The Eastern Women’s basketball team nearly earned its first win in almost three months, but fell to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville for its 21st straight loss.
With the loss, Eastern falls to 1-21 and 0-10 in the OVC while SIUE improves to conference-best 9-1 and 14-9 overall.
Eastern made 11 three-pointers and shot 50 percent from beyond the arc. This is the third time this year where they have made 10 or more three-pointers.
Five players finished in double-digits for SIUE. They were led by Shronda Butts, who had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Sophomore Jalisha Smith scored the first basket of the game for Eastern, but the Cougars went on to score the next 16 points and led 16-2 midway through the first.
Freshman Halle Stull ended the run with a three-pointer, giving the Panthers life.
They went on a 13-5 run after that and pulled within six points of SIUE after a three-pointer from Carmen Tellez. Eastern trailed 23-15 after one-quarter.
Eastern started the second quarter with a three-pointer from Tellez, making the score 23-18, but SIUE followed with a 9-0 run.
Smith ended that run with a layup as they trailed 32-20. Smith finished with a career-high 14 points. SIUE took a 45-32 lead going into halftime.
Eastern shot 40 percent in the first half and remained in the game thanks to players coming off the bench, as they outscored the Cougars 17-7 in that category.
The second period started with the two teams trading baskets. Eastern trailed by 10 points for most of the third quarter.
Junior Erica Brown scored a layup with 2:47 remaining in the third to bring the Panthers within six points.
SIUE went on to score the next five points and went into the fourth quarter leading 62-54.
Stull brought the Panthers within four with a three-pointer to start off the fourth quarter.
The teams continued to trade baskets for the rest of the game. SIUE ended up winning the game 87-75.
Eastern shot 55.2 percent in the second half, which helped make the game close. Stull was the leading scorer on the team with 19 points. She added two blocks and two steals to her stats.
Sophomore Grace Lennox led the team with assists with seven. Her and Brown each had nine points in the game.
They will return home for a matchup against the Southeast Missouri University Redhawks on Saturday.
The Redhawks have found success in OVC play with a 6-3 conference record. SEMO got back into the win column this weekend with a 71-69 victory over Austin Peay.
Erin Bollmann was the Redhawk’s leading scorer with 15 points. Imani Johnson also scored 15 points in the contest.
SEMO was able to get nine different players involved offensively in the game. Adrianna Murphy led the team with five assists in the game. She also had two steals in the game. Murphy was also a threat down low with 10 total rebounds.
Mark Shanahan can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]
