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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – A pair of early baskets were not enough for the Southeast Missouri women's basketball team in its 73-46 loss to conference leading Eastern Illinois on Saturday night.
The loss drops Southeast to 4-14 overall and 1-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Courtney Shiffer scored on Southeast's first two possessions of the game, hitting one contested layup and making a defender bite on a jump stop for another layup to make it 4-0 early. The Panthers (12-4, 3-0 OVC) responded by drawing contact and getting to the line, hitting six-straight free throws to start a 17-2 run and grab a 17-6 lead with 12:36 left in the opening stanza.
“I give Eastern Illinois a lot of credit,” Southeast head coach
Ty Margenthaler said. “They don't beat themselves, they shoot extremely well and they are experienced. We will take this game tonight and learn from it. We had a lot of open looks, but the ball just didn't go in the hole early. We're still kind of battling to get over the hump offensively.”
The Panthers' lead grew to 38-22 with less than three minutes left in the first half after a three-pointer by Mariah King, three of her game-high 30 points. EIU ended up taking an 18-point lead, 43-25, into the locker room at the half.
EIU scored the first four points of the second half to extend its lead to 22 points. Southeast was unable to get the deficit down to any less than 19 the rest of the way and Eastern led by as many as 33 points in the second half.
Roberts led the Redhawks with 11 points and seven rebounds. She was the only Southeast player to score in double figures.
Eastern Illinois shot 41.4 percent from the floor and made 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) from three-point range. Southeast made 24.6 percent of its shots and made 2-of-21 (9.5 percent) three-pointers. The Panthers also outscored the Redhawks by seven from the charity stripe, making 21-of-31 (67.7 percent) of its free throws compared to Southeast's 14-of-20 (70.0 percent) clip. EIU also controlled the glass, grabbing 52 rebounds compared to Southeast's 39. Neither team turned the ball over much, the Redhawks turned it over 14 times and the Panthers committed 11 miscues.
The Redhawks close out their home stand on Monday night when they host Southern Illinois Edwardsville at the Show Me Center at 7 p.m. CT.
