March 7, 2008

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Junior Rachel Galligan recorded a game-high 18 points as fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois knocked off top-seeded Southeast Missouri State, 52-40, in the semifinals of the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament this afternoon at Municipal Auditorium. The Panthers improve their season record to 19-12 while the Redhawks dropped to 23-8 on the year.

Galligan produced four points as EIU claimed an early 7-3 lead in the first 2:21 of the game. Senior center Missy Whitney (Charleston, Mo./Three Rivers CC) led a Southeast comeback with five points as it gained a slim 8-7 advantage at the 14:54 mark. The lead increased to 10-7 on a jumper from senior guard Ashley Lovelady (Elkhart, Ind./Moberly Area CC) 28 seconds later. Both teams then battled through five ties and five lead changes through a near eight-minute span until the Panthers scored five points over 3:09 to take a 25-20 leading margin before junior forward Crysta Glenn (San Diego, Calif./Cowley County CC) canned a jumper with 19 seconds left to slice Southeast's deficit to 25-22 entering intermission.

The Redhawks opened the second half by scoring five of the first seven points in a 3:21 span that concluded with a jumper by junior guard Szandra Pál (Budapest, Hungary/Vorosmarty Mihaly) to close within two points (27-25). A 10-2 run over five-plus minutes helped EIU stretch its lead to double digits at 37-27 with 9:34 remaining in the contest, but a pair of free throws from junior guard Sonya Daugherty (St. Louis, Mo./Hancock) and a three-pointer by junior guard Tarina Nixon (Gilbert, Ariz./Highland) brought Southeast to within 37-32 at the 8:47 time limit. The Panthers started to pull away in the final seven minutes of the game behind free throw shooting as they went 9-of-11 from the charity stripe en route to scoring 13 of the game's final 21 points for the win.

Daugherty paced Southeast with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Whitney added nine points and seven rebounds, while Glenn contributed seven points and four boards.

Junior Lindsay Kluempers contributed nine points on 3-of-4 shooting for EIU, while sophomore Jessica Huffman added eight points and six caroms. Sophomore Megan Edwards posted seven points and junior Ellen Canale tallied a game-high four assists for the Panthers.

The Redhawks will play postseason basketball in a couple of weeks as the pairings for the 2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) will be released on March 17 after the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced. The first round of the 48-team WNIT will begin on March 19 on campus sites.