Spring Break
Women's Basketball: Galligan breaks high-score record in victory
Team secures No. 2 seed in tournament
Collin Whitchurch / Associate Sports Editor
Issue date: 3/2/09 Section: Sports
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Needing only 17 points to pass Nancy Kassebaum's record of 1,807 to become Eastern's all-time leading scorer, the senior forward dumped in 27 points on a career-high 13 field goals to lead the Panthers to a 89-79 victory against Tennessee State in Nashville, Tenn. With the win, the Panthers secured the No. 2 seed in this week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, which begins Tuesday.
Galligan finished the first half with eight points as the Panthers trailed the Tigers by four, but she came out on fire in the second half, scoring Eastern's first eight points and 11 of its first 12. She tied Kassebaum's record with a free throw with 17 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game and broke it with a layup on the team's next possession.
"I had friends and people tell me they wanted me to (break the record) at home," Galligan said. "It could've been special to do it Tuesday but I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure we beat TSU."
Perhaps more importantly, however, was that Galligan's run gave the Panthers control of the game, as they were able to hold off the third-place Tigers (17-12, 13-5 OVC). She scored 11 points in the first three minutes, 30 seconds of the second half, keying a 12-3 run that gave the Panthers (22-8, 15-3) the lead.
"The beauty of it was there was nothing forced," Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. "It was all within our offense, and it helped us win a big basketball game. That was the best thing about it. We were just in the flow of everything we were doing, and that's been the story of her career."
The Panthers' two freshmen put together the best games of their young careers as guard Pilar Walker and forward Chantelle Pressley poured in nine points apiece. Senior guard Megan Edwards added 14 with seven assists and senior forward Lindsey Kluempers added 11 in the win.
The win gave the Panthers 22 wins to finish the regular season, tying the 1987-88 and the 1982-83 squads for most wins in Eastern's history in the Division I era. The team will have a chance to break that record in Tuesday's first round OVC Tournament game.
As the No. 2 seed, the Panthers will take on seventh-seeded Tennessee Tech at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Lantz Arena. If they win that game they will travel back to Nashville on Friday for a semifinal match up against either Tennessee State or Southeast Missouri at the Sommet Center.
Tuesday's Schedule
4:30 p.m. — No. 5 Austin Peay at No. 4 Morehead State
5:15 p.m. — No. 8 Jacksonville State at No. 1 Murray State
7 p.m. — No. 7 Tennessee Tech at No. 2 Eastern
7 p.m. — No. 6 Southeast Missouri at No. 3 Tennessee State
Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.
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