An explosive first quarter from Southeast Missouri set the tone against the Eastern women’s basketball team for the second time this season as the Panthers lost to the Redhawks 72-56 Thursday.

Eastern led 9-7 in the first quarter before Southeast Missouri closed out the quarter on a 17-2 run. The Panthers would climb back within six by halftime, but would not get any closer.

One glaring difference between Eastern and Southeast Missouri was rebounding.

“The biggest thing is they rebound the basketball,” Eastern head coach Matt Bollant said. “They had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half.”

As a result, the Redhawks had 17 second-chance points to the Panthers’ two. In terms of total rebounds, Southeast Missouri had 41 compared to Eastern’s 23.

“They’re good at (rebounding) and they were a lot more aggressive at it than we were,” Bollant said.

Despite the rebounding deficit, the Panthers were able to make the game a two-possession contest at the half. This is when Southeast Missouri’s offense, the highest-scoring in the conference, took over.

“We had a good second quarter and gave ourselves a chance, but then came out and they were 7-of-13 from the field, 2-of-2 from three and 7-of-7 from the line in the third quarter, and that pretty much buried it,” Bollant said.

This game had a lot in common with the Panthers’ first matchup with the Redhawks on Jan. 25. The Panthers were outscored 22-13 in the first quarter in that matchup. They were outscored 24-11 in the first quarter Thursday.

The Eastern defense responded well in the second quarter of both games, allowing just eight second-quarter points in each game, while scoring 11 in the first game and 15 in the second.

The third quarter of both games is where things fell apart.

Eastern was outscored 23-15 in the third on Thursday, which was not as bad as the third quarter in the first matchup, in which it was outscored 32-16.

The Panthers also struggled from three in each matchup, shooting 7-of-25 from beyond the arc in the first matchup and 4-of-16 on Thursday.

Bollant said the struggles from three on Thursday was a combination of good Redhawks’ defense and perhaps a few rushed shots on Eastern’s end.

“We got maybe sped up a little bit,” Bollant said. “Abby (Wahl) had a couple good looks and missed them and we didn’t make some open ones that we got.”

Wahl finished as the Panthers’ third-leading scorer in the game, tallying 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. She was one of three Eastern players to score in double figures, joining Lariah Washington (13 points) and Karle Pace (16).

The Panthers have one game remaining before the OVC Tournament begins in Evansville, Indiana on March 4.

They play Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Saturday. A win for Eastern will clinch them the four seed in the tournament, as will a Tennessee Tech loss against Jacksonville State.

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].