The attempt of the Eastern women’s basketball team to win three consecutive games for the first time since the 1997-98 season was literally off by just a few inches in a 71-68 loss to Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne Friday.

After playing a sub-par first half, even by the 3-13, 2-3 Panthers standards, they clawed their way back to tie the game by the middle of the second half. However, IPFW reclaimed the lead in the closing minutes of the game.

The Panthers made a final assault against the Mastodons (4-15) in the last two and a half minutes of the game. The Panthers were trailing by eight when sophomore guard Sarah Riva drilled a three-pointer from the wing with 2:24 on the clock to make it a five-point game. The Mastodons made it a six point lead when junior guard Maggie Bruening split a pair of free throws.

Junior guard Lauren Dailey made her presence felt late in the game when she sunk a shot to cut the lead to four. She followed up the shot by forcing a turnover while the Mastodons were trying to bring the ball up court. Dailey attempted a three-pointer that rimmed out, but was recovered by senior forward Brooke Gossett, who found Dailey with a pass for an easy layup.

Bruening split another pair of free throws to make the score 69-66. The Panthers answered with a layup by Gossett with 42 seconds left to play.

The Mastodons added two more to their lead by making 2-of-4 from the free throw line in the next 35 seconds.

Between the free throws, sophomore guard Rachel Karos had a

chance to tie the game at 70, but missed her shot when she tried to penetrate through the lane. IPFW grabbed the rebound and Eastern was forced to intentionally foul Bruening.

Bruening missed the first of her double-bonus free throws, but made the second with seven seconds remaining.

On the following play, Dailey sprung free off a pick by Gossett and had an open look at the basket for the chance to send the game to overtime. However, her shot flew just a bit too far and hit the back iron.

“The tough part is we are such an inconsistent team right now,” freshman guard Megan Sparks said. “Not everybody showed up tonight, including myself.”

Sparks’ 3-for-5 shooting from behind the arc accounted for all of her nine points in the game.

The Mastodons had won two games at neutral sites earlier in the season, but picked up their first road win of the year.

“We didn’t deserve to win tonight,” Eastern head coach Linda Wunder said. “IPFW out hustled us and out played us. They wanted it more and deserved to win cause you can’t show up in the last three minutes and hope to win.”

The Panthers struggled from the opening tip, without starting point guard Ashley Kearney in the lineup, who might be out for the remainder of the season after aggravating the back injury that kept her out most of last season. Eastern made just one-third of its field goals and committed 10 turnovers in the half. The Panthers were behind by 10 in the first half, but a 9-5 run in the last four minutes made it a six-point ball game at half time.

Eastern could not stop the Mastodons’ junior guard Amy Gearlds, who leads IPFW in scoring this season. Gearlds had a hot hand in the first half; she made 7-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-7 from long distance. She beat her season average (14.8 ppg) for scoring 11 minutes into the game with 16 points and finished the half with 19.

“They told us before the game (Gearlds) was a gunner,” Sparks said. “Every time she gets the ball she’s gonna take the shot.”

The Panthers found their shooting touch in the second half making a blistering 63 percent.

Gossett led the charge with 14 second-half points and finished the game with a team-high 16.

Dailey made 3-of-5 shots in the second half and finished the game with 12 points, thanks in part to a perfect 4-for-4 night at the charity stripe. Junior forward Katie Meyers added 10 points in the game and held Gearlds to 2-of-10 from the field in the second half.

The non-conference loss is unsettling for the Panthers, who will face the preseason favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference, Austin Peay, Monday. The Governors (11-3, 4-0) are led by senior guard Brooke Armistead, who averages over 18 points a game.

“We have issues and things we have to take care of before the Austin Peay game,” Wunder said.