Golden Eagle women rally late, go to the buzzer in loss at EIU
CHARLESTON, Ill. – After falling down by as many as nine points close to the end of the third quarter, Tennessee Tech roared back and retook a late lead. However, Eastern Illinois had the taste of victory in its mouth and used a late steal and free throws to retake a 75-74 lead with just seconds remaining.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
21 | 15 | 15 | 23 | 74 |
|
|
14 | 19 | 27 | 15 | 75 |
Team Stats
Eastern Illinois
| Game Statistics | Tennessee Tech | Eastern Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (27-57) | (31-57) |
| Field Goal % | 47.4% | 54.4% |
| Rebounds | 35 | 26 |
| Assists | 17 | 19 |
| Turnovers | 22 | 18 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 18 | 22 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 11 | 0 |
| Pts in the Paint | 30 | 48 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 14 | 18 |
| Bench Pts | 5 | 14 |
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
CHARLESTON, Ill. – After falling down by as many as nine points close to the end of the third quarter, Tennessee Tech roared back and retook a late lead.
However, Eastern Illinois had the taste of victory in its mouth and used a late steal and free throws to retake a 75-74 lead with just seconds remaining.
Down the stretch, Tiny Lewis hit a 3-pointer to cut Tech's lead to 74-73 with 1:22 left, then Kennedy Davis stole the ball away. Lewis drew a foul with seven seconds remaining and hit both free throws to go up one.
The Golden Eagles (10-4, 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference) had one last opportunity. Cam Mathews put up a jumper in the paint, but it wouldn't fall through. Amelia Pfeiffer came down with the offensive board, but the tip-in failed as the final buzzer sounded.
Tech returns to action Saturday as it travels to Western Illinois for an afternoon matinee at 1 PM.
Through the first half, the Golden Eagles built a steady advantage, topping EIU 21-14 in the opening stanza, then EIU chipped away 19-15 in the second, but Tech still led 36-33 at the intermission.
However, the third quarter saw the roles reversed as the Panthers (2-14, 1-4 OVC) outscored the Golden Eagles 27-15. EIU hit 11 of its 16 shots and was 4-for-6 at the line to shoot 68.8 percent in the quarter as Meioshe Mason and Lewis both led the way with five points.
The Panthers scored 12 of their 27 points off of nine Tech turnovers in the quarter. In all, the Golden Eagles saw 22 turnovers with 18 on steals as Clara Glad had five and Lewis four.
With a nine-point deficit at the end of the third quarter at 60-51, the Golden Eagles had some make-up work to do. Tech surged back, going 12-3 in the first three minutes to knot the game up at 63, then LaReesha Cawthorn put Tech on top with a layup at 65-63, followed by a Reghan Grimes layup off a turnover to make it 67-63 with 5:09 remaining.
Both sides hit a 3-pointer, then Mason hit a layup with 2:48 remaining to make it a two-point Tech lead with 2:48 left. Grimes hit the back end of a pair of free throws to put Tech back up by three, then Ava Stoller hit both of her charity tosses on the other end to make it a one-point lead once more.
With 1:37 remaining, Reagan Hurst sank a 3-pointer to go back up by four, but Lewis responded with 1:22 left, draining a long-range shot and setting up the final chain of events.
Hurst powered the Golden Eagles with nine points in the final quarter, while Chloe Larry and Grimes each had five points.
Grimes finished the game two points shy of tying her career high, collecting 29 total points with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Larry ended the contest with 14 points, five boards, four assists and a steal.
Hurst had 10 points, three assists and two steals, while Cawthorn missed a double-double with 10 points, eight rebounds, an assist, two steals and two blocks.
Stoller led EIU with 15 points, one rebound, four assists and three steals, while Sydney-James Desroches had 14 points, seven rebounds, an assist, two steals and two blocks. Mason ended with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block, while Lewis had 12 points, three assists and four steals. Glad had 11 points, two rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Following Saturday's game at Western Illinois, the Golden Eagles return home to take on Southern Indiana next Thursday.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940. Visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
