SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 80, UIC 45
@Troy 94,
Jacksonville State 94
@Southern Illinois 76,
Tennessee Tech 65
EASTERN ILLINOIS 80, UIC 45
CHICAGO, Ill. - The Panthers dominated the day trip against UIC on Saturday afternoon; scoring a season-high 80 points. The Panthers defeated the Flames 80-45, the highest scoring differential of the season. Lariah Washington and Abby Wahl led the team in scoring with 17 points each. Washington recorded her first career double-double with 12 rebounds to go along with her 17. Eastern's record moves to 2-2, while the Flames fall to 0-4 on the season.
In the first quarter, the Panthers started off dominant. Abby Wahl did not miss a shot in the first quarter, scoring 13 and going 4-4 from the field. Jordyn Hughes came in off the bench and was a spark plug for the Panthers; knocking down two threes. At the end of the quarter, the Panthers led 31-7 going into the second.
The Panthers slowed down drastically in the second quarter, shooting an abysmal 18.8%. The Flames started to lock down Wahl, not allowing her any room in the lane. UIC's Tylah Lampley came alive in the quarter. Lampley scored 6 points in the quarter; ending the half with 11 points. The Panthers scored only 9 points for the quarter, however the first quarter run still left EIU in the drivers seat. EIU led 40-22 going into the third.
Eastern started off the third quarter on a 7-2 run. The Panthers looked strong at the beginning of the quarter, but the Flames started to press the Panthers which brought up four turnovers in three minutes. The Panthers got the game back on track, shooting 40%, and ended the quarter leading 61-34.
In the fourth, Eastern didn't let up off the gas, with the Flames getting snuffed out. Every Panther made an appearance, and 10 of the 12 scored. Claudia Stan made her presence known in the post; grabbing four points and four rebounds. The teams biggest lead of the game was by 38 points, which is also their biggest lead of the season thus far. Eastern responded to the loss earlier this week, with a sensational victory against the Flames.
The Panthers will hit the road again Tuesday, Nov. 16 to take of the Purple Aces of Evansville.
TROY 94, JACKSONVILLE STATE 64
TROY, Ala. - Jacksonville State's women's basketball team had it's brief two-game win streak snapped on Saturday as it returned to the road for the first time since the season-opener.
JSU (2-2) fell 94-64 to the host Troy (3-0) Trojans inside Trojan Arena after a slow start put the Red and White in a hole early. Destiney Elliott finished with a team-high 14 points, just ahead of Yamia Johnson with 11. In her return to her previous school, redshirt-junior Jessie Day led the way on the glass collecting eight boards.
Trailing 8-4 in the first, JSU saw Troy use a 14-0 run through the middle of the opening period to gain early separation. The Gamecocks were able to snap the scoring drought just before the quarter ended to make it 24-10.
Down 42-27 at the half, Jax State brought more offense in the third with a 26-point spot, but the Trojans weren't far behind with 24 of their own to take a 13-point margin into the final stanza. In the fourth, the home Trojans showed their strength in 28011 lopsided 10 minutes.
It's just the fourth time JSU has given up 90-or-more points during the defensive Rick Pietri era. The last occurrence was the 2016-17 conference opener at UT Martin where the Skyhawks won 94-83.
JSU returns home before taking off to meet another in-state foe next weekend in Montgomery at Alabama State on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 76, TENNESSEE TECH 65
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Following a hard-fought battle against one of the top-10 scoring teams in the nation, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team fell 76-65 on Saturday at the Banterra Center.
The Golden Eagles fall to 2-1 on the season, while the Southern Illinois Salukis move to 2-1.
"I thought our kids battled really hard on the road against a very good team. SIU came in averaging 90 points per game in their first two contests this season, both of which were on the road," said head coach Kim Rosamond. "They are extremely deep, have a lot of weapons and are very explosive offensively. I was proud of our effort today, especially on the defensive end, but we just didn't finish plays on either end of the floor. We got great looks at the rim, we got to the free throw line 27 times and couldn't finish. It's hard to beat good teams on the road missing 12 free throws, countless shots at the rim and giving up 17 offensive boards on the other end."
Two Golden Eagles netted double-digit scores in the contest with junior Jordan Brock leading the way with 16. Brock had her best shooting performance of the season thus far, netting 5-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three. Maaliya Owens was the other Golden Eagle to break the double-digit mark as she tallied 12 points, including a game-high four made free throws, shooting .800 from the line.
SIU scored the opening points to start the game, but the Golden Eagles quickly responded on a huge three from Brock to take their first lead of the contest, 3-2. Following a SIU jumpshot, the Golden Eagles scored five unanswered to take their largest lead of the contest, 8-4. The Salukis responded to score four of their own and even up the first at the media timeout. SIU would go on a 6-1 run to take a five-point lead in the opening period, before the Golden Eagles would close out the first with a 3-2 run on a Brock free throw and a Taylor Lamb bucket to bring the game back within four, 16-12.
Southern Illinois opened the second on a 3-2 run to extend their lead back to five, but a pair of huge 3-pointers from Brock silenced the Salukis and gave Tech their first lead since the 6:22 mark of the opening frame, 20-19. The Salukis tallied three to retake the lead once more before Akia Harris drew a foul and knocked down her first free throw to bring the deficit to one with, 22-21, 5:46 remaining in the first half. Southern Illinois would go on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes of clock to take a 10-point lead, 31-21, with 2:30 remaining. The Golden Eagles tried to rally, but SIU outscored the Golden Eagles 5-4 to close out the half and head into the locker room down by 11.
Mackenzie Coleman connected on a layup in the paint to open the third and bring the Golden Eagles back within nine less than 30 seconds into the second half. SIU responded with six points to take a 43-27 advantage at the 6:48 mark in the third. A pair of free throws from Lamb and Harris, as well as a bucket in the paint from Wilkinson brought the Golden Eagles back within 12 at the media timeout. The Golden eagles would battle point-for-point with the Salukis through the final minute with the game remaining at a 12-point difference. SIU netted a layup with 42 seconds on the clock, but a jumper from Brock and an Owens drawn foul on a 3-pointer gave Tech a 5-0 run to close out the third and bring the game back within single digits once more, 54-45.
Southern Illinois produced a 11-3 run to open the final period to give the Salukis their largest lead of the contest, 65-48, with a little over six minutes to play. SIU held their 17-point lead, 72-55, through the 3:16 minute mark of the fourth. Tech rallied over the final three minutes of play, outscoring the Salukis 10-4 to close out the contest and bring the game to its final, 76-65.
The Golden Eagles continue their road trek as they travel to Murfreesboro to take on in-state rival Middle Tennessee on November 21 at 6:30 p.m.