CHARLESTON, Ill. – Tennessee Tech used a late-season surge
to propel itself into the Ohio Valley Conference women’s
basketball tournament.
On Tuesday night, the Golden Eagles nearly used the same strategy.
A late-game surge nearly pushed coach Amy Brown’s team into
the semi-finals.
Instead, No. 2 seed Eastern Illinois dodged a purple-and-gold
bullet to survive with a 71-65 victory over the No. 7 seed Golden
Eagles in Lantz Arena.
“We fought,” Brown said. “These kids gave it all
they could tonight, and I’m very proud of our effort. I
can’t say enough about our seniors. They were
warriors.”
Down by as many as 16 points in the game, trailing by 14 in the
second half and facing dire foul problems, the Golden Eagles
ignored the odds and waged a comeback with full-court pressure that
forced EIU into 20 turnovers and pulled Tech to within a single
point.
Three players scored in double digits for the Golden Eagles, led
by senior Meagan Lyons with 17 points along with a team-best seven
assists and four rebounds and two steals. Senior Blair Bowens added
15 points with a team-best six rebounds, four assists and three
steals. Sophomore Jasmine White scored 12 and grabbed four
rebounds.
Rachel Galligan scored 25 points to top EIU, hitting 7-for-8 from
the field and 11-of-13 at the free throw line. Megan Edwards was
the only other Panther in double digits with 11 points along with a
team-high six rebounds.
The Panthers got nine points from Lindsey Kluempers and Ellen
Canale, and eight from Maggie Kloak. Canale’s six assists
topped EIU..
EIU led the entire first half, and took a 41-29 margin into
halftime.
“We came out kind of sloppy in the first half, and we just
had to come out and play hard and do everything we could in the
second half,” Lyons said.
The Golden Eagles made it a three-point game with less than five
minutes remaining, and pulled to within one point, 61-60, with 4:30
remaining, on a basket by Tacarra Hayes. The Panthers scored the
next five points, including a long 3-pointer by Lindsey Kluempers
with 2:37 remaining, for a 66-60 lead.
“We felt we needed to full-court press the whole game, and I
thought late in the game the pressure hurt them,” Brown
said.
With the hosts on top by six, 68-62, a technical foul went against
EIU’s Ellen Canale for protesting a foul called against her.
Bowens made both free throws and Meagan Lyons another one to pull
the Golden Eagles to within three points, 68-65, with just under a
minute to play. Tech forced another turnover with 42 seconds left,
but a traveling call with 31 seconds left took away that
chance.
Kluempers made both free throws with 27 seconds left for a
five-point difference, and Tech was called for an offensive foul,
the 23rd foul of the game against the Golden Eagles. A Galligan
free throw accounted for the final margin.
The Golden Eagles shot 44.8 percent (26-for-58) from the field,
including 5-for-16 from long range. Tech was 8-for-15 at the free
throw line and grabbed 28 rebounds.
EIU shot 56.5 percent from the field, hitting 26-for-46, including
5-for-11 from beyond the arc. The Panthers were 13-for-18 at the
charity stripe.
Tech ends the 2008-09 season with a 9-21 overall record. EIU
improved to 23-8 and advances to the OVC tourney semifinals in
Nashville on Friday.