Spring Break
Women's Basketball: Outraced in overtime
Collin Whitchurch / Assistant Sports Editor
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: Sports
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The Panthers (20-8, 13-3 Ohio Valley Conference) overcame a six-point deficit with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining to tie the game at 69 with 20 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by senior guard Ellen Canale.
Murray State senior forward Ashley Hayes then missed a 3-pointer as time expired to send the game into overtime.
But in the extra session it was all Racers (18-7, 13-2 OVC) as junior guard Mallory Luckett hit back-to-back jumpers to give Murray State an early lead they would not relinquish.
The Panthers were unable to get their offense going in the extra period, failing to score during the entire five minutes.
"We had some open looks, we just weren't able to get them to fall," said senior forward Rachel Galligan, who led the Panthers with 20 points. "Once we got to overtime it could have gone either way, but they had some players step up."
On an emotional senior day in front of a rowdy crowd of 1,233, it was the play of two seniors who kept the Panthers in the game. Canale tied a career-high with 19 points and had 10 rebounds. She also tied a career-high by playing 38 minutes.
Galligan's 20 points brought her career total to 1,768, only 39 behind Nancy Kassebaum for first in Eastern history.
But the play of Hayes proved to be too much for the Panthers to overcome, as the OVC's leading scorer and favorite to win Player of the Year poured in 25 points and 14 rebounds. Senior guard Amber Guffey added 21 points and six assists. Hayes and Guffey combined to go 17-of-18 from the free throw line, including 7-of-8 in overtime to secure the win for the Racers.
"You have to give a lot of credit to Murray State," Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. "I think they played even better than when they beat us at their place, and they needed to because we played better too."
The loss hovered over an emotional senior day as Galligan, Canale, forwards Lindsey Kluempers and Julie Lipperd, and guard Megan Edwards were honored after the game in the final regular season game in Lantz Arena this season.
Lipperd earned the start for Eastern, the first of her career, and registered one assist in three minutes of action.
The Panthers hit the road for the final two games of the regular season. They will take on Austin Peay on Thursday at 5:15 in Clarksville, Tenn., before traveling to Nashville, Tenn., Saturday to take on Tennessee State at 5:30 p.m.
The Panthers will have one more home game this season, as they are guaranteed to host a first round OVC Tournament game. It will be on March 3 with the time and opponent still to be determined.
Click here to see a full-size version of the photo gallery
Women's standings
Team / OVC / Overall
Murray State / 13-2 / 18-7
Eastern Illinois / 13-3 / 20-8
Tennessee State / 12-4 / 16-11
Morehead State / 10-6 / 16-12
Southeast Missouri / 10-6 / 15-12
Austin Peay / 9-7 / 13-14
Tennessee Tech / 6-11 / 8-20
Jacksonville State / 4-13 / 7-20
Eastern Kentucky / 3-13 / 6-19
Tennessee-Martin / 0-15 / 2-23
Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.
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