Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: News

Senior forward Rachel Galligan hugs junior forward Marie Baker after the women's basketball team defeated Tennessee Tech during the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament first round game Tuesday night in Lantz Arena. Eastern won 71-65 and will go on to play against Tennessee State in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday in the semifinals of the OVC Championship. (Photos by Eric Hiltner / The Daily Eastern News)

By virtue of its 71-65 victory against Tennessee Tech Tuesday night, the Eastern women's basketball team's immediate goal of gaining a return trip to Nashville, Tenn., was successful.

But the scrappy Golden Eagles made them earn it.

The Panthers saw a 16-point lead dwindle to one with 3 minutes, 47 seconds remaining, led by the hot shooting of Tech senior guards Blair Bowens and Meagan Lyons.

But in the end the Panthers were right where they expected to be at this point of the season — in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament — where they will meet third-seeded Tennessee State Friday at 2 p.m. in Nashville.

"I give Tech a lot of credit," Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. "They've got three seniors who have had really nice careers. They didn't want it to end, and they played like it."

After the Golden Eagles (9-21) pulled within one, Eastern senior forward Rachel Galligan answered with a layup to extend the lead to three. Following a Tech turnover, senior guard Lindsey Kluempers was left open on the wing for a game-clinching 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining.

"They were leaving me wide open in the end, but I hadn't been making them," Kluempers said. "I shot it and thought it was good but thought 'Come on, come on, go in,' and it bounced once and went in. It made me feel really good. It was really exciting."

The game was Kluempers' 119th of her career, breaking a school record of 118 that had stood since 1990.

Lyons led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, including 12 in the second half to key Tech's run. Bowens had 15.

The full-court press of the Golden Eagles gave Eastern (23-8) problems throughout the second half, as Tech forced 20 Panther turnovers. While Sallee acknowledged that the press gave them problems at times, he was pleased that his team pulled it together in the end.





"I think what you saw was we got a little sloppy with the basketball," he said. "We cracked a little against their press and when they saw that they fed off of that and they amped it up and kept pushing."

Galligan, who was honored for becoming Eastern's all-time leading scorer before the game, continued her dominant ways, finishing with 25 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

The Panthers advance to the semis of the OVC Tournament for the second consecutive year, where they will face a Lady Tigers (18-12) squad that they played in Nashville only four days ago.

The winner of that game will face either No. 1 seed Murray State or No. 5 seed Austin Peay in the OVC Championship game, where the winner advances to the NCAA Tournament.

The Panthers lost to Murray State in the title game last season.


Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

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