Purdue Fort Wayne
Eastern Illinois
Panthers Shoot Lights-Out in Four-Point Win
11/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN – Despite pulling down 17 offensive rebounds and seeing three players reach double figures in the scoring column, led by a game-high 21-point effort from junior Chelsey Jackson, the IPFW Mastodons fell victim to a hot shooting night by the Eastern Illinois Panthers, falling 68-64 at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.
Jackson scored her 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, making 3-of-7 from long range. Stephanie Rosado scored 13 points, nine coming from the charity stripe, as Jordan Zuppe added 10. Courtney Reed pulled down a career- and game-high seven rebounds – three offensive – as Sydney Weinert pulled down five boards.
The Mastodons out-rebounded the visitors 33-to-24, had the same number of turnovers (21), free throws made (15), three-pointers made (5), and held a solid margin in blocked shots (6-to-2); however, Eastern Illinois made a blistering 55.8 percent (24-of-43) of their shots from the field, including 5-of-6 (83.3%) from long range to secure the win.
Jackson opened the game with a three-point basket, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead, and led by one after an Eva Ivanova lay-in with 2:30 gone in the game, before EIU ran off a 10-3 run to lead by six at 16-10. The Panther lead was six at 5:55 remaining in the first half when IPFW rattled off six straight points on a pair of lay-ins by Jackson and Zuppe, and a jumper by Jackson, knotting the game at 23 apiece with just under three minutes remaining in the half.
EIU re-took the lead on a Pilar Walker three-point basket, and kept it until Jackson’s fourth basket of the second half gave the hosts a one point, 29-28 lead. The Panthers’ Ashley Thomas drilled a three-point basket with 19 seconds left in the opening stanza, and IPFW was unable to counter, sending the visitors into the locker room with a 31-29 lead.
A 7-1 run to open the second half gave the Panthers an eight point lead, until IPFW scored on their next four possessions; a Weinert lay-in, a Reed three-point basket, a Jackson lay-in, and a three-pointer by Jackson, which tied the game at 40 apiece.
The visitors once again countered with a run of their own, using a 6-0 streak to lead by nine with 6:01 to play in the game after a lay-in by Maggie Kloak. The lead remained at nine at 62-53 with 3:39 to play, but the feisty Mastodon squad would fight back, eventually closing the gap to as few as two after a pair of Sarah Haluska free throws with seven seconds left in the game; however, Walker iced the game with a pair of free throws with six seconds on the clock, giving the game its 68-64 final score.
The loss snaps a six-game losing skid for IPFW, the longest home winning streak since the school joined the ranks of NCAA Division I in the 2001-02 season.
Kloak scored a team-best 15 points, with Walker scoring 13 and Sydney Mitchell 10, both off of the bench. Mitchell grabbed five rebounds, as Chantelle Pressley dished out five assists, and Ta’Kenya Nixon nabbed a trio of steals.
The Mastodons head East for their next time out on the hardwood, as the squad travels to Akron, Ohio, to take Mid-American Conference’s Akron Zips on Wednesday, December 2, with tip-off slated for 7:00 PM EST at the Rhodes Arena.
~Dons~
