Eastern falls in 19th straight game
Freshman forward Brittin Boyer fights for possession of the ball during the Panthers’ 75-56 loss to Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 14 in Lantz Arena. The Panthers lost to Austin Peay 80-45 on Saturday in Clarksville, Tenn.
January 24, 2016
The Eastern women’s basketball team won the first game of the season but have gone on a huge losing streak, making it 19 losses in a row with a loss to Austin Peay Saturday.
The Panthers lost to Austin Peay 80-45, in a game that the Governors had control of since the first quarter. Eastern is now 1-19 overall and 0-8 in Ohio Valley Conference games.
Austin Peay is now 7-13 overall and 5-2 in OVC play.
Eastern was outscored 34-17 in the first half and shot just 25% from the field compared to Austin Peay’s 51.9%.
The Governors got off to a hot start by scoring the first eight points of the game.
They also scored 11 of the first 12 points of the second quarter. Eastern did not score until the 3:24 mark.
Austin Peay heavily outscored Eastern in the paint 46-10. Junior guard Phylicia Johnson led all scorers in the game with 18 points. She had five rebounds as well.
While Johnson was the only double-digit scorer for the Panthers, the same could not be said for Austin Peay.
The Governors had four scorers reach double-digits. Tiasha Gray led with 17 points, Falon Baker had 15, Tearra Banks had 14, and J’Nayah Hall had 10 points.
Turnovers have been a common trend lately for the Panthers as they turned the ball over 23 times in the game. Austin Peay had 18 turnovers.
The Governors also out-rebounded the Panthers by 14, 35-21.
Austin Peay scored 28 points off of Eastern’s 23 turnovers. Eastern only scored 16 points off turnovers.
When it came to second chance points, Austin Peay took advantage of them and Eastern did not. The Governors scored 12 second chance points and Eastern scored four.
Eastern got itself within 15 by out-scoring the Governors 17-15 in the third quarter. But a 31 point fourth quarter by Austin Peay and an 11 point fourth by the Panthers gave Eastern no chance to get the game any closer.
During the Panther’s 19 game losing streak, 13 of them have been double-digit deficits. The last two games have been over 20 point losses.
Sophomore forward Jalisha Smith came off the bench and scored nine points and earned two rebounds.
Eastern was also solidly outscored by Austin Peay’s bench. The governors had 31 points, and Eastern had 16.
Eastern will have a chance to end its long losing streak Wednesday at Murray State.
Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].
