden Eagles run ultimately doomed the Panthers in a 56-65 home loss. With the result, the Panthers drop to 13-11 overall and 8-5 in Ohio Valley Conference Play on the season.
It was a tight game early on, as neither team was able to get much separation. TTU was able to establish a 13-8 lead before back-to-back
Lariah Washington jumpers brought the Panthers back to within a point. A TTU bucket made it 15-12 at the end of the first quarter. Buckets by
Abby Wahl and
Kira Arthofer gave EIU a 16-15 lead to start the second quarter, but Tech quickly responded with a 6-0 run to go back up by five. After a
Taris Thornton made layup was followed by a span of three minutes without a point, EIU was able to tie the game on a converted and-one opportunity by Wahl. After TTU was able to take a 26-23 lead,
Lariah Washington hit a three-pointer in the final minute of the half to tie things up 26-26 at halftime.
After Tech got the first bucket of the third quarter, the Panthers scored six straight to go up 32-28. The Golden Eagles responded with a 15-6 run that spanned nearly the entire third quarter, before another Wahl layup in the paint cut EIU's deficit to 40-43 going into the fourth quarter. The Panthers pulled to within 45-44 early in the period, but back-to-back threes by TTU's Mackenzie Coleman upped the Golden Eagle lead to seven. A Wahl free throw cut it to six before TTU made two more buckets to extend their lead to double digits and effectively put the game on ice.
Abby Wahl led the Panthers with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds. Washington contributed with 14 points and six rebounds.Â
Kira Arthofer scored seven points and also dished out seven assists. Thornton scored seven, while
Jordyn Hughes had five points and six rebounds.
Up next, the Panthers will host the UT Martin Skyhawks in the annual CARE Game on Saturday, February 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 pm CT.