Cookville, Tennessee. – The Eastern Illinois women’s basketball swept the Ohio Valley in her conference first road test of her season Thursday night as she defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 67-62 in Cookville, Tennessee. The win is her EIU’s first victory over her TTU since February 4, 2017, and her first road win since February 13, 2012 over the Golden Eagles.
‘We had to get it today,’ said head coach Matt Volant“We knew they were confident, they hadn’t lost at home this year, and[we]felt like we needed to come in and take it, and we did it.
The Panthers made it to TTU early on to take an 8-2 lead, Mia MonaghanAfter cutting into 8-4 with TTU bucket, Laria Washington She responded with an and-one of her own to increase the lead to 11-4. The teams swapped buckets for the rest of the first quarter. Tallis Thornton Hit layups from what you find Ellie Colson Giving EIU a 19-13 lead going into the second period. After a 6-2 Golden Eagle spurt, they cut the Panthers’ lead to two. Morgan Litwiller A three-pointer put the lead back at 5, 24-19. When the Panthers were 28-23 with just under three minutes left on him, TTU’s Reagan hit his 3 and he cut to 28-26 with seconds remaining and he had one free. Sinking his throw, he made it 28-27 at halftime.
Washington scored the first point of the second half to bring the lead back to three, but the Golden Eagles then took the first lead of the ballgame with back-to-back buckets. Litwiller’s layup to regain the lead was quickly answered by his 3-pointer for Golden on his eagle. After 2:00 Macy McGlone The free throws gave EIU a 38-37 lead back, and a 9-2 TTU run put the Panthers in a 46-40 hole with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter.The Panthers didn’t give up, with Litwiller’s 3-pointer Julia Bengsson He laid up a full-court pass from Monaghan for a 5-2 spurt heading into the fourth quarter.
Down 51-49 with 7:07 remaining, Monaghan hit a pull-up jumper to equalize at 51. After another bucket of Hurst put his TTU back to his 2, Monaghan missed a clutch offensive he came up with a rebound. Tallis Thornton Free throws and Washington then hit a jumper in the lane to tie it up at 53. Thornton hit the next free throw to give the EIU a 56–53 lead with 5:13 remaining. Going her 58-55 with just under four minutes remaining, Monaghan hit another pull-up her jumper and answered TTU’s 3-pointer with her own triple, with her 2:18 remaining. gave the Panthers her 63-58 lead. After another of his TTU buckets, it was now Washington’s turn to rise. She responded to the bell in the form of her shot jumping, giving EIU her 65-60 lead. Hurst hit another bucket with 37 seconds left and cut it to 3 with 37 seconds remaining, and after the EIU’s ensuing possession failed to produce a point, the Golden Eagles had one last chance to tie things up again, but Marr. Liya Owens’ final gasp three-pointer was denied by Littwiller and Washington sinking two free throws to give the EIU a five-point win.
Washington again led the Panthers offensively, scoring 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting and giving seven assists in his seventh 20-point or more effort of the season. She is currently eighth on the EIU’s all-time top scorer list. Ritwiller, from a three-point range she made a 3-for-3 perfect, scoring 15 points and she had four rebounds. Monaghan scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and grabbed 6 rebounds.
“The big players are stepping up and playing.” Bollant said of the trio’s performance.
McGlone contributed 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Tallis Thornton Scored 5 points. As a team, the Panthers recorded 17 assists on his 27 shots.
Next, the Panthers head to Morehead, Kentucky for a road battle, this time against the Morehead State Eagles. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 PM CT.