Panthers lose late again in road game
December 2, 2018
The Eastern women’s basketball team was able to put up two potential game-tying shots within the final second of its game against Valparaiso Sunday night, but neither shot fell for the Panthers in what amounted to a 62-60 loss.
Eastern sophomore guard Taylor Steele hit a couple of key three-pointers down the stretch for Eastern to keep the Panthers close with Valparaiso, but with less than one second left on the clock, Steele received an in-bound pass and was able to put up a running layup, but the ball bounced in and out of the basket for a miss.
Steele’s missed shot appeared to end the game and Valparaiso players celebrated and went back to the bench. But, a foul off the ball by Valparaiso would give Eastern the ball back and another chance to tie the game and potentially avoid a second-straight road loss. Redshirt-senior Grace Lennox received the in-bound pass this time and like Steele, Lennox was unable to convert a shot, and the clock expired for good this time.
“We had some really good looks down the stretch, just weren’t able to knock them down, unfortunately,” Eastern head coach Matt Bollant said.
The Eastern bench felt Lennox may have been fouled on her catch, but no call was made and the Panthers’ opportunity for a tie fell short.
The loss to Valparaiso feels all too familiar for Eastern who is coming off a one-possession loss to Bradley on the road just four days prior.
The Panthers now have a road losing streak of 17 games that dates back to February of 2017. But, the most recent losses to Bradley and Valparaiso feel different as both were losses that could have gone a different direction had just one possession been different for either team. Bollant said after losses like those, “you just have to keep bringing it and stay determined.”
“We’re growing, we’re better,” Bollant said. “Keep bringing it, keep fighting, and eventually the right things will happen.”
Eastern was encouraged after the Bradley loss as it appeared their road woes may have finally been put to rest, and while the Valparaiso game did not go the way Eastern wanted it to, there were still more encouraging signs that the team’s road struggles may finally be over.
“I was encouraged late in how we fought, but we just did not play well for 2.5 quarters, and then we stepped up and started playing pretty well the last quarter and a half to give ourselves a good shot to win the game,” Bollant said.
Perhaps the biggest sign of encouragement for the Panthers is their trio of sophomore starters once again producing big numbers against a non-conference opponent. Particularly for the group made of Karle Pace, Steele and Grace McRae, it’s another strong showing on the road, something that was rarely seen from the group last season.
Pace finished with a team-high 18 points. Steele struggled early, but when the Panthers needed her in the third quarter, she found her three-point shot and finished the game with 11 points. McRae put up 10 points and nine rebounds in another balanced game in the post.
The two biggest shots of the game for Eastern came from senior Carmen Tellez who made a three-point shot as time expired in the third quarter to give Eastern a one-point lead, and again made a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 49-49 with 5:45 to play.
Tellez struggled with her shot last season, and at times it appeared that her confidence was waning, so to see her confidently sink shots in clutch moments was a good sign to the Panthers.
“(Her shots) were really encouraging, she played really well, gave us good minutes and did a lot of good things,” Bollant said. “Definitely a shot in the arm off the bench which was what we need.”
Bollant was also happy with the bench performance by freshman forward Abby Wahl, who finished the game with seven points on three-of-three shooting in 12 minutes.
Valparaiso was led by three players in double figures, with guard Grace Hales scoring a game-high 25-points. Meredith Hamlet added 14 points of her own, and Addison Stoller finished with 10.
The loss drops Eastern to 3-3 this season, and the Panthers host Western Illinois on Friday.
JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].