Eastern Illinois women's basketball snaps 21-game losing streak with win over Southeast

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team had gone more than three months without winning a game.

The Panthers, who had lost their last 21 games after defeating IUPUI in their home opener on Nov. 13, clawed their way back from a double-figure halftime deficit on Saturday afternoon to defeat Southeast Missouri State 64-59 at Lantz Arena.

"I think that the tougher team and the team that wanted it more won, and it's been a minute since we've not been that," Southeast coach Rekha Patterson said. "I think you have to credit Eastern Illinois because they played extremely hard, they were tough, they stuck together, they made timely shots and they never quit."

The Redhawks dropped to 14-10 and 7-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference while EIU moved to 2-21 and 1-10 in the OVC.

"A lot of basketball left," Patterson said. "I don't think this was a trap game. We're not a program yet where you can talk about that. We're still trying to work to be our best every single time we step on the floor. And that's the biggest thing -- I don't think we were our best. Your best, their best and they happen to win, pat them on the back, but it leaves a tad bit of a nasty taste because we weren't our best."

Southeast held a 15-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter and went into halftime with a 29-18 lead after closing out the second quarter on an 8-0 run, but the Redhawks didn't feel comfortable with the first-half performance.

"We talked about at halftime how they felt like they were running in mud and we were trying we just weren't able to like really get in a flow," Patterson said, "and I think you have to credit Eastern Illinois because they did some things well that took us out of the flow."

A layup by senior guard Bri Mitchell 24 seconds into the second half extended Southeast's lead to its largest at 13.

The Panthers responded with a 14-3 run to cut it to 34-32 with 5 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the third.

A pair of free throws by EIU's Erica Brown trimmed it to one, and Alece Shumpert banked in a 3-pointer with 2:26 left in the third to give EIU its first lead of the game at 39-37.

Erin Bollmann scored to tie it at the 1:55 mark, which was Southeast's first field goal in a span of 7:31.

Hannah Noe hit a pair of FTs and Bollmann scored in transition to give the Redhawks a 43-39 edge heading into the final 10 minutes.

Brown converted a 3-point play to cut it to one 31 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Phylicia Johnson followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Panthers up 48-43 with 8:03 left to play.

Patterson warned her team before the game that EIU would likely knock down some shots and that they needed to be strong enough to handle seeing them fall through the net. The Panthers finished 5 of 18 from beyond the arc and knocked down three in the second half.

"I thought, and maybe my team thought, that they were going to happen earlier in the game, but they didn't happen early," Patterson said. "They happened at a perfect time for them, and I don't think we were tough enough to see that happen and come down and execute because we tried to get things back right like the next possession and you're not going to get them back the next possession."

Mitchell drove baseline and scored, but a layup by Johnson, who finished with a game-high 19 points, and a jumper by Jalisha Smith pushed the Panthers' lead to seven midway through the quarter.

Southeast got within four after Bollmann split a pair of FTs with 1:23 to play, but EIU made 8 of 12 foul shots in the final minute to seal the victory.

"Coach P was trying to stress that we need to focus on our basketball more than who they are and their losing streak," Bollmann said. "But I think they came out and they really played hard and we didn't match it."

EIU shot 36.8 percent in the game (46.4 percent in the second half). The Panthers were 17 of 23 from the charity stripe in the second half after missing their only two attempts in the first.

"You can't look at their record and define them as a team," freshman guard Adrianna Murphy said. "They're going to be hungry as coach said, 'They're going to be hungry, they're never going to quit,' and they showed that. They had more fight towards the end and got away with it."

Southeast shot 35.9 percent in the game and made just 2 of 14 3-point attempts, both of which came in the first half. The Redhawks were 11 of 16 from the free-throw line.

"I think that they muddied it up defensively, and made it tough for us to get paint points, post touches, made it tough for us to score in the post," Patterson said. "I think they did that. I think they took away our transition opportunities, and they did a good job, I guess, of not fouling because we didn't get to the free-throw line as much as I would've liked."

The Redhawks return to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday when they take on defending OVC champion UT Martin in Martin, Tennessee. UTM, the top team in the conference, defeated Southeast 84-74 in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 24.

"We'll regroup. We will learn from it," Patterson said. "We will work to be our best the next time we step out on the floor, and guess who we get to step out on the floor next? If you're going to be your best why not be your best against them, right?"

E ILLINOIS 64, SOUTHEAST 59

Southeast 15 14 14 16 -- 59

E Illinois 11 7 21 25 -- 64

SOUTHEAST (59) -- Bri Mitchell 17, Erin Bollmann 14, Adrianna Murphy 9, Connor King 5, Deja Jones 7, Hannah Noe 4, Hilma Mededovic 2, Corneisha Henderson 1. FG 23-64, FT 11-16, F 22. (3-pointers: Mitchell 1, Bollmann 1. Fouled out: Bollmann.)

E ILLINOIS (64) -- Phylicia Johnson 19, Erica Brown 12, Halle Stull 11, Shakita Cox 7, Grace Lennox 6, Jalisha Smith 6, Alece Shumpert 3. FG 21-57, FT 17-25, F 16. (3-pointers: Johnson 2, Lennox 1, Stull 1, Shumpert 1. Fouled out: None.)