Eastern Illinois women’s basketball season is over after a last second score by sophomore guard Raegan McCowan put Western Illinois ahead 78-75 in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Evansville, Indiana. 

This was the last game for OVC player of the year, senior forward Macy McGlone. 

“This isn’t the outcome that we wanted, but I’m just thankful for the last three years,” McGlone said. 

This was also the last game for the other four seniors including OVC defensive player of the year Kiyley Flowers. 

McGlone ended up finish the game with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Flowers finished with nine points and three steals. 

Four lead changes in the last three minutes saw Eastern come back from down 72-66. Eastern went on a 7-0 run in 30 seconds behind redshirt sophomore forward Sydney-James Desroches made three-pointer with a foul. She ended up missing the free throw, but sophomore guard Lalani Ellis got the rebound and scored a layup while getting fouled. 

Desroches missed the free throw, but Eastern was up by one with 2:09 left. 

“It just shows the relentlessness of the team,” Flowers said. “Like, we weren’t going to give up.”  

Two more lead changes left 24.8 seconds on the clock and Eastern up by 1. Western Illinois went into the huddle where head coach JD Gravina said the goal was to get it to McCowan. 

“Basically, about how to get Raegan the ball to be honest,” Gravina said. 

McCowan ended up getting the ball off the throw in. She got the ball on the right shoulder facing the basket as she drove on Desroches where she banked in a jumper from the right block. 

“I think first obviously just catch the ball kind of take a deep breath,” McCowan said. “I knew catching the ball there out there at the three-point line that I need to face the basket and not take her with my back to the basket so, I just faced up you know saw what she gave me, I saw the help coming to the middle so I decided to change directions and I got a layup.”  

McCowan ended up finishing the game with 25 points and five rebounds. 

Eastern would get one more chance to win the game, but McGlone tried driving on the left side into a bunch of traffic where the layup could not go. Western Illinois ended up getting fouled with three seconds left as Western Illinois then went up by three as the game ended. 

Eastern head coach Marqus McGlothan said that the game came down to missing layups. 

“We had too many missed layups,” McGlothan said. “We had some opportunities on some wide-open looks, and we didn’t convert them on those missed layups.” 

Both teams started out hot as after the first quarter the game was 20-20. In the second quarter Eastern’s defense came alive as Eastern went on an 11-2 run throughout the first four minutes of the quarter.  

Western Illinois was able to come back from down eight in the second quarter. That was helped by a last second half court three-pointer by McCowan. 

Western Illinois took that momentum from the end of the half and did not relent as Eastern was outscored 21-13 in the third quarter.  

Eastern’s season is now over. After starting conference play 10-0 Eastern ended up finishing the regular season at 15-5 in conference play. Eastern came into the OVC tournament as the three seed but leave after its first game.  

McGlothan said that he hopes to take the team to the next level next year. 

“I feel good,” McGlothan said. “I feel like Coach [Matt] Bollant did a good job on putting this team where we are right now. You know, just piggybacking off of that and just trying to take it to the next level.” 

Western Illinois now moves onto the semi-finals against Lindenwood while Eastern Illinois played its last game of the season. 

Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.