EDWARDSVILLE, ILL --
Kira Arthofer banked in a game-winning shot as Eastern Illinois women's basketball gutted out a 70-68 road win over SIUE. With the win, the Panthers sweep the Cougars for the third year in a row and move to 13-10 overall and 8-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The Panthers started fast, hitting seven of their first ten shots from the field en route to an early 16-6 lead. The Cougars responded with an 11-2 run to cut the Panther lead to one, and the Panthers would ultimately lead by that margin at the end of the first quarter, 25-24. The second quarter then became a game of runs, as EIU would begin the period with a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 35-28, before a 10-2 SIUE run would give the Cougars a one-point advantage just before the end of the half. But
Jordyn Hughes would hit a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the half for the second straight game to give EIU a 40-38 halftime lead.
The third period was a back-and-forth affair, as the lead changed hands six times before SIUE took a 55-54 lead into the fourth. The Cougars scored the first five points of the final period to extend their lead to six. The Panthers were not about to go quietly into the night, however. Down six with less than five minutes to play, another Hughes three-pointer which was followed by five EIU free throws gave the Panthers the lead right back before a
Lariah Washington turnaround jumper from the free throw line made it a 10-0 Panther run, giving them a 68-64 lead. An SIUE three-pointer cut it to one, and the Cougars got the ball back with a chance to go up with 23 seconds remaining. After SIUE's Allie Troeckler missed two free throws, she got the offensive board off of her own miss and got fouled again, this time going 1-for-2 at the line to tie things up at 68 with 8 seconds remaining. Washington found Arthofer in the lane, who hit a layup with 0.3 seconds remaining. SIUE's last gasp fell harmlessly short as the Panthers won their seventh out of their last eight games.
"I thought we showed good poise in the fourth quarter," said coach
Matt Bollant. "We got down six, and it wasn't going our way, and we fought and battled back. We knew it was gonna be a fight today, and I thought we stepped up and fought in that fourth quarter and just made enough plays."
Washington led the Panthers with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, to go along with four rebounds. Hughes finished with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Arthofer scored 10 points to go along with four assists and four steals.Â
Abby Wahl contributed with eight points and seven rebounds. A couple of Panther freshmen played a big factor, as
Julia Bengtson had five points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while
Miah Monahan had five points.
The win marked the 400th overall win of head coach
Matt Bollant's career.
"What a way to get it, on a last second shot," said coach Bollant. "A lot of adversity. A lot of things didn't go our way today. So, pretty special to find a way to win."
The Panthers will be back in action in a big-time home matchup with the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on Thursday, February 10. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 pm.