At halftime of Saturday’s game at Southeast Missouri, it appeared the Eastern women’s basketball team was poised for a 5-0 Ohio Valley Conference start and its first win in Cape Girardeau, Mo., since 2001.

The Panthers blew a nine-point halftime lead and fell 58-51 to the Redhawks, becoming the last OVC team to lose a conference game and dropping to 4-1 (10-6 overall).

“We turned the ball over (14 times) in the second half and your efficiency on offense is killed when you turn it over that much,” Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. “On top of that there were turnovers that were steals or led to them getting points and that hurt us a bit. It’s hard to guard turnovers.”

The Panthers led 31-22 at halftime, but shot just 5-for-25 from the field in the second half. They committed 21 turnovers for the game, including two late in the second half with the game still within reach.

Trailing by one point with 1 minute, 41 seconds remaining, Eastern threw away two consecutive passes against the Redhawks full-court press, leading to easy layups by Southeast Missouri senior guard Sonya Daugherty and sophomore forward Lauren Sharpe.

“I think their press gave us some trouble at the end of the game,” Eastern junior forward Maggie Kloak said in a postgame interview on WEIU-FM. Kloak led the Panthers with 14 points.

Daugherty led the Redhawks with 19 points. The Panthers return home Thursday as they continue OVC play against Eastern Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. at Lantz Arena.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].