CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Eastern Illinois women's basketball was defeated on the road for the second consecutive game, this time falling 62-57 to the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks on Thursday evening. With the loss, the Panthers drop to 20-5 overall and 13-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play, falling to second place in the conference standings.
"We just struggled to get makes down the stretch."Â said head coach
Matt Bollant. "We did a great job on the rebounding, got offensive rebounds and got lots of looks, but you can't go 3-for-13 from the field and expect to win on the road in the fourth quarter."
SEMO took the early advantage, hitting four three-pointers in the first six minutes to take an early 18-11 lead.Â
Miah Monahan served as a bright spot offensively for the Panthers, hitting back-to-back threes as the first quarter winded down to pull EIU to within a point going into the second period. Monahan continued her hot shooting to start the period, sinking two more threes to give EIU a 23-20 lead. The Redhawks fought back and took the lead once more, but Monahan continued to single-handedly keep the Panthers in the game, hitting a jumper in the paint and then another three-pointer to put EIU up 28-26. After layups from
Ellie Colson and
Macy McGlone gave the Panthers a 32-28 lead, SEMO closed the second quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 36-32 lead at halftime.
After a
Lariah Washington jumper to start the second half, SEMO responded with a layup that sparked a 12-4 run with EIU's only points in that stretch coming from two
Hannah Purcell layups, as the Panthers would go just 5-of-15 from the field in the third quarter. Following two buckets from
Taris Thornton and Monahan, EIU trailed 49-42 entering the fourth quarter. The Panthers' offensive woes continued early in the fourth quarter as the team began the period just 1-of-4 from the field with four turnovers as SEMO extended the lead to 54-45 with 6:34 remaining. Two free throws from Purcell sparked a 9-0 EIU run that tied the game with 3:28 remaining. After SEMO retook the lead with a free throw, two more free throws from Purcell gave EIU a 56-55 lead with 2:05 to go, but back-to-back layups from SEMO's Jaliyah Green and Kennedi Watkins put the Redhawks up 59-56 and
Morgan Litwiller's game-tying three was off the mark, allowing SEMO to put the game away at the free throw line.
Monahan was the only Panther to score in double figures, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and going 5-of-9 from three-point range to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Purcell scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds while Litwiller had seven points and 10 rebounds. Washington had eight points and eight rebounds while McGlone had six points and five rebounds before leaving the game with an injury. Thornton also had six points and five rebounds.
Despite the loss, the Panthers outrebounded SEMO 45-19 and had 13 assists on 21 made shots. EIU's 25 turnovers were tied for their most in a game this season.Â
The Panthers will attempt a quick turnaround as they head to Little Rock for a major OVC showdown with the Trojans on Saturday at 1 PM.