The Panthers put up a dominant performance against Southeast Missouri State University women’s basketball on Thursday night. The final score was 71-52, far from the quadruple overtime battle that took place over the weekend against Morehead State University.
The blowout began in the first quarter when Eastern put up 19 unanswered points. The Panthers spread the ball around, with six players scoring in the run.
“The difference of the game was the 19-0 run,” head coach Matt Bollant said. “It’s good to see us do that. We don’t always make runs, and we haven’t really built leads. We haven’t been in this position much.”
The team’s success leaked into the second quarter, as Eastern scored 16 to SEMO’s seven. Sophomore guard Charita “Tiny” Lewis and senior forward Emily Meidel led the squad scoring a combined 11 points, six for Lewis and five for Meidel.
The team’s success continued into the third when Lewis hit a three 15 seconds into the second half.
“We just wanted to keep the momentum going, so hitting that big shot was keeping that energy,” Lewis said.
Bollant spoke about the need to get the backup players some experience. He mentioned Tennessee Tech, who went on to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament off their exceptional bench. With Lewis’ three-pointer stretching the lead to 23 points, Bollant felt comfortable with letting bench players come into the game.
SEMO went on to have their most productive quarter of the game, scoring 19 against the Panther’s backups, yet the Redhawks were still outpaced by the Panthers, who scored 23 points.
The game closed out with a SEMO rally, scoring 18 in the latter minutes of the game. The surge was far too little, far too late for the Redhawks, as the Panthers would win 71-52.
The win moves Eastern to a three-way tie for second in the OVC with a record of 8-5. The Panthers will play again at Groniger Arena on Saturday, Feb. 17 against Lindenwood University. The game will take place at 1 p.m.
Aidan Cusack can be reached at 581-2812 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.
