COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois women's basketball rallied back from a seven-point deficit with nine minutes remaining to stay unbeaten in Ohio Valley Conference play with a 50-46 victory at Tennessee Tech Monday evening.

Rachel Galligan led the way with 16 points, but it was Megan Edwards who scored the final four points that decided the game. She connected on EIU's final field goal, a driving layup with 1:14 remaining, and two free throws with nine seconds left.

Lindsey Kluempers only scored two points but grabbed three key offensive rebounds down the stretch and finished with six boards total. She also assisted on Edwards' game-winning basket.

 

Eastern (10-5, 4-0 OVC) outscored Tech 17-6 after going down by seven with 9:38 remaining. Seven different Panthers scored during the game-ending surge. The Golden Eagles (3-10, 1-2 OVC) went without a field goal for the final four minutes and 55 seconds of the contest.

 

Eastern was up by three when Blair Bowens, who led all scorers with 19 points, tied the game by making three straight free throws after getting fouled on a 3-pointer at the 1:37 mark.

 

On the end of the floor, Edwards got free on a defensive overplay and took the ball to the basket for what proved to be the game's final field goal.

 

Both teams traded offensive fouls before Tech threw the ball away with 40 seconds left. Eastern milked the clock down to 12 seconds and Ashley Thomas missed a baseline jumper. But Kluempers claimed the offensive rebound and threw the ball out to Edwards. The senior point guard made it a two-possession game by making her 25th and 26th consecutive free throws this season.

 

“The whole game they were overplaying us, and we talked about how we had to back cut, curl cut – just make a cut to the basket,” Edwards said. “I was being overplayed and just made a simple back cut, Lindsey made a nice pass and I was able to finish. [Lindsey] played great tonight. She's been out with that broken finger and she played like it's not even broken. It doesn't matter how many points she had, it was about those little things like getting rebounds that she did so great tonight.”

 

The Panthers did not trail again after a three-point play from Galligan at the 3:47 mark.

 

Eastern outscored Tech 29-20 in the second half, compensating for a five-point halftime deficit. The Panthers initially pulled within a basket thanks to a 3-pointer from Ellen Canale, only to see Tech post its biggest lead of the game with five unanswered points.

 

Both teams traded 8-0 runs in the first half, but Tech outscored EIU 9-2 over the final six minutes.

 

Edwards finished with seven points, a career-high six rebounds and four assists. Canale scored six of her nine points in the second half and Maggie Kloak chipped in eight off the bench.

The Panthers conclude their current five-game road stretch Saturday at Southeast Missouri. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID